With a proverbial 'horse in every race', Clinical Excellence Queensland (CEQ) was bound to come away with a win at last night's Queensland Health and Department of Health Awards for Excellence.
Our Healthcare Improvement Unit (HIU) picked up two awards: one for our work implementing a key component of the Specialist Outpatient Strategy and for the Statewide Anaesthesia and Perioperative Care Clinical Network’s (SWAPNet) Difficult Airway Alert. The Specialist Outpatient Strategy is a multi-faceted approach to ensuring equitable access to specialist outpatient services in Queensland which has required significant behavioural and process change across the system. Work surrounding Journey Improvement 1 won the Equitable health outcomes and broad management with partners category. The Difficult Airway Alert, the first of its kind in Australia, won the Enabling safe, quality services and high performance category.
Executive Director of HIU Michael Zanco attributed the award wins to the unit’s collaborative and inclusive approach. "You can’t bring about significant change without getting people on board and engaging them throughout the process. It's not about us, it’s about them; the staff and the patients. When you put them at the centre, that’s when things work."
The West Moreton Hospital and Health Service took out the Pursuing innovation and Overall Award for Outstanding Achievement categories with their Mental Health Co-Responder Program delivered in partnership with the Queensland Police Service. This project was part of our 2018 Clinical Excellence Showcase, as was North West Hospital and Health Service's Lower Gulf Strategy which picked up the Regional, Rural and Remote Award for Outstanding Achievement.
Congratulations to all of last night's winners and nominees. You can read more about these and other great Queensland Health projects on our Improvement Exchange and at the 2019 Clinical Excellence Showcase. Dates for next year's event will be announced soon.
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