The inaugural Metro South Bariatric Symposium has brought together clinicians, consumers, researchers and industry partners to improve care for bariatric patients.
Held at Princess Alexandra Hospital on 20 October, the symposium was organised by a multidisciplinary committee and provided an opportunity to share knowledge and showcase innovative work occurring across Metro South.
The event focused on improving access to specialised equipment, and delivering evidence-based, person-centred care that focussed on dignity.
Advanced Health Practitioner and planning committee member, Tanya Barnes, explained the importance of prevention, partnership and safe systems of delivering person-centred care for bariatric patients.
"It's not only about access to appropriate equipment, but also about the inclusion of patients in their care to put their needs first," Tanya said.
"This event goes beyond education and collaboration across the disciplines to developing workforce capability and our commitment to foster a culture of continuous improvement."
Nurse Manager responsible for PA Hospital's Central Clinical Resource Unit, Jalpaben Patel said equipment and manual handling experience for bariatric care was a key focus for healthcare delivery.
"Resources are limited for bariatric patients and we would love to obtain more equipment but also improve the flow of information from the front door so that we can provide more timely and dignified support for these patients," Jalpaben said.
"We hope the symposium will prompt frontline staff to reflect and plan for how they will provide the same high-level of care to bariatric patients."
The symposium featured speakers from multiple clinical disciplines, digital health and bariatric care advocacy including respected educator, advocate and leader in bariatric care, Tracey Carr who inspired with her lived experience on how organisations can deliver equitable care.
Caz Hales spoke from her experience as a healthcare leader on improving bariatric care with clinical governance and system improvement with a presentation titled 'Why good people working in poor systems still produce poor outcomes.'
It was a delight to welcome the perspectives of the Queensland Ambulance Service with Catherine Sharpe presenting the QAS Falls Co-Response Program, a collaboration between Queensland Health and the QAS on the management of bariatric patients following a fall in the community.
Program presentations and the panel discussion centred on the importance of planning in advance for patient needs and recognising that bariatric care requires specialised equipment such as beds, wheelchairs and hoists, and that aging infrastructure within some hospital wards needs to be considered as part of the bed-management platform when planning admissions.
Nurse Educator in Surgery at QEII Hospital, Richa Virdi said that interdepartmental communication was essential in preparing for their specific needs on the ward.
"Communication with patient flow and pre-admission is very important, as well as flags in the electronic medical record," Richa said.
Richa's work at QEII Hospital has been particularly effective, with the ongoing support of the hospital leadership to extend bariatric care and patient handling workshops from four to six hours.
The first six-hour ward unit trainer program will be delivered on 26 November, helping frontline staff develop the skills and confidence needed to provide direct care for bariatric patients.
"The training workshop is a great way to help staff plan to care for patients of a certain size and have that conversation with their team," she said.
Thanks to the investment of the program committee and speakers, an overarching theme of empowerment, compassion and preserving dignity infused the sessions.
The committee thanks the support of consumer representatives who were so generous with their time and perspectives as well as event sponsors:
- Gold – Be Home Sooner, JD Healthcare and Umano
- Silver – Aidacare, Active MEdical, Arjo and Baxter.