Annual Report 1996-97

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Annual Report 1996-97 Contents Mission 1 15 Statistics for Mental Health Services 111 Message from the Director-General 2 16 Capital Works Projects 117 Highlights 4 17 Recommendations from the Royal Organisational Structure 8 Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody 120 Our History 9 18 Wood Royal Commission into Police About NSW Health 11 Corruption - Paedophile Reference 121 How We Performed 13 19 Freedom of Information Public Health and Chief Health Officer 17 Statistical Summary 122 Policy Development 19 20 Infectious Disease Notification in NSW - Number of Cases Notified 1983 to 1994 123 Performance Management 21 21 Research Grants Made by Corporate Services 23 the Department 1996/97 127 Finance and Commercial Services 25 22 Research and Development Undertaken Information and Asset Services 31 by the Department 1996/96 127 Executive Support Unit 33 23 Non-government Organisations Funded Health Public Affairs 35 by the Department During 1996/97 126 Audit 38 24 Selected Significant Publications 136 Metropolitan Area Health Services 39 25 Selected Significant Committees of the Department 137 Rural Health Services 44 26 Significant Circulars Released by Other NSW Health Services 47 NSW Health During 1996/97 140 Financial Statements 49 27 Code of Conduct 142 Appendices 28 Fraud Policy 144 29 NSW Health Commitment to Service 145 1 Addresses and Telephone Numbers of NSW Health and Statewide Services 85 30 Business Plan 147 2 Profiles of Area and Rural Health Services 86 Glossary of Terms 149 3 Three year comparison of Key Items of Index 150 Expenditure 91 Health Service Quick Reference 152 4 Chief Executive and Senior Executive Service 92 NSW Health 5 Selected data for hospitals and Annual Report 1996/97 health services 96 ISSN 0815-4961 SHPN (HPA) 970116 6 Hospital Statistics for the State of New South Wales 100 NSW Health Department is located at 73 Miller 7 Acts Administered by NSW Street, North Sydney. You can visit anytime between Minister for Health And 8.00am and 5.30pm, reception is on Level 5. Legislative Changes During 1996/97 101 Postal address LMB 961, North Sydney 2059 8 Staff Awards 102 Internet address: www.health.nsw. gov.au 9 Number of Staff Employed in the Public Health System 104 Cover Story 10 Equal Employment Opportunity Statistics 105 NSW Health working with you and your community to improve health, equity of access, 11 Personnel Policies and Practices 106 and quality of care and service. 12 Number of Registered Health Professionals in NSW 107 Further copies of this report are available from the 13 Overseas Visits By Staff 108 Better Health Centre, 162 Blues Point Road, North Sydney 2060 or the report can be downloaded from 14 Central Administration - Consultants Used During 1996/96 110 our internet site. NSW Health Annual Report for the financial year ended 30 June 1997 The Hon. Andrew Refshauge MP Deputy Premier, Minister for Health and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Parliament House Macquarie Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 Dear Dr Refshauge In compliance with the terms of the Annual Reports (Departments) Act 1985, the Annual Report (Statutory Bodies) Act 1984 and the Public Finance and Audit Act 1983, I submit the Annual Report and Financial Statements of NSW Health for the financial year ended 30 June 1997 for presentation to Parliament. Yours sincerely A day in the life of NSW Health Michael Reid 3,604 Director-General people are admitted for treatment 19,228 Mission people are undergoing inpatient treatment To enable the people of NSW to have the best health in the world. 57,703 receive non-inpatient services The health system has two major responsibilities: 4,531 • to be concerned about all aspects of the health of the population; and people are treated in emergency departments • to provide a high quality and efficient network of health services. 22,448 people receive outpatient treatment Goals Improving health: maintaining an ongoing concern with the health of the population and outcome of programs and services; Improving equity of access: ensuring access to comprehensive services is available on the basis of need; and Improving quality of care and service: fostering best practice, providing the patient with a clear and easy pathway through the system and managing resources effectively. Corporate Charter The NSW Health Department is established under Section 6 of the Health Administration Act 1982. The Department supports the Minister in performing his executive and statutory functions which include ‘promoting, protecting, developing, maintaining and improving the health and well-being of the people of New 1 South Wales, to the maximum extent possible, having regard to the needs of and financial and other resources available to the State’. Message from the Director-General It has been a busy year for health and for me. Since my appointment as Director-General in March I have carried on the tradition I established as Chief General Manager of getting out, listening to and communicating with people in the health system. Throughout the year I have visited most health services throughout NSW to see at first hand health improvement initiatives, research activities and capital works projects across the spectrum of community based, hospital and nursing home care. On my appointment, I announced a more streamlined structure for top management in the Department. Under the new structure, there are three second tier positions: Deputy Director-General Operations; Deputy Director- General Policy; and Deputy Director-General Public Health and Chief Health Officer. To further enhance the Department’s focus on mental health, the Centre for Mental Health was moved from the Public Health Division to the Policy Division. The Deputy Director-General Operations manages the areas of Corporate Services, Performance Management, Finance and Commercial Services and Information and Asset Management. During the year the Department undertook a major initiative within the health system by introducing, developing and implementing Performance Agreements with health services. The objectives of the Performance Agreements were designed to maintain accountability within the health system, clarify roles and responsibilities and strengthen the existing partnership between the Department and health services. To date the program has proved very successful, but to strengthen the Performance Agreements in 1997/98 an agreed level of baseline and enhancement activity with associated funding will be included. At the end of 1996 the Deputy Premier and Minister for Health established a Ministerial Committee to advise on the development and implementation of a coordinated approach to monitoring the quality of health care in New South Wales. The Ministerial Advisory Committee on Quality Health Care has been active in following up on its brief by focussing on three important dimensions of quality in health care: safety of care; appropriateness of care; and the role that patients and consumers have in contributing to the planning, policy making and performance of health services. The past year has seen an increasing emphasis on clinical practice that is evidence based, seamless and aimed at improving the health status and outcomes of individuals as well as improving the health of the population at large. This poses many challenges to the traditional ways that health services; • have been funded; • have provided services; and • have been accountable to health consumers. Early in 1997 each of the metropolitan Area Health Services and the New Children’s Hospital developed Winter Strategy plans, with the aim of effectively managing patient access to hospital care over the winter months. Initiatives were implemented to enhance emergency services and other hospital resources (beds, staff etc) during winter, in a bid to decrease waiting times for emergency patients and to ensure the availability of inpatient beds for those patients requiring them. With the onset of winter and in accordance with the plans, the Areas opened over 200 additional beds, increased medical, nursing and allied health staff levels and adjusted the amount of booked admissions in order to effectively manage the increased winter workload. These initiatives have eased the pressures on emergency departments and on inpatient areas of the hospitals. During 1997 the Ambulance Service entered into an Accord with the Sydney metropolitan Area Health Services to achieve and maintain unrestricted access for the Ambulance Service to hospital emergency departments. The Accord and the Winter Strategy bed management plans appear to have contributed to a marked reduction in the occasions of restricted access to emergency departments over recent months. During June 1997, for example, 2 there were 75% less hours of restricted access to emergency departments in the Sydney metropolitan Area, than occurred during June 1996. While admissions remain reasonably stable, there has been growth in the areas of non-inpatient services, hospital outpatient services, emergency department services and day surgery. Non-inpatient occasions of service such as dental and community health services increased by 1.1 per cent or an extra 225,000. Day surgery admissions to public hospitals increased by 18,600 or 3.9 per cent compared to last year. This trend will continue with the further development of new short-acting anaesthetics, improved pain management techniques and advances in surgical technology. This year has seen the start on the $90 million Blacktown - Mount Druitt Hospitals redevelopment securing state- of-the-art facilities for thousands of families in Western Sydney. There was also the successful move of the Royal Hospital for Women from Paddington to Randwick. The new $42 million hospital will be a centre of excellence for women’s health. During the year the Department has put together an exhibition “100 Years of Caring” in celebration of the Centenary of the implementation of the first Public Health Act. The exhibition will tour News South Wales and be on display in all Health Services throughout New South Wales over the next two years. These and other major achievements of NSW Health are highlighted throughout this report.
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