We are delighted to announce the winners from CALHN’s World-Class Care Quality and Improvement Showcase 2024.
Together, the high calibre of the winning (and short-listed) projects clearly demonstrates continual healthcare innovation at CALHN.
In the Innovation in Healthcare – Future Focussed category, the winning project is Falls Prevention Video Monitoring Trial, presented by Stacey Jelich and Tomsy Punnackappalil.
In Integrated Healthcare, the winning project is Partnering with consumers and primary care: how My PreHab bridges the hospital community gap to improve surgical outcomes. Study authors are Eleanor Bills, Prof Jane Andrews, Anastasia Dimopoulos, Sharyn Coles, Anne Burke, Kathryn Collins, Vicki Hume, Jackie Yeoh, Mandy Nolan and Ecushla Linedale.
In the Patients as Partners category, the winning project is Engaging with allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplant survivors to explore implementation of patient reported outcome measures into routine survivorship care. Study authors are Nicole Loft, Alia Cibich, Dr Kirsty Sharplin, Andrew Knox, Graham Lewis, Dr Hannah Wardill, Dr Nadia Corsini and Anastasia Morton.
In Improving Safety and Quality, the winning project is Reducing peripherally inserted central venous catheters associated blood stream infection in patients with haematological malignancies, presented by Dr Renjy Nelson, Diana Lagana and the Nursing Staffing team at the Infection Prevention Control Unit.
An extra set of eyes to prevent falls
In the Innovation in Healthcare – Future Focussed winning project, Nurse Unit Manager Stacey and colleagues assessed the effectiveness of close video monitoring to act as a supplementary measure to prevent falls in high-risk consumers during night shift at hospital.
In patients and families who provided consent to be involved, zero falls occurred during the trial period. The video monitoring capability allowed nurses to identify risk and intervene to prevent a fall on 150 occasions over three months.
The two other finalist projects in this category were:
- Implementation of a Robotic Surgery Program at Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) (learn more here)
- Improving telemedicine delivery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with diabetes-related foot complications using virtual reality technology (learn more here).
Common sense, low cost, consumer-friendly
CALHN’s My PreHab Program is an innovative, tech supported, scalable approach to screen patients for modifiable risk factors prior to elective surgery. Winner of the Integrated Healthcare category, lead author Eleanor Bills explained My PreHab is a sustainable, scalable, low-cost, common-sense approach that bridges the hospital-community gap with excellent reach, adoption and engagement.
Invited to provide feedback, My PreHab consumers said,
“For a person new to this type of surgery as much information they can be given or prepared to research, the better.”
“It outlined areas that I need to focus on which will help me to achieve a better pre-op and rehabilitation journey.”
The two other finalist projects in this category were:
- TQEH dietitian-led functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGiD) clinic delivers worldclass patient care with high patient satisfaction whilst reducing organisational cost (learn more here)
- Public Health Behind Bars: Integrating Care for BBV and STI Control in the Prison Population.
Patients are effective partners in clinical research
In the Patients as Partners category, winning study author Nicole explained that people who receive stem cell transplants are eager to share their experiences, which may include numerous and complex complications and impacts on their family and support networks. The project found that consumers are meaningful partners when co-designing research, and can be involved in all steps of the research process.
The two other finalist projects In this category were:
- Bridging The Gap in Out-of-Hospital Care for our CALHN Consumers: Establish Wrap-Around Multidisciplinary Urgent Care, driven by Consumer Experience and Choice, for our Geriatric Patients post fall, with/or without head strike, requiring investigation, assessment and a consumer led treatment plan in lieu of attending our hospitals
- Involving consumer representative in adverse incident investigations.
Significant reduction in blood stream infections
Dr Renjy Nelson and colleagues won the Improving Safety and Quality category for their study investigating an approach to reduce blood stream infections in patients with blood cancers.
The project assessed the impact of alcohol-impregnated disinfection caps applied to connectors on peripherally inserted central venous catheter (PICC) lines. Within the first six months of implementation, infections were reduced by more than 47%, and sixteen months later a reduction of more than 70% had been achieved.
The two other finalist projects in this category were:
- Video-based coaching to improve surgeon non-technical skills and improve patient outcomes
- Promotion of opioid stewardship in acute pain at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Sharing initiatives from across CALHN
CALHN’s World-Class Care Quality and Improvement Showcase presents an annual opportunity to share key initiatives from across the network. It provides a forum for our clinical and clinical support staff to learn the very latest in evidence-based health happening at our sites.
In each of four categories, three finalists presented their projects to an expert judging panel, and an audience of clinicians, clinical support staff, researchers, CALHN board members and leaders.
Other expert presentations at the 2024 Showcase were from Dr K-lynn Smith, Research Fellow at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University and Associate Professor Aditya Vyas, Deputy Director, HEAL Global Research Centre at the University of Canberra.
A panel discussion focused on future-proofing for healthcare sustainability.
