27 August 2009

Caring Together for Lismore Base Hospital

NSW Minister for Health, John Della Bosca, has today announced recruitment is under way for Clinical Support Officers (CSOs) and Pharmacists at Lismore Base Hospital.

"The appointment of seven CSOs and three extra Pharmacists in coming months is part of the NSW Government’s $117 million first year roll out of its Caring Together: The Health Action Plan for NSW, announced in the 2009-10 state budget," the Minister said during a visit to the hospital.

"Ward-based CSOs will assist local nurses with administration and paperwork relating to recruitment, rostering, stock and supply orders and reports so nursing staff can spend more time caring for patients," he added.

The initiative will enable senior nurses to focus on coordinating services and care around the needs of each patient, including:

Mr Della Bosca said, on top of that, an extra Clinical Pharmacist, Pharmacy Intern and Pharmacy Educator will improve patient safety by monitoring the type, quantity, past use and combination of prescription medicines.

"Hospital pharmacists will educate patients about their prescribed medications and advise junior doctors and nurses on the best use of medicines," the Minister said.

"Improvements in medication safety alone have the potential to reduce a patient’s stay in hospital and free up beds for other patients.

"It’s estimated about 140,000 hospital admissions every year are associated with inappropriate use of medicines across Australia, costing the public health system about $380 million annually.

The focus of the Caring Together action plan is to promote a culture in hospitals where the care and treatment of the patient is at the centre of everything we do," Mr Della Bosca said.

While in Lismore, the Minister also inspected the progress on the hospital’s Integrated Cancer Centre which was allocated $16.8 million in the 2009-10 Budget, while the Prime Minister announced $15 million in federal funding for the project during a visit to the hospital earlier this week.

Mr Della Bosca said when the joint Commonwealth-State funded Centre is finished local radiotherapy patients will no longer need to travel long distances for treatment.

“This will make treatment a lot less distressing for patients and their families as they will be able to get the health support they need locally,” the Minister said.

“NSW has among the world’s highest survival rates for cancer – death rates have fallen by 14 percent in men and about 10 percent in women during the past decade.

“But we need to remain vigilant and that is why the Rudd Government and NSW will continue to work closely together to improve frontline health services and meet the challange of increasing cancer rates thriough prevention, screening, treatment and rehabilitation.”

Lismore also received funding in the 2009-10 budget for:

• The completion of the Cardiac Catheterisation Unit; and
• Three rural pre-vocational training positions for junior doctors in their second and third postgraduate years.

For a range of health information, go online to www.health.nsw.gov.au