Safety & Quality Account 2020-21 | 2021-22 Future Priorities

WSLHD Achievements in 2020-2021 WSLHD Safety & Quality Account

Planned and Completed Priorities in 2020-2021

AUSTRALIA’S FIRST ‘REVIVED’ KIDNEY TRANSPLANT AT WESTMEAD HEALTH PRECINCT The Westmead Hospital Precinct lead research to determine the feasibility and safety of using

normothermic machine perfusion resuscitated damaged donor kidneys. Normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) is used to reverse any damage caused during low- temperature storage. This process supplies damaged organs with red blood cells and oxygen at body temperature, effectively “resuscitating” kidney cells damaged by exposure to cold. The donor kidneys are revived for about an hour prior to being transplanted into the recipient. Westmead Hospital clinicians with the support of Westmead Institute for Medical Research (WIMR) researchers performed the first successful transplant of a ‘revived’ kidney in Australia. A 64 year old father of seven was the first patient in Australia to receive a kidney resuscitated using NMP. Outcomes of the procedure demonstrate that the NMP improves kidney quality over time, with the kidney working more effectively and straight away. PARENTING PLUS PROGRAM The Parenting Plus Program is an innovative and unique evidence–based health literacy training program for new parents which was piloted in WSLHD in 2020.

PHOTO: Auburn Dialysis

Kickstarter recipient. Left to right: Nelson Ubera (NUM Renal), Sonia Shalala (patient).

It was built on a model of health literacy skill development shown to be effective with disadvantaged and culturally diverse adults in Australia. The four week Parenting Plus Program is structured around four core content areas addressing key knowledge gaps. It also includes developing health literacy skills across the following topics: functional skills; assessing and critically appraising health information; shared decision making and implementing health behaviours. The Parenting Plus Program is led by seven Child & Family Health (CFH) health literacy trained staff and is now being embedded into parenthood classes across eight sites within WSLHD. Over the coming months the program will be evaluated in a multi centre feasibility study across three sites in Western Sydney. The WSLHD Research Hub has recently been awarded $1,499,336 over two years from the Australian Government Department of Health Primary Health Care Development Program, Together We Can Stop Stillbirth: Education Campaign. With the help of this funding, the Parenting Plus Program is currently being adapted in 2021 to include a focus on addressing risk factors for stillbirth. To date two research articles supporting evidence-based CFH approaches to our services in WSLHD have been published.

PHOTO: Westmead maternity skin to skin after caesarean.

Left to right: Kim Kaddour (Reg Midwife), Baby boy, Yaqing Xue (Mother).

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