AMAV VICDOC Winter 2024 - Magazine - Page 39
THE SYSTEM AND CULTURE HEALTHCARE
PROFESSIONALS WORK IN HAVE AN ENORMOUS
IMPACT ON THEIR ABILITY TO DELIVER
EXCELLENT CARE.
-
Improving culture and professional
behaviour means ensuring the workplace
environment and working conditions
allow people to work effectively with
colleagues and deliver excellent care.
We cannot get the best from people
who are overworked, under-supervised,
unsupported or not given appropriate
resources. People need to be paid overtime
and provided with adequate notice about
when and where they will be working.
They need to be able to access their leave,
housing and childcare, and complete
their training while participating in their
communities and family life. We share
a common goal to deliver excellent care,
work collaboratively and effectively with
our colleagues, communicate well and be
compassionate and patient. We can only
achieve this if the environment and
culture of medicine and our health
system support us.
EMERGENCY MEDICINE IS UNDER ENORMOUS
STRAIN — MAINLY BECAUSE WE CAN’T MOVE
PATIENTS TO THE WARDS.
-
We're very good at delivering emergency
medical care, but 20% of our workload is
taken up by patients who need inpatient
care. Being unable to move patients out of
ED when their emergency care is finished
is stopping us from offloading ambulances
and getting to our undifferentiated
patients who are waiting for us. One of
the key things emergency physicians do
is advocate for our colleagues in other
areas of the hospital and in primary and
community care to access the resources
they need to provide timely care in their
environments. Being able to move patients
into adequately resourced inpatient units
and out of hospital safely – particularly
our elderly patients care and those with
disability – will free up our emergency
departments for those who actually need
acute care. It’s all interlinked, which is
why we need to work together and
advocate for each other.
We are always going to have people who become
unwell and injure themselves, so we need
a strong community care system, including general
practice, and an excellent acute care system.
-
VI CD O C WI NTER 2024
39
