Safer Care Victoria

The QSEC members are appointed for a term of up to three years, with an additional term possible, subject to council approval, but for no longer than two terms.

The QSEC Chair is Associate Professor Jill Sewell AM. Professor Sewell was a consultant paediatrician at the Centre for Community Child Health at The Royal Children’s Hospital. She is active in many fields including medical ethics, paediatric and other medical education, medical regulation, quality improvement, health policy and service delivery.

The Mental Health Learning Health Network (LHN) governance in our Mental Health Improvement Program is in development with an aim to establish an advisory group and data group by September 2023. These groups will bring together diverse groups of mental healthcare workers (clinical and non-clinical), individuals with lived experience (consumers and carers/family), alongside academics, researchers, and data experts to collaboratively create sustainable improvements to the Victorian mental health system in response to the Royal Health Commission’s recommendations.

Aim

To keep Safewards self-sustaining. 

Scope

Undertaking activities to support sustainability of Safewards wherever consumers are present.

Timeframe

June 2023

This project aims to improve access to and use of organisational support by mental health nurses to deliver high quality clinical supervision. It will support and develop Victoria's mental health nursing workforce by establishing a set of standards for organisations, supervisors and supervisees to benchmark against.

Aim    

The implementation of a clinical supervision framework.

Scope        

To encapsulate all public mental health and wellbeing nurses.

Capability planning and design for the implementation of practice frameworks to support the reform and transformation of care. Clinical,  lived experience and non-clinical workforces will be supported to integrate new practices into care partnerships and deliver mental health treatments and support.

Aim    

To be developed with co-design group.

We will work with six mental health and wellbeing services to reducing compulsory treatment in community mental health and wellbeing services. This improvement initiative will identify people with lived experience (consumer and carer) and clinical backgrounds to co-design the aim and change ideas to support reducing compulsory treatment at the service level.

Aim   

To be developed with co-design group commencing in March 2023.

One outcome of the Mental Health Royal Commission was for Safer Care Victoria to support health care services to adopt the Zero Suicide Framework. The Gold Coast Mental Health Specialist Service successfully implemented the framework, inspiring state health departments in South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and New Zealand to adopt the framework.

We have the opportunity to partner with health services to lead this work in Victoria. This improvement initiative is the beginning of larger scale work with health services across the state.

Background

The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health system presented what a reimagined mental health system could look like, and how it would support the mental health and wellbeing of Victorians for years to come. The current system means that staff have no option but to view restraint and seclusion as 'inevitable' to ensure their own safety. Like consumers, staff also experience distress in using seclusion and restraint. 

The Mental health improvement program will work with mental health services to improve healthcare in Victorian publicly funded mental health and wellbeing services, making them safer, and more effective, appropriate and connected.

We’re working in partnership with consumers, carers, families and supporters, and the mental health and wellbeing workforce and content knowledge leaders to partner in quality improvement programs.