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

COVID-19: A New Challenge for WSLHD WSLHD Safety & Quality Account

WSLHD continues to support projects and strategies which ensure our preparedness and ability to provide ongoing health services and outcomes during any local outbreaks. Some of the work which has been progressed include:

BLACKTOWN AND MOUNT DRUITT HOSPITALS (BMDH) COVID-19 WORKFORCE STRATEGY PLAN The development of the BMDH COVID-19 Workforce Strategy Plan was instrumental in ensuring workforce readiness across the different alert levels for any COVID-19 outbreaks affecting workforce capacity. All plans are able to be converted to action within a timely fashion. DIGITAL OUTREACH TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN A PANDEMIC Providing schools with digital programs to enhance leadership, communication and teamwork skills and to improve healthy lifestyle behaviours of students during a pandemic. The digital translation of the program required working in partnership with our Information Technology department and the NSW Department of Education. The Students as Life Style Activists (SALSA) program, piloted online in two Western Sydney high schools and SALSA Youth Voices Leaders Workshops (YVLW) in five schools. Evaluation of the programs indicated students were fully engaged during the workshops, including a healthy increase in their fruit and vegetable intake. Students reported building communication (81%), teamwork (81%) and leadership skills (60%), with the innovative, peer-led digital programs successful in improving student outcomes. ALL ABOARD THE PHYSIOTHERAPY TELEHEALTH SERVICE Implementing a responsive telehealth service to provide physiotherapy services during COVID-19 and build sustainability beyond the pandemic by 1 June, 2020. Through harnessing previous health initiatives and using digital advances in e-technology within NSW Health and WSLHD, a new model of care for outpatient physiotherapy services utilising telehealth was implemented. The education and training programs which were provided to staff ensured that staff members would have the required skills to implement physiotherapy telehealth. From June 2020 to October 2020, 93% of survey responses rated their experience as good to excellent, and found telehealth was easy to use. The early findings suggest telehealth is an acceptable alternative option and ensures access to physiotherapy services for patients and will be used within the service to deliver care beyond COVID-19.

PHOTO: Blacktown Vaccination

Hub opening. Grace Moujalli (Pharmacist).

CONQUERING THE COVID-19 CHAOS; A COMMUNICATION LIFELINE WSLHD strives to ensure there are effective communication methods about COVID-19 testing and prevention messages for the public residing in Western Sydney, as this is essential to keeping people healthy, particularly at-risk populations, including Aboriginal people and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. A survey of CALD community members in March 20201 revealed residents were faced with multiple sources of information and limited access to credible resources with appropriate health literacy levels. As a consequence a new communications model aimed at simplifying and increasing community access to public health and COVID-19 information which is credible, easy to read understand and share vital health information was established including: • Establishing a rapid response local contact network (1,660 contacts) and system for urgent public health alerts and weekly COVID-19 Bulletins • A new community website providing localised wellbeing resources that has been accessed by in excess of 9,783 users • Developing tailored resources, including testing information for Aboriginal communities; a children’s testing story booklet and wellbeing fact sheets for older adults.

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