Organisation: Mental Health Commission
Job Title: Principal Officer – Reviews
Location: East Perth
Highly developed project management and report writing skills
Between 1998 and 2007 my wife and I bought, renovated and sold approximately 70 properties,
some of these were very small renovations and some were major. To track these renovation
projects I developed a spreadsheet that stepped us through every sequential step of the process
to make sure that everything was done in the most efficient, cost effective way.
Prior to purchasing the project, we would perform a due diligence utilising financial modelling
spreadsheets I had created to do this. I would estimate costs of required renovations and input
this into the spreadsheet; the spreadsheet was designed to add an overage to account for any
variances to the project.
Using spreadsheets to track the project lifecycle I would schedule tradesman to be onsite at the
required time in the project. It was important to adjust the schedule regularly, as one delay would
have a flow on effect causing delays to the rest of the project. As per the communication plan, I
would distribute this tracking spreadsheet by email to all relevant contractors on a Monday
morning during the project lifecycle. This was especially important, as we would generally have
multiple projects running concurrently and the team of tradespeople would be working on those
multiple projects with us so this also enabled them to schedule their working week efficiently.
A separate workbook was used to track budget, actuals, and project milestones. One spreadsheet
would contain the budgeted figures, another would track actual expenditure and a third would
track project milestones. This allowed us to report on budget versus actuals and investigate
reasons for project variances in expenditure. Tracking the project milestones in this spreadsheet
also provided the opportunity to track project progress and redistribute budget costs if / when
these milestones changed. These tools also allowed me to report on project process to relevant
stakeholders for example, the bank as required.
Working on these projects required the establishment of great working relationships with all
stakeholders in the project, including tradespeople and representatives from the bank. The
creation of great working relations, constantly reviewing timeframes, sequences, what was going
well, investigating savings potential, and comparing budgeted versus actual expenditure resulted
in the projects generally being finished on time and in line with budget costs and variance
safeguards.
Highly developed interpersonal and verbal communication skills, and negotiation skills
I currently work in the emergency department (ED) of Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital as a psychiatric
liaison nurse (PLN) under the Department of Psychiatry. My responsibilities as a PLN is for mental
health patients who present to the ED. I am regularly called upon to educate the ED staff, a lot of
them do not have an in-depth knowledge of psychiatry and I am required to educate them as well
as negotiate patient’s ongoing care. If we are unable to transfer a mental health patient to an
appropriate psychiatric setting, they will be required to stay in the ED for a period, generally one
to five days. This causes frustration and problems with the ED staff, as they want to move them
out of ED to free up beds.
One of the main challenges I face is an underlying prejudice towards people with mental health
issues, because they do not look injured or unwell, at times they will be perceived as taking up
valuable beds that should be used for sick people. This is where I am required to utilise my highly
developed interpersonal and communication skills to provide education on the patient’s needs,
illnesses, and educating them around the resources psychiatry has available to it.
It is very rare that I will have any available secure beds, particularly over the weekend, and if I
need to place someone under the Mental Health Act, they will be required to stay in the ED until a
bed becomes available. The main concern with this from an ED perspective is that this action can
take up a significant portion of ED resources, as they will need to assign a nurse special, and the
patient care required is more intensive and involved than other patients. At any one time, the ED
can have up to six mental health patients in beds at the same time.
At times staff members will be annoyed with a patient being placed under the Mental Health Act.
That is where my negotiation skills come in to salvage injured feelings and explain the realities of
the situation. I need to manage the relationships with the ED and I find that if you are forthcoming
with information and offer assistance as required the team members are more receptive to this.
The main message I need to convey is the situation is out of everyone’s control and we all need to
work together to provide the best possible care to all patients.
The results of these discussions are generally positive, team members understand why the patient
is there and they do what they can to work with you and follow the patients care plan while they
are in the ED.
Additionally, one of my principal functions in the ED is triage, I am an ambassador for mental
health and I often deal with people, patients and family, who have never encountered mental
health previously. My role is to educate them and alleviate their anxiety about the situation. In my
experience, if people are adequately and properly informed, they are less anxious and more
forgiving of delays. Therefore I use my experience to provide them with as much knowledge and
information as possible so they know what to expect and do not have any surprises.
Demonstrated knowledge and experience in one or more of compliance, accreditation, audit
and review activities
I co-authored a guide to family trusts in New Zealand with my wife. In writing this guide, we took a
highly technical, legal subject, and made it understandable to the layperson. I was also involved in
producing trading trusts for approximately 400 lawyers nationwide, as well as the public. At times,
I acted as the trustee for these trusts. Due to the nature of these trusts, we were involved in
auditing their activities to ensure they were compliant with trust laws in place at that time.
A business activity I had was offering contributory mortgages, where we were taking funds from
the investing public and providing loans to property developers. Providing these loans required us
to comply with the requirements of the New Zealand Securities Commission (NZSC).
There were standards we had to comply with on a daily basis, and because we were taking
investment funds from the public and on loaning this to developers, we were under intense
scrutiny. As the general founder of the company, I managed these processes. All accounts were
required to be audited and consequently, we applied high standards to ensure all expenditure was
correctly accounted and was used for operating the company and not to contribute to a flashy
lifestyle.
To comply with reporting requirements of the NZSC we were required to report to the commission
and our investors to meet the minimum requirements under the New Zealand Securities Act. We
also had to ensure our borrowers were up to date with repayments, capital requirements, and any
other restrictions placed on their loan.
To confirm our borrowers were complying with conditions for example, when building a property
they would have the roof on by a certain date, we would physically inspect these properties to
make sure these milestones were met. To manage all aspects of the loan we used the loan
monitoring software, finPOWER.
From an audit perspective we were required to report to the NZSC on a quarterly basis. We also
performed general audits twice yearly in the form of a general 6-month audit and then a major 12-
month audit.
This resulted in our company fulfilling every single promise we made in our prospectus and end
statement. We never had a borrower default on their loan terms, and all investors were paid
monies with interest as stipulated in the prospectus. This is of particular significance as this
occurred during the time of the global financial crisis (GFC) and many of our investors were from
the same group of people who had been impacted by the GFC. To appease their concerns, I
phoned them on a weekly basis to keep them updated on progress and to alleviate any concerns
they may have had. We also met all compliance requirements of the NZSC.
Demonstrated knowledge of investigative skills and processes
When offering contributory mortgages, as discussed in the previous selection criteria, part of this
process was vetting applications from property developers for loans. This required in-depth
investigations of the borrowers regarding the intricacies of the property development they were
planning, to confirm the numbers stacked up. At the end of the day, I was acutely aware that the
money we were loaning ultimately belonged to ma and pa investors, as such, we took our due
diligence very seriously.
The investigation involved an in-depth review of the property development proposal, with
particular focus on the area of financial and cost projections. I also investigated whether
assumptions included in the proposals were valid and were not over or under inflated. This meant
I was often required to compare similar developments to ensure developers assumptions and
costs, for example, the income they were expecting from the property, and sales prices, were
realistic and in line with market conditions at the time. This was a complex process.
To determine if costs were accurate, I would contact their proposed suppliers directly and talk to
them about costs, and the potential for overruns and potential savings. To determine sales prices
and rental income I would utilise my extensive contacts with New Zealand real estates and check
to make sure the projections were accurate in relation to the market at the time.
Some of the loans involved proposals for multi property developments and in some cases there
were already offers in place from buyers who had bought off the plan. I would work with the
developers’ solicitors to make sure these were actual investments and pre-sales were not
fabricated. These investigations resulted in the identification of a false pre-sale and subsequently, I
rejected the loan request because of this.
I issued loans to the developers who were the most credit worthy based on their figures,
investigation findings and their character. The result of this was that all loans were paid on time
every time and we never had an instance where a borrower was in arrears. All investors were
repaid in line with contracted timeframes. This also ensured we complied with all requirements of
the NZSC during this time.
Extensive clinical experience in mental health care and service systems
Approved as a Mental Health Practitioner in 2012 I hold current registration with the Australian
College of Mental Health Nurses. Additionally, I undertook training through the Office of the Chief
Psychiatrist for the ‘Mental Health Act 2014 Train the trainers’ program and as such I am qualified
to train other staff in this act. Because of this, I am required to hold an in-depth knowledge of this
Act.
Having completed my studies at the Wellington Hospital Board School of Nursing, Porirua in 1984,
I have over 30 years of experience in nursing, mostly in forensic settings, with approximately 6
years of service in a national security unit. Following this, I spent approximately 7 years in the
regional forensic service.
The regional forensic service is a fifteen bed medium secure unit. While there, I was required to
perform assessments of risk / acuity rating on patients and allocate staffing resources based on
acuity level. I was responsible and accountable for the overall functions of the unit including client
allocation, and staff supervision.
Whilst working for the Health Department / Wanganui Area Health Board, I was appointed to the
position of senior staff nurse in the National Security Unit. This unit was New Zealand’s only
dedicated maximum-security forensic unit. My responsibilities included all aspects of patient care
in a maximum-security environment including being involved in the development of a training
program to teach staff to deal with challenging incidents.
Currently, I am a psychiatric liaison nurse (PLN) under the Department of Psychiatry in the
emergency department (ED) of Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and have been in this role for over
five years. This is the busiest ED in Perth in terms of mental health load as the toxicology centre is
located here and St John’s brings the majority of overdose cases directly to our ED. Once patients
are cleared by toxicology, they are presented to the psychiatry unit.
Since August 2015, when the mental health unit opened I have worked predominately on night
shift. As the only staff member rostered on during this period, I am personally responsible for the
admission of patients in the system. This has opened up a variety of challenges and has required
me to strengthen my relationship with other departments especially the emergency doctors, as I
require them to prescribe medications for patients. Due to the relationships I have established
with these doctors, they act on my knowledge and advice regarding medication particular patients
need.
Ability to work independently and within a team and to use high levels of initiative to achieve
required outcomes
Since August 2015, when the mental health unit opened I have worked predominately on night
shift. As the only staff member rostered on during this period, I am personally responsible for the
admission of patients in the system. Because of this, I need to ensure I maintain strong
relationships with staff in all departments to achieve the best care for a mental health patient at a
given point in time.
As a senior staff nurse in the regional forensic service in New Zealand, we had a patient transfer
from the forensic unit. This case was extremely complex, the patient was being treated after a
violent crime perpetrated by the patient. When I heard about the case, I volunteered to be the key
worker in this case as it would be a challenge to manage the patients care.
The largest challenge in this case was not the patient but the management of the staff providing
daily care. The patient specifically challenged the staff, and was able to stir up many emotions
with all staff, including the occupational therapists, psychologists, nurses, and even the medical
staff, to the point where staff were divided about the ongoing care and management of the
patient.
To ensure all staff involved in the patients care stayed on the agreed, consistent approach to care,
I found myself providing clinical supervision to them, and I was constantly monitoring and
reviewing emotional responses to the situation. There were two staff in particular that needed
additional supervision; I arranged meetings with both staff regularly during the week, sometimes
together and sometimes separately. Together we constantly reviewed the goals of the patient’s
care, the approach we had agreed to take, as well as reviewing their actions.
The two staff members were emotionally clouded in the early days and I needed to work with
them to show them the difficulties they were experiencing was as a direct result of their emotional
response to the patient rather than the mental illness of the patient. Whilst working with these
staff members I regularly reported to the psychiatrists so they were aware of the situation.
Following consultation with the psychiatrist, we made the decision to remove one of the staff
members from the direct care of the patient. The other staff member came to understand the
most effective means of interacting with the patient and this staff member eventually became an
effective team member.
I was also required to write a weekly report that was presented at the clinical review on a
fortnightly basis. This report included details of the patient’s day-to-day life including positive or
negative progress, any major events, and response to medication, concerns from the patient or
about the patient from care providers. Where appropriate I would also make recommendations to
the clinical review team regarding ongoing management such as things to be added or things to be
stopped. Generally, my recommendations were implemented. With a situation such as this, you
are constantly endeavouring to fine-tune a patient’s care so they receive the best possible care
available. The ultimate goal of the patient’s care was to reintegrate them with the community,
when I left the department; this process was in the early stages.
Desirable Selection Criteria
Tertiary qualifications in a health services profession
I am a qualified and registered Psychiatric Nurse having completed my studies at the Wellington
Hospital Board School of Nursing, Porirua in 1984. I hold current registration with the AHPRA my
registration number is NMW0001482012.
Knowledge and understanding of the Western Australian Mental Health Act 2014, and the
Criminal Law (Mentally Impaired Defendants) Act 1996
In my role as a Psychiatric Liaison Nurse, I am responsible for the assessment and triage of all
mental health clients who present to the Emergency Department, as such, I am required to have
working knowledge of both the Criminal Law (Mentally Impaired Defendants) Act 1996, and the
Western Australian Mental Health Act 2014.
The Mental Health Act 2014 came into effect late 2015. I received training by the Office of the
Chief Psychiatrist for the ‘Mental Health Act 2014 Train the trainers’ program and as such I am
qualified to train other staff in this act. Because of this, I am required to hold an in-depth
knowledge of this Act.
Current knowledge of legislative obligations for Equal Opportunity, Disability Services and
Occupational Safety and Health, and how these impact on employment and service delivery
Equal Opportunity (EO) policy specifically under the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 provides a
framework to ensure that workplaces are free from unlawful discrimination and harassment and
that there are programs in place to assist employees or potential employees who may belong to a
particular EO group. Under this policy, management, and staff supervisors have a duty of care and
responsibilities that include
– Providing employees with equal opportunity to apply for available jobs, training and
development, higher duties, and flexible working hours
– Taking steps to ensure that all work practices and behaviours are fair and free from all
forms of unlawful discrimination and harassment
– Ensuring selection processes are based on merit, transparent, and consistent
Probably the biggest impact I face on a daily basis relating to EO is to make sure that all mental
health presentations to the Emergency Department (ED) receive the same provision of care as
everyone else. There tends to be a negative perception of mental health patients as they do not
appear sick or injured therefore, I am required to stand up for them to ensure they receive the
same level of care as other patients.
The other impact is contact with patients under Disability Services, either intellectual or mental
disabilities that a person has had since birth or through injury. In these cases disability services is
generally involved and I liaise with the teams there to provide the required standard of care.
I am serious about my obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety legislation and
company policy, and commit wholeheartedly to the principles and practices of Occupational
Health and Safety. I understand there are general requirements that must be met by every
workplace in order to protect the health, safety and welfare of employees. The Occupational
Safety and Health Regulations 1996 set the minimum requirements for specific hazards, work and
administrative practices in relation to work safety and health.
