Overview
We help health services:
- prevent and learn from patient harm
- identify and deliver service improvements
- engage with consumers.
We support health services to get better and to help keep Victorians safe. For more information, see:
How we help health services
We work with health services to:
- review adverse events
- respond to safety risks/issues and prevent harm
- understand data and identify areas to improve.
- drive improvement through targeted projects and training
- develop best practice clinical guidance and resources.
Our structure
We are an administrative office of the Department of Health under Section 11 of the Public Administration Act 2004.
While we stand apart in many respects, we work closely with the department and other government agencies to ensure we collaborate, make good decisions and don’t duplicate efforts.
Our agency is led by:
- a chief executive officer who reports directly to the Secretary, Department of Health
- our executive leadership team, comprising Victoria’s chief clinical officers and the senior leaders of our four branches.
Our functions
Clinical and professional leadership
- Provides expert advice and champions key projects through clinical chiefs and senior advisors.
- Provides key contacts for senior clinicians on quality and safety matters.
- Represents us on state and national bodies.
- Provide leadership and strategic direction in mental health quality and safety improvements, aligning with the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System.
- Deliver initiatives aimed at standardising and improving clinical care in maternal and child health.
Safety
- Continuously monitors the Victorian healthcare system to identify potential risks of poor outcomes.
- Takes proactive measures and collaborates with stakeholders to prevent these outcomes from occurring.
- Detects instances of poor outcomes through safety and quality signal monitoring within the Victorian healthcare system.
- Initiates actions to reduce the risk of recurrence and enhance patient safety.
- Builds capability and skill in improvement, co-design and clinical governance across the health care system to align safety and improvement.
Improvement
- Specialises in healthcare improvement, co-design and innovation
- Leads high-impact improvement initiatives, partnering with health services to enhance health outcomes for Victorians.
- Develops and sustains a network of clinical and improvement experts to drive continuous system improvement and foster innovation.
- Oversees the design and implementation of the Safer Together improvement program, focusing on four key domains:
- Reducing hospital-acquired complications and harm.
- Minimising low-value care.
- Reducing avoidable admissions.
- Enhancing medicines management.
- The program includes the 100,000 Lives Initiatives: Aiming to improve care and outcomes for 100,000 Victorians by 30 June 2026.
Operations
- Facilitates the operationalisation of strategy and ensures compliance for SCV as an administrative body.
- Leads finance and procurement functions.
- Manages relationships with key stakeholders, including the Coroners Court of Victoria and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.
- Leads the implementation of the Partnering in Healthcare framework, promoting meaningful consumer engagement across SCV, the Department of Health, and the broader Victorian health system.
- Supports CCOPMM and the Victorian Perioperative Consultative Council.