Organisation: Program Director Emergency Services / Director of Nursing The Northern Hospital, Northern Health
Job Title: Program Director Emergency Services / Director of Nursing The Northern Hospital
Word Limit: 3 page maximum
Location: Victoria
Strategic thinking – I have a proven record in managing significant projects that utilise a diverse base of
data and information to deliver strategic and operational results. In my current role as the Manager, Access
and Patient Flow at the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), I have substantial strategic planning
responsibilities in relation to Access, and am required to identify and lead strategies to enhance operational
effectiveness and responsiveness.
A significant project that I recently led was the review and restructure of the model of service and patient
flow within the Transit Lounge. This project was undertaken to address deficits the hospital was
experiencing in meeting specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) relating to the quality and timeliness of
patient care. The restructure had wide-ranging organisational inputs and impacts, and required the
involvement and integration of a number of areas and stakeholders within the Hospital. I had to
understand and take into account all these factors, which included systems and processes, staff placement
and capabilities, patient flow to and from other departments, wards, and clinical speciality areas,
infrastructure alignment and data monitoring. The project, which I completed within a six-month period,
resulted in a substantial increase in the flow of patients through the lounge. Per month, it now cares for
600 discharge patients, and directly admits 180 patients from the Emergency Department and outpatients
through its 6 day beds.
Another relevant example relates to my role as the Project Manager for the implementation and ongoing
management of the Patient Flow Manager IT System within the RMH. I managed all aspects of this process
including, developing the scope of the project, rolling out the System, identifying the operational
requirements of various stakeholders, developing the communications and change management program,
and ensuring its ongoing successful integration across the Hospital. I participate in a number of diverse
initiatives, such as the Food and Fluid Improvement Project and the patient alerts review, to facilitate this
continued integration. Once again, this project involved taking into account a complex array of factors to
ensure it aligned with, and supported operational and service requirements.
Leading and influencing – Throughout my professional career I have demonstrated excellent skills in leading
staff, teams and stakeholders to achieve quality service outcomes. In my current position I provide
operational management of key service units and positions within the Hospital including, RMH Bed
Management, the After Hours Hospital Managers, the Triage, Rehabilitation and Aged Care (TRAC) liaison
Nurse, and the Transit Lounge. This incorporates certifying the compliance of these positions and work
areas with all relevant KPIs.
When I commenced in this role I found that many practice and systems had not been reviewed for a
substantial period of time. Staff had grown extremely used to these procedures, and had been given no
incentive or motivation to change or improve. I took an evidence based approach to analysing the
effectiveness of current practices. I set up a system to capture key performance data in relation to KPIs and
clearly demonstrated to staff where there were systematic problems in the processes. I also developed
benchmarking data to allow comparison to other areas of the Hospital as well comparable Health Services. I
set up this information on a “How we are doing” board in a central location. For the first time staff could
see current information on how they were travelling in relation to KPIs, and how they compared with other
areas.
The reason for this approach was twofold. Firstly, it allowed for improved processes, and supportive,
targeted education and capability development for staff. Secondly, it encouraged and motivated staff to
meet and exceed their own targets, and to compete against like organisations. I have a strong commitment
to providing ongoing development to staff, and have always fostered a culture that values and supports
continuous learning. Part of the change in processes I led, included the restructure of the Transit Lounge.
This required staff to deal with an increased number of acute patients as part of their standard duties. I
ensured that staff were provided with the capabilities they needed to deal with this. This was achieved by
getting them to undertake clinical shifts in wards, and attending relevant in-service training. I also set up
team meetings and bi-monthly planning days where we shared information, worked together to improve
processes, and undertook clinical education sessions to enhance skills and competencies.
Through my project experience, I have also gained significant experience in engaging stakeholders to
improve service delivery results. In particular, my ongoing administration of the Patient Flow Management
System has provided me with opportunities to actively work with a diverse range of stakeholders across the
hospital to improve the efficiency of their systems. I focus on providing quick wins by ensuring the System
is structured by their needs, not imposed on them. I encourage them to own the System, to work with me
to tailor it to suit them, and to build its responsiveness to their business requirements.
It is also relevant that I have extensive experience in engaging stakeholders through the development of
change management plans, as part of project management delivery. I have developed and implemented
plans that included extensive consultation, focus groups, newsletters, key message communication emails,
and ongoing engagement strategies.
Operational management competency – I have excellent organisational skills, and have used my abilities in
this area to deliver both strategic and operational outcomes in the health sector. I have managed a large
outpatient capital works project that involved building fourteen consulting rooms. To deliver this project
successfully I had to coordinate a range of activities and inputs. This was to ensure both the effectiveness of
the clinical space and that the project was completed on time, and within budget. I delivered significant
clinical input into the design and fit out of the rooms, making sure that the space met the service
requirements for the room, the needs of patients and clinical staff, and complied with all relevant
standards and polices. I liaised extensively with a range of stakeholders within the Hospital to confirm their
needs, and then with the service consultant and architect to ensure that the rooms met these
specifications. I also managed the budget for the works, tracking expenditure compliance at all stages.
I also have a strong commitment to ensuring that resources are used effectively to meet service delivery
requirements. For example, in my role of coordinating bed management within the RMH, I facilitated the
introduction of a dedicated bed allocator role. This allowed senior clinical staff to get out on the floor,
sharing their knowledge and expertise with others, rather than being stuck at their computer. It also greatly
enhanced the flow of patients within the hospital and more efficiently utilised the Hospital’s resources and
capacity.
Innovation and change management – I have led or participated in a number of innovative change
solutions that have improved service delivery and business outcomes. The most significant of these projects
was the review and restructure of the model of service and patient flow within the Transit Lounge. As
mentioned in an earlier criterion, this project was initiated to address problems the RMH was experiencing
in meeting KPIs. Changing the focus of the Transit Lounge from dealing with discharging patients, to
including handling patients being admitted from other areas, was a creative solution to deal with these
issues. The change was also evidence based, using extensive current performance data to identify problem
areas and system issues. The end result of the project was an increase in patient flow through the Transit
Lounge from 400 to 650 per month. It is also important that staff were consulted and engaged throughout
the project. Any changes in job requirements were supported by relevant capability development and
training.
I also led the non-emergency patient transport booking improvement project, which resulted in
improvements to performance and service in a key operational area. The initiative was proposed to deal
with a substantial overspend in relation to non-emergency patient transport. My approach was to first
interrogate the data to determine the cause of this overspend. I found that the number of transports had
not increased, rather bookings were being made for different, more expensive types of transports. I
centralised the booking and authorisation process to enable a common standard of practice, and to track
expenditure more effectively.
I also have utilised technology to allow a timely, and mobile response to bed allocation. For example, I
introduced the use of pagers and texts to notify specific staff of ambulance arrivals, and patients requiring
beds. This enabled these staff to move freely on duty as required, without compromising the timeliness of
their response and allocation of beds.
Judgement and decision making – My judgement and decision making skills are clearly demonstrated by my
role in a delivering a number of evidence based strategies and initiatives. For example, I have contributed
significantly to a project led by the Executive Director of RMH, to develop full-time supervisory Nurse Unit
Manager (NUM) roles with enhanced levels of operational accountability. This involved drawing together a
range of information relating to current practices and performance, defining the requirements of the role,
ensuring a shared understanding of expectations and responsibilities, and analysis of performance based on
current data and information. I developed scorecards that measured performance on a weekly basis. This
approach provided concrete, up to date evidence that helped embed a culture of accountable
performance, and continuous service and patient care improvement.
I also am committed to professional development to ensure the currency of my own knowledge and skills
within the health sector. I am currently undertaking a Masters of Business Administration to make certain I
have the expertise required to lead successful and informed change and improvement within my role. I was
also nominated to participate in the Chameleon Program through the Mt Eliza Business School, which is
aimed at developing the leadership skills of managers in the health sector.
It is also relevant that I actively develop formal and informal networks to provide me with relevant
benchmarking data and information. I use this information to provide relevant comparison data regarding
KPIs. I also participate in appropriate conferences and forums to gain access to current and innovative
approaches to service delivery. I am a member of the Health Round Table, a non-profit organisation that
promotes best practice and provides a range of comparative KPI information for the health sector. I aim to
leverage the expertise and experience of other organisations to improve practices within the RMH.
Be aligned to our values, ethics and behaviours – I am passionately committed to fostering an environment
of excellence in care and in a culture of ongoing learning and development. The “How we are doing” board
I developed is an example of this. I take pride in the service that we provide and want to inspire others to
try and constantly improve their level of performance in relation to that service. The initiatives and projects
I have led and participated in have all been aimed at enhancing the service that we provide to the
community.
I also understand and support the business goals of RMH and, and can see how the work I undertake
contributes to the health of the community. I can also clearly articulate the link between the focus of
improving services, and the specific daily work practices that flow from this. If staff understand how this
focus is relevant to their work, they are more likely to commit to and engage with any required changes.
Throughout my career I have always strived to find better ways of working. Sound data provides the key to
progressing this aim. Often there are faults with systems and procedures that can cause bottlenecks and
delays in some areas, and under-utilised capacity and resources in others. Quality information can highlight
these problems and allow significant improvements in efficiency and responsiveness by simply changing
practices and aligning the people and resources in an organisation to achieve this. My restructure of the
Transit Lounge service is an example of this.
As mentioned previously, I am a strong team player and I value and support the contribution of others. In
my current role I established team meetings and bi-monthly planning days where we share information,
worked together to improve processes, and undertook development sessions to enhance competencies.
