ALPINE HEALTH
Report of
Operations
2012-2013
- Report of Operations 2012-2013
- 1/30
STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS
Alpine Health
30 O’Donnell Avenue
Myrtleford Vic 3737
Telephone: 03 5751 9300 Facsimile: 03 5751 9396
Website: www.alpinehealth.org.au
SOLICITORS DLA Piper
140 William Street Melbourne Vic 3001
Health Legal
Level 1, 499 St Kilda Road
Melbourne
AUDITORS
Victorian Auditor-General’s Agent Richmond Sinnott & Delahunty
Bendigo
BANKER
National Australia Bank
- Report of Operations 2012-2013
- 2/30
REPORT OF OPERATIONS
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................................4 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................................4 MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT...........................................................................4 DISCLOSURE INDEX.................................................................................................................................................8 POLICY STATEMENT..............................................................................................................................................11 STATEMENTS OF COMPLIANCE ............................................................................................................................11 OUR SERVICES.......................................................................................................................................................12 BOARD OF MANAGEMENT ...................................................................................................................................14 MEETINGS ATTENDED BY BOARD OF MANAGEMENT..........................................................................................14 EXECUTIVE STAFF..................................................................................................................................................15 VISITING MEDICAL OFFICERS:...............................................................................................................................15 ORGANISATIONAL CHART.....................................................................................................................................16 AWARDS ...............................................................................................................................................................17 SCHOLARSHIPS......................................................................................................................................................17 VOLUNTEERS.........................................................................................................................................................20 COMMUNITY SUPPORT 2012-2013 ......................................................................................................................21 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS 2012-2013......................................................................................................................23 SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR LAST FIVE YEARS ...................................................................................24 BUDGET ANALYSIS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2013 ............................................................................................24 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (FRD 22C APPENDIX)...............................................................................................28 PLEASE SUPPORT ALPINE HEALTH ........................................................................................................................29 CONTACT LIST .......................................................................................................................................................30
This report
Covers the period 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013 Is the seventeenth annual report for Alpine Health Is prepared for the Minister for Health, the Parliament of Victoria and the community Is a public document freely available on our website and from Alpine Health on request Is prepared in accordance with government and legislative requirements and FRD 30 guidelines Acknowledges the support of our community Is produced and printed on 100% recycled paper
- Report of Operations 2012-2013
- 3/30
2012-2103
Alpine Health
undertaken in conjunction with our key partners and the community.
Financial Matters
INTRODUCTION HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The 2012/2013 financial year has presented Alpine Health with a number of large financial issues.
Alpine Health is a designated Multi-Purpose Service (under the Tripartite Commonwealth-State Agreement) and has three main campuses located in the townships of Myrtleford, Bright and Mount Beauty.
Non-salary costs increased beyond those of the previous year with significant investments in
planning, Alpine Health’s compliance obligations,
accreditation and workforce development. While provision was made for significant increases in salary costs arising from the 2012 Enterprise Bargaining Agreements of the Victorian public health sector, the complexities of these
Alpine Health provides integrated acute health, community health, and community and aged residential services for the residents and visitors of the Alpine Shire.
agreements brought increases in salary costs beyond our initial expectations.
The Organisation was established in November 1996 through the amalgamation of three rural hospitals, nursing homes, hostel and accommodation units including Myrtleford District War Memorial Hospital, Bright District Hospital and Health Services and Tawonga District General Hospital, Barwidgee Lodge and Kiewa Valley House Nursing Homes, Hawthorn Village Hostel and the Myrtleford Extended Care Accommodation Centre.
At the same time, our revenue base declined with the near halving of private inpatient reimbursement rates by some of the larger private health insurers such as BUPA, Medibank Private and NIB Health Funds Ltd. The year also brought a great deal of uncertainty around reductions in Commonwealth grants for hospital services and it is now clear that payments from the
Alpine Health offers a full range of acute, aged
care and community support services to the townships and communities of the Alpine Shire.
Commonwealth for hospital services will be reduced by about 1.4% in the next year.
As a consequence of the difficult economic climate that we have faced this year, we experienced a relatively small operating deficit of $386,000.
The Multi-Purpose Model of Service provision was developed by the joint Commonwealth/State governments taskforce established in March 1991 to address the problems of service provision of rural and remote communities.
On a more positive note, Alpine Health received capital grants of $172,100 this year for the purchase of floor coverings for acute and aged care, and medical and other equipment from the Department of Health. These grants enabled the replacement of carpet at Mount Beauty and Myrtleford and the acquisition or replacement of the following items of equipment:
From November 1996, State and Commonwealth funding streams for acute health, aged care and community health and support services for the former entities, were provided as a flexible funding pool through which, the varying health needs of the Alpine townships and communities are to be addressed.
•
Nurse Call systems for Bright, Mount Beauty and Myrtleford
••
Chairs, beds and trolleys Patient monitors, neo-puffs, syringe and infusion pumps
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT
On behalf of the Board of Management, I am pleased to present the Report of Operations for Alpine Health for the year ending 30 June 2013 in
accordance with the Financial Management Act 1994.
The Board is also pleased to report the completion of the refurbishment of the second level of the
O’Donnell House at Myrtleford and its formal
opening in April 2013. The new facility houses students once again and will accommodate
nursing students who are part of Alpine Health’s
Initial Registration for Overseas Trained Nurses (IRON) program in the first instance. This
This financial year has been one of further development for Alpine Health. Significant progress has been made on a large number of initiatives and many of these have been refurbishment was made possible with a grant of $72,145 from the Department of Health.
Alpine Health - Report of Operations 2012-2013
4/30
2012-2103
Alpine Health
- We are also very grateful to the Beveridge Bequest
- There are ten national standards against which
health service organizations are now assessed for accreditation. These are: for the allocation of $133,487 for infrastructure at Myrtleford Hospital that has been used to extend the installation of room based patient lifting equipment.
•
Governance for Safety and Quality in Health Service Organizations
••
Partnering with Consumers Preventing and Controlling Healthcare Associated Infections Medication Safety Patient Identification and Procedure Matching Clinical Handover Blood and Blood Products Preventing ad Managing Pressure Injuries Recognizing and Responding to Clinical Deterioration in Acute Health Care Preventing Falls and Harm from Falls
Service Planning
The 2012/2013 year has been a busy one for the Board again and it is pleasing for me to report the
completion of Alpine Health’s sixth Service Plan
(2013-2018).
••
••••
The new Service Plan sets out Alpine Health’s
strategic directions and priorities for the next 5 years and it is based on the principle of keeping local services local. The rationale for this
philosophy is that people’s health is best served by
meeting their needs and providing services where they live and in their homes.
•
In April 2013, Alpine Health submitted the organisation to accreditation by Quality Improvement and Community Services Accreditation Inc (now the Victorian branch of Quality Innovation Performance) under the new national health care standards prescribed by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.
The Plan builds on the history of the services that combined to form Alpine Health, our traditions of quality, flexible service provision and the successes of all of our previous service plans. Alpine Health
aims to ‘keep the local in local’.
At the core of what we do is to offer health services to people where they live and where they need them. As far as possible, this means locally. It also means an on-going commitment to improving, growing and changing services, developing a workforce with the necessary skills and knowledge, and investing in the right facilities, equipment and technological infrastructure to meet changing health care needs.
Alpine Health volunteered for assessment against two additional Australian Health Service Safety and Quality Accreditation (AHSSQA) Supplementary Standards for use in the NSQHS Enhanced Accreditation. These are:
••
Governance, Finance and Risk Planning, Operations and Partnerships
I am pleased to report that the outcome of the accreditation is that Alpine Health met or exceeded all 299 of the standards that required assessment. In doing so, Alpine Health received four commendations and two standards were met with mentions of merit. The commendations were for:
The new plan was approved by the Department of Health and the Department of Health and Ageing in June 2013 and the Board looks forward to implementing it over the next five years.
Accreditation
•
The approach to the development, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of systems which is inclusive of all staff Aspirational leadership within the organisation Attitude to staff development, for example, the training offered, skill development aimed at expanding staff scope of practice and achieving status as an Accredited Registered Training Organisation
In October 2011, Alpine Health was chosen by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care to participate in the draft guides for health services to assist with the implementation of the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (NSQHS). At the end of the pilot period encompassing 3 months, Alpine Health was selected for the evaluation workshop on the basis of forming a representative sample of sites across Australia, both geographically (rural, regional and metropolitan) and by service type (hospital, day procedure service and dental service).
••
•
The innovative approach to problem solving to ensure improved care for the community such as the Urgent Care Model, community development and partnering with the community.
Report of Operations 2012-2013
5/30
2012-2103
Alpine Health
model beyond the Mount Beauty locality into the
- future.
- Alpine Health was one of the first Victorian Health
Services to submit for accreditation against all of the national standards and the result is testament to the extraordinary efforts that our staff members, visiting medical officers and allied health professionals, volunteers and community members.
Workforce Development
Alpine Health continued its strong focus on workforce development during the year.
Our application for recognition as a Registered Training Organisation was completed and assessed in late in 2012 and I am pleased to report that it was successful. This initiative has been called the Alpine Institute and the Institute was launched on 24 April 2013.
Service Development
The Board is very pleased to report that Alpine Health was successful in its application to Health Workforce Australia this year for a grant to run a national demonstration project in service and workforce transformation for aged care this year.
The Alpine Institute’s first Level 3 certificate course
in Health Service Assistance was launched in April 2013 with 14 Alpine Health staff members taking up the opportunity. This has created the real opportunity for Alpine Health staff members to study locally and we look forward to all Alpine Health staff members having post-secondary qualifications in the future. Planning for additional Level 2 and Level 4 certificate courses are being planned and we are hopeful of the opportunity of making these courses open to the community in 2014 following the successful audit of the current course in November 2013.
This success has enabled Alpine Health to develop a strong partnership with Mount Beauty Medical Centre and Swinburne University to introduce a new approach to working together for older
people’s health and wellbeing in the Mt Beauty community. This has been called the ‘Community Ward’.
This model helps to further develop the competency and efficiency of our workforce and the existing partnerships between people and services in the Mount Beauty locality so that we are better prepared to meet the needs of older people with complex needs in the community.
In addition, the Board is pleased to report the
extension of Alpine Health’s nurse training service
in 2013. This service will provide 105 overseas trained nurses and those returning to practice with updated training for professional registration and work in 2013. The expansion follows the successful negotiation of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Lonsdale Institute in Melbourne and the engagement of a number of Victorian rural health services to provide work based practical
The service model is based on feedback from our community consultation processes and we have been able to understand that older people with complex care needs want to remain independent in their own homes for as long as possible. We also know that proactive, well-coordinated care, delivered as close to home as possible, is a key to promoting personal independence, as well as being a more efficient and effective way providing services and working closely with community members. placements. Following the first staff exchange with Tayside NHS Trust (Scotland) in 2011, we welcomed Mr David McLaren from Perth, Scotland to Alpine Health this
year. David’s work with the Health Workforce
project and on developing a new service measurement framework based on what matters to our patients and clients will stand us in good stead for the future. We look forward to the return of Mr Trevor Marshall from Tayside in September 2013 and to strengthening this relationship with Tayside into the future.
The service model builds on these principles and it enables us to work with people in their environments by focusing closely on what matters to them in terms of their own health and wellbeing.
The project supporting the development of this model is scheduled for completion in January 2014, with a formal project report available later in the year. Alpine Health has engaged Swinburne University to provide an additional level of a more locally focused evaluation over the project life in order to support the transfer of the benefits of the
Future Challenges
Alpine Health faces many challenges over the next few years. The most significant of these are economic and we will see substantial changes to
Report of Operations 2012-2013
6/30
2012-2103
Alpine Health
- hospital funding with the advent of the
- rural communities. We are very pleased to see the
Chief Executive Officer accept an invitation to join the Stakeholder Advisory Committee for the Independent Hospitals Pricing Authority and its Small Rural Hospitals Working Party and his appointment as a National Councillor for the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association this year, and see these as providing clear opportunities for contributing to the broader health policy agenda.
Independent Hospitals Pricing Authority and continuous reductions in Commonwealth contributions to hospital funding over the next three financial years. We also face similar challenges in aged care funding arising from the implementation of the Commonwealth
government’s “Living Longer Living Better”
strategy. In order to deal with these challenges and ensure that Alpine Health can manage increased costs and potential declines in revenue, we will be looking carefully at all areas of expenditure including salaries.
Acknowledgements and Thanks
Alpine Health thanks each of our local Members of Parliament for their interest in our affairs and for the support they provide. We have also greatly appreciated the consistent support from the officers of the Victorian Departments of Health and Human Services and of the Department of Health and Ageing.
We look forward to working closely with the Hume Medicare Local in 2013 now that it has responsibility for allocating funding from the Regional Primary Health Service funding pool. These funds are used to provide health promotion services to our younger and older community members and we will be working to secure these services for our community in the long term.
We are particularly grateful to all of our volunteers who assist us with so many aspects of the health services that we provide to our communities. The success of the many support groups, Op Shops, fundraising groups, Community and Health Advisory Groups and volunteers has been a highlight of the last year and we thank every person who has been involved.
A review of the master capital plan for Bright Hospital and Health Services was completed this year and a formal application has been made for funding the next stages of planning for this project. We are very grateful for the work of the Bright Hospital Redevelopment Committee, the Bright Community Health and Advisory Group and Mr Bill Sykes MP, Member for Benalla for helping get the project to this stage and we look forward to success in our last application.
Our appreciation is particularly extended to all carers and volunteers who gave freely of their time and energy during the year to support those in need. The efforts of all groups of volunteers who directly helped to improve services are sincerely appreciated and the Board extends its sincere thanks for these outstanding contributions. We look forward to supporting the development of new volunteer support services for breastfeeding mothers and those living with arthritis this year.
The relationship that the Board has established with the Alpine Shire continues to grow with the Alpine@Home service and we look forward to working with the Shire in 2013 on further integrated services such as child and maternal health and immunisation services.
The Board thanks the Bright and Myrtleford Hospital Opportunity Shops and their volunteers for their tireless dedication and support of their hospitals during the year. Their fundraising continues to provide improvements to our hospitals that may not otherwise be possible, all of which add significantly to the well-being of our patients and residents.
The establishment of strong partnerships with other health service agencies has become an