Foundation Day 2011

Hawkesbury District Health Service Foundation Day is celebrated in August every year.

This year we celebrated our achievements over the past 15 years and acknowledged long serving staff and volunteers.

Project of the Year

8 nominations were reccieved for 2011.

DETECT Program: HDHS has a long history of improving the recognition and early intervention of
deteriorating patients. This work has been further developed in 2010/11 with the
implementation of NSW Health Education Program DETECT to educate clinical staff on
clinical parameters to indicate deterioration and appropriate interventions and escalations.

Diagnostic Processes: Clinical, Medical Imaging, Pathology and Medical Records staff, together with the Director of Emergency Department reviewed and improved processes so that x-ray and
histopathology results were placed in the patient’s medical records promptly for treatment by the HDHS clinical staff.

Electronic Inpatient Multidisciplinary Referral Form: Community Health, IT staff and the Inpatient Directorate now use an electronic referral form, as faxed referrals were not getting to the correct area; there was a lack of quality documentation on the paper form; and there was a delay for Community Health staff to receive the referral to action at the inpatient level. 

Additional Orthopaedic Surgery: In conjunction with the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, HDHS staff , including  finance, administration, surgical teams, cleaning staff, catering staff and allied health physiotherapists, worked with Orthopaedic Surgeons to reduce theatre lists.

Hotel Services Master Menu Revision: New nutritional requirements by the Department of Health Food Authority meant that all food served to patients required prescribed amounts of protein, carbohydrates, sodium and fats. Every item on the patient’s menu was revamped to accommodate these requirements over several months.

Safe Start: Perinatal mental health focuses on the wellbeing of parents and infants during pregnancy and in the early years of the infant. If problems are identified early, they can often be managed or treated quite simply. HDHS implemented a new model of care to encompass the antenatal period in addition to the post natal period to support families at risk.

Smoke Free HDHS:  Inside, Outside, Everywhere: A comprehensive public campaign was launched on 4 May 2011 for staff, patients and visitors including brochures, increased signage, information stalls, website messages and newspaper articles to offer patients and staff who smoke education and cessation support.

Venous Thromboembolism/Deep Vein Thrombosis:The Education team reviewed risk prevention of DVT across clinical departments The Education team organised workshops, questionnaires, random audits and preventative measures. The random audit  revealed that 100% of staff are able to correctly measure and fit TED Stockings.

Our project of the year winner for 2011 is the HDHS Safe Start model, supporting families early.