This is a comprehensive report of how Safer Care Victoria has worked to improve the quality and safety of Victorian healthcare in 2020–21.
We give an honest account of our performance, achievements and challenges for those we work closest with – consumers, clinicians, health services and government.
The report shows:
- We continued to support the state’s response to coronavirus (COVID-19), working with clinicians and consumers to deliver and share 51 COVID-19 related guidelines and 26 best care guidelines for non-urgent elective surgeries, conduct two safety reviews into the quarantine accommodation program, and track the indirect impact of the pandemic on the healthcare behaviours of Victorians. We also established the process for auditing hospital COVIDSafe plans, examined the reasons behind healthcare worker infections to inform prevention efforts, and established the Healthcare worker wellbeing centre.
- We continued to monitor patient safety risks, overseeing health service reviews of 170 sentinel events, conducting seven complex review of our own, sharing weekly summaries of product/medication recalls and issuing 13 high-level alerts to mitigate safety risks in Victorian healthcare.
- Our partnership with the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is paying dividends:
- The number of stillbirths fell by 24 per cent (20 lives) at health services participating in our Safer Baby Collaborative.
- The number of women experiencing severe perineal trauma through childbirth fell by 46 per cent (351 women) at health services participating in our Better Births for Women Collaborative.
- 640 people are now trained in best-practice improvement methodology.
- We recommenced a lot of work postponed due to the pandemic, completing numerous improvement projects and releasing clinical guidance on 10 topics.
- We are implementing organisational changes to better respond to the changing needs of government, the health system and the community. First announced in January 2020, we have transitioned the clinical networks into four centres of clinical excellence and are establishing a new engagement framework to seek input and advice from clinicians and consumers.
This report fulfils our reposting responsibilities under the Minister for Health’s state of expectations.