Emergency Department acknowledged for action to close the healthcare gap
After identifying gaps in culturally responsive care, Rockingham General Hospital (RGH) Aboriginal health liaison officers (AHLOs) and emergency department (ED) staff initiated the ‘Cultural safety in the ED’ project, which was recently recognised for improving the experience of our patients.
With the vision to create a more inclusive and safe environment for Aboriginal ED patients and families, RGH AHLOs and ED staff partnered with Aboriginal community members and health consumers to improve patient outcomes for Aboriginal people, while connecting non-Aboriginal patients and hospital staff to culture.
In pursuit of the goal of helping to close the healthcare gap, initiatives included engaging Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal staff in the formation of an ED Cultural Safety Group, face-to-face cultural awareness training for all RGH ED staff, the formation of referral pathways and a new process to support Aboriginal patients who leave the ED prematurely.
The project proved to be widely successful, with increased cultural security reported by Aboriginal patients, decreased ‘did not wait’ (DNW) rates, improved support mechanisms and direct feedback pathways for Aboriginal ED patients.
On Thursday 20 October 2022, the project was recognised for its contribution to patient outcomes, taking home the top prize in the ‘excellence in improving the patient experience’ category at the 2022 South Metropolitan Health Service (SMHS) Excellence Awards.
RGH Emergency Medicine Consultant, Dr Eve Foreman, explained it was important to take steps to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients feel safe and heard in the ED, as there are numerous systemic barriers they face in accessing healthcare.
“Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients have to feel safe and welcome in our ED so they are enabled to stay for care,” Eve said.
“We identified there was limited clinically applicable training for cultural awareness and safety for our staff, so we knew we needed to take responsibility in educating our entire ED multi-disciplinary team throughout the patient journey – from the staff our patients interact with in triage until discharge.
“I am so proud of our whole ED team, who all came in with an openness and enthusiasm to have honest conversations and were committed to do better for our community.
“I really hope this inspires other departments to make the cultural security and empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders patients part of the core business of their departments, and I invite anyone in the WA health system to get in touch so we can share our experience and help them implement a similar process.”
SMHS Chief Executive Paul Forden said he is continually impressed by the high calibre projects, teams and individuals who are in the running at the SMHS Excellence Awards every year.
“We are privileged at SMHS to have a cohort of staff and volunteers who are so passionate and committed to further improving the patient outcomes for our community,” Paul said.
“Congratulations and thank you to all the winners, finalists and nominees.”
Read more about our finalists and winners (external site).
