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South Australia:

New council champions patient care and treatment

South Australia’s health system is to have a new safety and quality council to ensure that patients get the best care and treatment, Health Minister John Hill announced recently. It will report back to the Department of Health and provide advice on the delivery of healthcare services in the area, with patient care and safety as its priority.

The council will implement the South Australian Safety and Quality programme 2007–2011 and will focus on five main areas:

safety and quality priorities, focusing on the five top safety areas which include medication safety and infection prevention,

consumer and community participation, focusing on the development of information resources, improvements to the way complaints are handled, and an annual report on service performance,

support for the workforce which includes credentialing, quality and safety improvement activities,

better use of information management and information technology to improve communication between health services including hospitals,

clinical governance – workforce responsibility and accountability for healthcare services.

Minister Hill said the new council will replace the SA Hospitals Safety and Quality Council. This had been most effective, but limited in its focus which was mainly on public hospitals. The brief of the new council has been considerably widened to include primary health care, the private sector and general practice.

For further information visit the South Australia Department of Health website at: www.health.sa.gov.au.