Expert Panel - Review of Elective Surgery and Emergency Access Targets under the National Partnership Agreement on Improving Public Hospital Services: Supplementary Annexure

• Expert Panel - Review of Elective Surgery and Emergency Access Targets under the National Partnership Agreement on Improving Public Hospital Services: Supplementary Annexure (PDF 2063 KB)

Report to the Council of Australian Governments August 2011

The Expert Panel to review elective surgery and emergency department targets – Supplementary Report to COAG

ISBN: 978-1-74241-542-0

Online ISBN: 978-1-74241-543-7

Publications Approval Number: D0515

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The Hon Julia Gillard MP
Prime Minister
Chair of the Council of Australian Governments

Dear Prime Minister

I am pleased to present to you the Supplementary Annexure to the First Report of the Expert Panel on the implementation of the elective surgery and emergency access targets under the National Partnership Agreement on Improving Public Hospital Services.

In our First Report of 30 June 2011, my fellow Panel members and I discussed key issues affecting the targets and identified a set of 15 recommendations to help guide their ongoing implementation.

In this Supplementary Annexure we have provided more detail of the evidence that informed our considerations in the First Report, including a review of relevant literature and analysis of findings from the consultation process. We have also in this Supplementary Annexure expanded on strategies to inform implementation of the targets.

Once again, I would like to thank everyone who contributed their time and effort to the work of the Expert Panel through our First Report and this Supplementary Annexure. I hope the evidence and strategies contained in this Annexure will help all stakeholders achieve maximum benefit from implementation of the emergency access and elective surgery targets.

Yours sincerely

[Signed in the published version]

Professor Chris Baggoley
Chair, Expert Panel

19 August 2011

The Expert Panel Members

Professor Christopher Baggoley (CHAIR) currently holds the position of the Australian Government's Acting Chief Medical Officer, within the Department of Health and Ageing.

Professor Baggoley is a highly experienced clinician and has worked extensively across jurisdictions in high profile advisory roles. Professor Baggoley has devoted much of his career to Emergency Medicine, becoming Professor of Emergency Medicine at Adelaide University in 2003. In 2005, Professor Baggoley was appointed Executive Director of Public Health and Clinical Coordination and Chief Medical Officer in the Department of Health in South Australia, which provided him with a strong network in health administration and a deep knowledge of the health system throughout Australia. Professor Baggoley’s previous role was as the Chief Executive, Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. He also holds positions of Adjunct Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Adelaide, and Professorial Fellow, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Flinders University.




Associate Professor Brian Owler is a neurosurgeon based at Westmead Hospital and the Children’s Hospital at Westmead. A/Professor Owler is the Deputy Chair of the Division of Surgery at Westmead Hospital and is an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Sydney. In addition he is a VMO at Westmead Private, Norwest Private and the Sydney Adventist Hospitals. A/Professor Owler has a PhD from the University of Sydney and spent 18 months performing research at the Academic Neurosurgery Unit at the University of Cambridge. He is an active clinical and basic science researcher with a particular interest in hydrocephalus and cerebrospinal fluid circulation disorders. A/Professor Owler is also the surgeon representative on the AMA NSW Branch Council, Chair of the AMA NSW Hospital Practice Committee and a Federal AMA Councillor. A/Professor Owler was nominated for his extensive clinical expertise.






Professor Michael Grigg is a distinguished clinician with a particular focus on vascular surgery. Professor Grigg is a member of the Victorian Quality Council, member of the Council Executive of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Chair of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons’ Professional Standards and Professional Development Board and past president of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Vascular Surgery. He is currently Director of Surgery, Eastern Health, Melbourne. Professor Grigg was nominated for his extensive clinical expertise.








Doctor Heather Wellington has experience working across jurisdictions in advisory roles. Dr Wellington is a former member of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and has a strong understanding of safety and quality issues within health services. Dr Wellington was nominated for her wide health system experience as a medical practitioner, hospital administrator, lawyer and specialist health advisor.









Doctor Mark Monaghan MBBS FACEM Clinical Toxicologist is an Emergency Department Physician and Co-Director of Fremantle Hospital, and has been the Clinical Lead in the successful implementation of the Four Hour Rule at that hospital since the program’s inception in April 2009. Dr Monaghan has also been acting State Wide Clinical Lead for the Four Hour Rule in Western Australia since April 2011. Dr Monaghan has previously held positions of Clinical Toxicologist and VMO at Westmead Children’s Hospital, and has worked in the capacity of Consultant Emergency Physician across all of Perth’s Adult Tertiary Hospitals since 2000. Dr Monaghan was nominated for his extensive emergency department expertise.







Ms Julie Hartley-Jones is a highly respected health administrator and currently holds the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Cairns and Hinterland Health Service District. Prior to this, Ms Hartley-Jones was a Director of Nursing and Midwifery at the Northern Sydney Central Coast Area Health Service in NSW and Director of Clinical Operations for the same service. Ms Hartley-Jones is also the former Chief Nurse of Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals within the United Kingdom. A renal nurse by background, she received the CBE for services to renal nursing in 2000. Julie spent two years in the Department of Health in England during the writing of the ‘NHS Plan’ which set the challenging ‘four hour total time in ED’ and ‘18 week elective surgery waiting list’ targets. Ms Hartley-Jones was nominated for her wide health system experience in both clinical and health administration roles.

Acknowledgements

The Panel would like to acknowledge the following people and organisations for their contribution throughout this process:

Jurisdictions

ACT Health
Department of Health and Human Services Tasmania
Department of Health New South Wales
Department of Health Northern Territory
Department of Health Victoria
Department of Health Western Australia
Queensland Health
SA Health

Consultation and Consumer Engagement Facilitators

Ipsos Public Affairs:
Mr Ben Barnes, Ms Natasha Ludowyk, Ms Christina Falsone and Mr Ryan Williams.

Secretariat Services

Department of Health and Ageing – Ms Gillian Shaw, Mr David Michell, Ms Robyn Bilston, Mr John Patroni, Ms Kathleen Grant, Ms Sarah Marks, Ms Jenny Byron, Ms Emma White, Ms Karen Alchin, Ms Shannon Dove, Ms Jen Klouth, Mr Edward May and Mr Adam Horsburgh.

Stakeholders

The Panel would also like to thank all the stakeholders and individuals who provided submissions for the Review, and to all those who attended the consultation and consumer forums.