Health service planning and sustainable development: considering what, where and how care is delivered through a pro-environmental lens
- Authors: Desmond, Sharon
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Australian Health Review Vol. 42, no. 2 (2018), p. 140-145
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: The aim of the present paper was to review the opportunities currently available to health service planners to advance sustainable development in their future-facing roles within health service organisation. Critical challenges and enablers to facilitate health services planners in adopting a pro-environmental lens are discussed. What is known about the topic? Despite its harmful effect on the environment, health has been slower than other industries to embrace the sustainable development agenda. The attitudes and knowledge base of health service planners with regard to environmental sustainability has not been widely studied. For health service planners, embracing pro-environmental considerations in sustainable model of care development is a powerful opportunity to review care paradigms and prepare for the implementation of meaningful, improved health and system efficiency. What does this paper add? This paper advances the case for health service planners to embrace a pro-environmental stance and guides health service leaders in the preparation and implementation of sustainable and improved health and system efficiency. What are the implications for practitioners? Health service planers are in an ideal position to champion the sustainable development agenda as they explore what care is delivered, how care is delivered and where care is delivered. External policy, health service leadership and carbon literacy are advanced as critical contextual factors to facilitate the key role that health service planners can play in building sustainable healthcare organisations.
Managing projected midwifery workforce deficits through collaborative partnerships
- Authors: McIntyre, Meredith , Patrick, Alison , Jones, Linda , Newton, Michelle , McLachlan, Helen , Morrow, Jane , Morton, Harriet
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Australian Health Review Vol. 36, no. 1 (2012), p. 75-78
- Full Text: false
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- Description: To address workforce shortages, the Australian Government funded additional nursing and midwifery places in 2009 pre-registration courses. An existing deficit in midwifery clinical placements, combined with the need to secure additional clinical placements, contributed to a serious shortfall. In response, a unique collaboration between Midwifery Academics of Victoria (MIDAC), rural and metropolitan maternity managers (RMM andMMM)groups and Department of Health (DOH) Victoria was generated, in order to overcome difficulties experienced by maternity services in meeting the increased need. This group identified the large number of different clinical assessment tools required to be being completed by midwives supervising students as problematic. It was agreed that the development of a Common Assessment Tool (CAT) for use in clinical assessment across all pre-registration midwifery courses in Victoria had the potential to reduce workload associated with student assessments and, in doing so, release additional placements within each service. The CAT was developed in 2009 and implemented in 2010. The unique collaboration involved in the development of theCATis a blueprint for future projects. The collaboration on this project provided a range of benefits and challenges, as well as unique opportunities for further collaborations involving industry, government, regulators and the tertiary sector. © 2012 AHHA.