SVHA continues to focus on providing staff with a safer workplace. Each year we have improved our performance and pleasingly that has continued over 2018-19.

SVHA uses Lost Time Injuries (LTI) and the Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) as measures of workplace safety because they are universal yardsticks for any full working day, or shift, lost to injury. Another key indicator is how many hazards have been identified because it prevents injuries occurring.

The tables below show the journey St Vincent’s has experienced between 2013 and 2019; from when the organisation commenced this change in culture, through to the past 12 months.

LTIs & LTIFR

HAZARDS IDENTIFIED

The year has also seen a focus on developing a more consistent and educationally sound approach to the development of SVHA’s people. This started in mid-2018 with the introduction of Workday Learning, a common platform for the provision and management of learning, together with a suite of custom-built online courses. This process continues with enhancements of the platform and the addition of more digital learning.

Key achievements for the year include: the suite of custom-built SVHA online courses provided through Workday Learning has grown to 21; 44 online quizzes have been developed to assess the knowledge components of clinical education; we have commenced ‘in-house’ Enrolled Nurse programs in NSW and Qld; the on-boarding of nursing staff has been reviewed, with enhancements progressively trialled and implemented; a review of the clinical competency education provided to nurses is underway, with improvements being developed that maintain excellent clinical outcomes, ensure compliance with the National Standards, and target learning where it is most required; and the SVHA learning function now operates as a collaborative group, working together to enhance the quality on offer, and increasing the level of consistency in approach across the organisation.

St Vincent’s Health is also deeply committed to providing employment opportunities to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and is a signatory to the Commonwealth Government’s Employment Parity Initiative.

At the end of 2018-19, SVHA employed 229 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff across its facilities – hospitals, aged care, and Group Office – just short of its target of 250 as the table below shows.

Each year SVHA’s momentum increases and the organisation has a range of initiatives planned to increase its number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff. SVHA’s target for 30 June 2020 is 350 which is ambitious, but the organisation is excited about the challenge and is confident it can be achieved.