The QEII Clinical Governance Unit has been recognised for its outstanding contribution to patient care, taking home the hospital’s Staff Rewards & Recognition Partnering with Consumers Award.
Announcing the win, Acting Executive Director Julie Argus congratulated the team for the impact of their work in strengthening patient-centred care across the hospital.
“The Clinical Governance Unit at QEII promotes contemporary, best practice in consumer engagement and participation at all levels – from promoting individual health literacy through to embedding consumer partnering in governance systems and providing person-centred, compassionate responses through consumer liaison,” Julie said.
“Consumer partnering is in the fabric of everything and everyone in the team.”
Director of Clinical Governance Anna Greig said the unit plays a vital role in supporting safe and high-quality care across the facility.
“We’re responsible for ensuring patient safety, providing our consumer liaison service, quality reviews, coronial liaison, quality improvement, supporting organisational governance and committees, and our accreditation processes,” Anna said.
“In a nutshell, we support safe and quality care for our patients, ensuring outcomes of their stay in hospital are consistent with a good experience. It’s about making sure we learn from our mistakes and continually improve.”
A key part of this work is supporting patients and families who contact the hospital with concerns.
Consumer Liaison Officer Kerri Radovanovich said she guides patients and family members through the process of raising issues with the hospital.
“My role is to reassure people that we are going to review their concerns and, if there are any learnings from them, we will take those on to improve the services we provide,” Kerri said.
“I’m the liaison, the in-between for the facility and the consumer. I escalate things, get the right answers and make sure the resolution we get to is in the interest of both parties.”
Beyond responding to feedback and complaints, the team supports staff through incident reviews, quality improvement initiatives and accreditation processes, helping embed person-centred care across the organisation.
“Championing contemporary good practice is important,” Anna said.
“It’s not just about accreditation; it’s about the quality of what we deliver and encouraging others in the same vein.”
The unit also works to create a culture where staff feel comfortable raising patient safety concerns.
“Creating psychological safety is important so people feel there is a place they can come to talk about patient care concerns if they need to,” Anna said.
The team’s work also extends to supporting families and staff when a patient passes away to ensure timely administration and accurate documentation, helping coordinate processes with the coroner’s office while ensuring families receive compassionate support.
Looking ahead, the team hopes to continue building awareness of their role across the hospital.
“We’re keen to continue supporting staff through quality improvement projects and ensuring we close the loop on incident reviews, while recognising the wellbeing of staff involved.”
The unit says a little help from Finlay the therapy dog also plays a role in keeping morale high, with the team joking he is their unofficial “plug on service”.
Their award recognises not only their commitment to strong governance systems, but their dedication to ensuring patients, families and staff remain at the centre of care at QEII Hospital.