HealthShare NSW and eHealth NSW News Dec 2014
Transcription
HealthShare NSW and eHealth NSW News Dec 2014
DECEMBER 2014/ JANUARY 2015 Contents Chief Executive’s message . . . . . . 2 Top accolade for packaging project (continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 New members join EMT . . . . . . . . . . 3 HealthShare news Top accolade for packaging project The year in review . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-13 Joy to the world! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-17 A delicious Diwali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 WHS team wows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Get LinkedIn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Sun it sensibly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Check out our website at www.healthshare.nsw.gov.au Health Minister Jillian Skinner presents the Minister’s Award for Innovation to the Food Packaging Improvement Project team at the NSW Health Awards If you’ve got a story or feedback for HealthShare News, please contact Karen Fontaine on 8644 2246 or email karen. [email protected] HealthShare NSW’s Food Packaging Improvement Project, which dramatically redesigned food packaging to improve ease of opening and give patients greater access to food, has wrapped up a big year at HealthShare NSW by scooping one of the top awards at the NSW Health Awards. “I am very proud of this project,” said Health Minister Jillian Skinner as she presented the team with the Minister’s Award for Innovation last month. “It is vital our patients, especially the elderly, can easily access their food.” As Mrs Skinner said, food plays a vital role in assisting patients on the road to recovery and she lauded Food and Hotel Services and its 3,500+ staff for providing around 22 million meals to public hospital patients every year. HealthShare NSW Chief Executive Conrad Groenewald said he was enormously proud of the project and indeed the entire Food and Hotel Services team across the state. “It is a significant achievement and the culmination of many years of Continued page 2 Continued p2 ➦ HealthShare News December/January Chief Executive’s message in the category of Work Health and Safety Frameworks. It would also be remiss of me to not mention how exciting it was for our Food Packaging Improvement Project to receive the NSW Health Minister’s Award for Innovation. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your hard work and commitment to making HealthShare NSW more effective than ever as a trusted and valued partner enabling excellent healthcare in this state. In this edition you will find a ‘Year In Review’ feature that outlines the many and varied milestones our business lines have reached in 2014, but for me the highlights have included the positive feedback we continue to receive from our customers on the improvements they are experiencing in our service delivery on a regular basis. Our customers are starting to not only notice – but also to appreciate – our developing customer-centricity and this is a credit to the employees of HealthShare NSW. Workplace safety is a passion of mine, and I know we’ve all benefited from the tireless efforts of all of our teams to make HealthShare NSW sites not only safer but also increasingly focused on employee wellbeing. A particular highlight in this area was the Highly Commended award received from Treasury Managed Fund Page 2 As I’ve said before, it’s my firm view that it is people who make the difference and I’ve been genuinely impressed by the ideas and energy I’ve witnessed firsthand at our sites right across the state. Indeed, you should all feel very proud of the work we do supporting Australia’s largest public health system and the million-plus patients for whom it cares. It is with much sadness that I am now preparing to leave HealthShare NSW You should stand tall in the knowledge that as an organisation, HealthShare NSW does amazing things as an integral part of NSW Health. There is no organisation in the world offering the breadth and depth of shared services that HealthShare NSW does and you should recognise and acknowledge your vital role in that. I hope you all enjoy a richly deserved break, and in the meantime, I wish you and your family a safe and joyous festive season filled with rest and recreation. Conrad Groenewald Chief Executive HealthShare NSW Top accolade for packaging project From page 1 hard work, resilience, patience and vision by Carmen Rechbauer, Manager, Food and Hotel Services; Zdenka Fuller, Food Packaging Improvement Project Manager and recognises every member of the team throughout NSW,” said Conrad. “The work of Food and Hotel Services exemplifies the innovation we are capable of when we have the determination and the will to succeed. Our people are full of good ideas.” The project was also a finalist in the 2014 Premier’s Awards, designed to celebrate service excellence, innovation and achievement across the NSW public sector. ➦ The time has arrived to reflect on a year almost over – and to look with purpose to the year ahead. to pursue the next phase of my career. I have met many people in my working life, however none have impressed as much as all of you. You are committed to your jobs and roles within this organisation in a unique way. You go above and beyond the call of duty on a daily basis, in ways which ensure that we continue to provide world-class services to our customers. Contents HealthShare News December/January New members join EMT In October, Tom joined as Chief Operating Officer, bringing vast experience in the shared services and financial sectors, most recently as Chief Financial Officer for Medibank Private Health Solutions. Working to ensure HealthShare NSW has the stable operational platform we need across all of our services to enable innovative, cost-effective improvements, Tom has spent eight years at Unisys Corporation, rising from Financial Controller of the Australian Operations to Operations Director and General Manager for the Americas Shared Services, responsible for the management of back-office people, transactions and processes. Rod, meanwhile, took up the role of Director, Procurement, in November. Having started his career as a commercial lawyer, Rod brings 28 years of experience in commerce and government, in both procurement and commercial management roles, rising most recently to the position of Chief Procurement Officer for the NSW Office of Finance and Services, overseeing a spend of over $700 million. Rod’s role at HealthShare NSW was created due to a structural change involving procurement, warehousing and logistics. This will lay the foundations for continued development in procurement by bringing a greater focus to building stronger internal relationships and knowledge sharing that will support further improvements to service delivery to our customers. Tom Begeng, Chief Operating Officer Q: What are your short-term goals in your new role? A: To connect with HealthShare NSW customers, clients, staff, suppliers and industry experts to better understand the way in which we deliver services across the food, linen and shared services portfolios and by leveraging this knowledge and a range of solution-specific responses, raising the performance levels across these service lines towards global best practice. And to ensure we have the right people, systems, processes and client-led solutions that support this goal. Q: And your long-term goals? A: To have HealthShare NSW universally acknowledged as best of breed in delivery of shared services, to be the expert group our customers want to work with, and to be recognised by both the LHDs and the Ministry of Health as a true high-value-add partner in delivery of innovative solutions. Core to this goal will be the building of a self-sustaining high-performance culture, where employees genuinely feel empowered to work with CORE values. I want HealthShare NSW to bring customer-focused solutions to reality, by offering insight and innovation to our clients, and to avoid problems – not just fix them. Q: What’s your Christmas wish? A: I wish that my five girls never grow so old that they stop jumping out of bed at 5am Christmas morning to rip open presents. I wish that my wife never gets tired of madly decorating the house. And I hope we continue to have the hordes of in-laws (and outlaws) around for Christmas breakfast for many years to come. Chief Executive Conrad Groenewald welcomed both Tom and Rod, saying their appointments advanced HealthShare NSW’s key focus area of working together to create an engaged and high-performing organisation. Rod Treadwell, Director, Procurement Q: What are your short-term goals in your new role? A: To understand as quickly as possible the products and services HealthShare NSW procures and provides to its customers, to understand the needs and drivers of our customers, and to meet with as many people as I can to help with my understanding of how my teams can provide excellent services and results. Q: And your long-term goals? A: My long-term goals are to develop and implement a strategy that ensures my team provides a full suite of strategic and operational procurement, warehousing and logistics services that meet our customers’ needs at the best value for money. Q: What’s your Christmas wish? A: A nice relaxing holiday back in New Zealand where I can catch up with friends and family, and hopefully get out on my boat and catch some snapper. Contents ➦ HealthShare NSW’s Chatswood-based Executive Management Team (EMT) has been bolstered by the recent high-level appointments of Tom Begeng and Rod Treadwell. Page 3 HealthShare News December/January The year in review We reflect on the many and varied milestones our business lines reached in 2014. Food and Hotel Services Food and Hotel Services has had a huge year, and the cherry on top was its Food Packaging Improvement Project being handpicked by Health Minister Jillian Skinner for an innovation award at the NSW Health Awards (see page 1 of this newsletter). The recognition was a great honour, said Carmen Rechbauer, Manager, Food and Hotel Services. “While the packaging project is one of the most public-facing of our activities, the work we all do behind the scenes every day – from administration to preparing meals, from cleaning wards to collecting meal trays – is very important,” she said. “We are supporting the wellbeing of patients and that’s something to be proud of.” During the year Food and Hotel Services introduced new, improved menus that meet new state-wide nutrition standards and support improved health outcomes around the state. More than half the patients in NSW public hospitals now receive the tasty new dishes and the final roll-outs, covering the major metropolitan areas, are scheduled for 2015. Developed with help from local clinicians for the needs of local patients, the menus provide a choice of hot meals at lunch and dinner as well as nutritious soups, sandwiches and desserts and high-energy mid-meal snacks. Early feedback from patients and nurses has been very positive. Updated software has also been rolled out, improving business practices and supporting nutrition care. Mobile Menu Entry and a new Service Delivery Model to support it have been successfully trialled at Mona Vale Hospital. Patients can make their menu choices just before meal time to staff with a tablet computer at the bedside, for instant transmission to the kitchen. Food and Hotel Services also completed a Request for Tender process for pre-packaged meals. Hotel Services implemented the Ministry of Health’s new Environmental Cleaning Policy, which delivers clear guidance on how often each area of each hospital must be cleaned or disinfected to meet standards. HealthShare NSW has standardised cleaning across the state, developed Management Operating Procedures and completed a rating of functional areas. ➦ All cleaning chemicals and equipment have been reviewed to standardise use and to reduce chemical use, while staff are being trained and awareness is being raised about the new policy. At the same time, Hotel Services is introducing tablet computers loaded with ISOpro software to conduct environmental cleaning audits in real time. Using the new system, staff can audit areas and wards within hospitals and action any issues instantly. ISOpro will also provide comprehensive standardised reporting across the state on benchmark scores and trend issues. Contents Page 4 HealthShare News December/January Linen Services has spent the year consolidating business gains and finding new ways to better serve its customers. “Linen Services sets a series of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure our activities to provide the best possible service to our customers and make the right adjustments,” said Linen Service Manager Kevin Prasad. “Our KPIs are deliberately demanding and we can proudly state that during 2014, we have met them. For instance, our KPI for Linen Supply is designed to ensure we meet 98 per cent of all orders accurately. We exceed this with a ‘fill rate’ of 100 per cent.” Linen Services aims to keep customer complaints below 25 a month and is currently tracking at just six, while the percentage of deliveries that arrive on time is also at 100 per cent. “As an environmentally conscious business we are constantly harnessing new technology to improve energy and water conservation, reducing our carbon footprint,” said Kevin. New trucks with a focus on safety and efficiency hit the road, fitted with ABS, Bluetooth, reversecameras and an anti-slip internal floor surface for safety. “The trucks also feature GPS tracking and UHF radios as well as fire extinguishers,” he said. Linen Services is working with Western Sydney Local Health District to develop a new customer Dashboard to help hospitals manage their linen supplies wisely. Linen Services is investigating opportunities for tracking trolleys though the health system to minimise losses and identify their position in the delivery chain. This ensures they are used for their intended purpose – not borrowed and used elsewhere, which then places strain on production and dispatch departments. “We are progressing the use of Passive Radio Frequency Identification Chips, which will help keep careful count of the number of washes of each item in the new, high-tech reusable barrier theatre linen range that protects clinicians during high-risk surgery,” said Kevin. Comparing linen usage for occupied bed days between similar hospitals and similar wards, the Dashboard will allow hospital managers to learn from high performing wards. Linen Services also took steps to improve business efficiency and contain the business’s impact on the environment by keeping the costs of utilities down, investing in updated efficient equipment and switching to energy-saving lighting. For instance the Dashboard will capture the daily usage in all maternity wards, identify which are performing the best and assist other wards to introduce the same efficiencies. Improved design in new washers and dryers is slashing water and power use, an important issue given the escalation of electricity and gas costs. “The pilot project will enable us to include the information that the LHD finds most useful in the most user-friendly format, “That is a job well done, and clearly demonstrates the hard work of Team Linen,” said Kevin. helping them conserve linen and save money,” said Kevin. ➦ Linen Services Contents Page 5 HealthShare News December/January The year in review Non-Emergency Patient Transport This has been an eventful year for Non-Emergency Patient Transport (NEPT), which started 2014 with a project team consisting of three full-time employees and two contractors based at the Ministry of Health (MoH). By the end of 2014, a very different picture has emerged. Headed by State Manager Jennifer Van Cleef, the team has moved to Parramatta, grown to 36.5 FTE, and will have managed the transportation of over 75,000 patients. Significant achievements during 2014 include: • Design and build of the Greater Metropolitan Booking Hub at Parramatta • Development of IT, telephone and radio infrastructure • Business Continuity Plan functionality • Recruitment of over 36 FTE to the Booking Hub • Launch of an online web-based NEPT booking system • Installation of over 150 mobile data terminals into the NEPT fleets • Transitioning of the NSW Ambulance and 8 LHD NEPT fleets • Transitioning all NEPT booking and dispatching functions into the Booking Hub • Transitioning from MoH into HealthShare NSW • Publication of a Policy Directive on NEPT transport standards • R eceived clarification from the Clinical Excellence Commission regarding the policy on infectious patients with Multi-Resistant Organisms (MROs) – historically, NEPT was unable to transport patients with differing MROs in the same vehicle. The clarification means outpatients and community-type patients can now travel to the same treatment destination together, providing NEPT with increased capacity as a result • R eceived consent from NSW Health Secretary Mary Foley that patient billing arrangements, which have previously only been able to be provided by NSW Ambulance, can now be applied across all LHDs • O perational between 6am and midnight, 7 days a week, since 24 May 2014. What does 2015 bring? A key objective is the establishment of regional booking hub satellites in Port Macquarie, Dubbo, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga. Key strategic planning will also be on the agenda for 2015, informed in large part by the quality of data that is now available. ➦ Working collaboratively with various stakeholders within NSW Health will inform strategic decisions regarding transportation, fleet location, booking practices and a whole host of other areas targeted at improving the provision of Non-Emergency Patient Transport for the patients of NSW. Contents Page 6 HealthShare News December/January Organisational Development Established to lead the culture program in HealthShare NSW and eHealth NSW, the Organisational Development (OD) team has had a busy first year. More than 1,700 long-serving HealthShare NSW and eHealth NSW staff were presented with certificates and/or pins and badges, including those pictured below from Food & Hotel Services. The team issued a culture survey across more than 1,500 staff, including the Leadership groups in HealthShare NSW and eHealth NSW and managers and staff in eHealth NSW, EnableNSW, Service Centres and Distribution Centres receiving an 80 per cent response rate. The team has also introduced Candidate Assessment to enhance the selection processes for Health Managers; updated our Manager Capability Training covering areas such as managing grievances, managing unsatisfactory performance and managing sick leave; and worked with HETI to implement out first ever Learning Management System (HETI Online) and support training throughout the organisations. The team also designed and implemented the inaugural Service Recognition program which recognises staff who have achieved more than 20 years of service in the public sector. Other activities the team is working on include developing the Leadership Charter, which will be the guide for how to lead in a constructive workplace culture; promoting the HETI Leadership & Management Springboard Portal to our Leadership Team; and revising the onboarding and induction process. ➦ “The first step after analysing responses was debriefing the Leadership Team and staff on the results and implementing activities to help reduce gaps between actual and preferred workplace culture,” said Josie Gallo, Manager, Organisational Development. Contents Page 7 HealthShare News December/January The year in review Procurement and Logistics of service to customers and all team members are to be commended on their commitment throughout this often trying period. 2014 was set to be a very busy year for Procurement and Logistics Services and it did not disappoint. One of the major milestones was the upgrade to Oracle R12 and the movement of all customers to iProcurement. The upgrade presented a number of obstacles but determinedly all teams within Procurement and Logistics Services have been identifying areas of improvement and progressing change requests to enhance the system, functionality and processes. Although there have been a number of complications, all teams have risen to the challenges and shown resilience and effort to ensure the impact to customers is minimised. • Amplified catalogue visibility with more accurate and comprehensive data; • Improved invoice hold workflow; • Progression of more vendors via electronic (B2B) trading; • Enriched procurement training and education material; and • Strategic procurement reporting identifying savings opportunities. All team members have been working in the latter part of 2014 on embedding cultural improvement strategies as part of the core business in our teams. With this positive advancement and the excitement as we change our approach to Procurement, 2015 is set to be a momentous year. ➦ In addition to Oracle R12, one of the major milestones in 2014 was the Warehousing and Distribution Request For Tender, which was the first RFT let by the Ministry of Health as part of the NSW Government’s move to test the open market. Throughout the entire process and, as we await the outcome of the RFT, now expected at the end of January 2015, the Distribution Centres have done a superb job of continuing to provide a first-rate level Procurement and Logistics Services teams have continued to mature over 2014 and are being recognised by a growing number of customers as a vital part of the development of their business. The demand for a higher quality of procurement process and a move towards true strategic procurement rather than just a buying function has driven demand for smarter use of resources and the change of the role we have played in the past. Customers are becoming increasingly aware of the value an effective procurement function can bring to their Health Agencies and Procurement and Logistics Services have highlighted a number of ventures that we will be working with customers on in 2015. Some of these improvements include: Contents Page 8 HealthShare News December/January State Management Reporting (SMR) Service In 2014, the SMR Service team (pictured below): • P roduced the Annual Workforce Profile data collection for submission to the Public Service Commission. This now comes from a single source and data validation was put in place. • P resented a case study on how NSW Health used Oracle technology to deliver its analytics needs at the Sydney Oracle EPM Summit in October. Reporting out of Health Information Exchange in April 2015. • Developed SMR Service Workforce Dashboard e-learning in partnership with HETI, scheduled to go live in January 2015. • Built SMR Service Capital Reporting to replaced CAPDOHRS (Capital Department of Health Reporting System) to go live on 1 January 2015. This will provide better reporting capability. • Streamlined metadata management through data relationship management. • D eployed SMR Service Workforce Reporting across the State in December. Outstanding work plans will be completed in the first quarter of 2015 to facilitate the decommissioning of the Workforce • Built an electronic registry for Custodial Trust Funds & Restricted Financial Assets in response to the Auditor General comments to facilitate transparency and better reporting of such funds. ➦ • D eveloped a Budget Transaction System (BTS) Dashboard in August. This allows users to query BTS data even though the application is closed. Contents Page 9 HealthShare News December/January The year in review EnableNSW The EnableNSW team worked closely this year with training firm Kepner-Tregoe (KT) on a program to engage and empower staff by giving them the tools they need to be more proactive when it comes to problem-solving and decisionmaking in the workplace. Through the program, staff identified a range of opportunities for improvement, including a new process for managing requests for aids and equipment that has sped up decision making, cutting request processing times from an average of 45 days to just five days. The EnableNSW team also developed a new online prescriber portal during 2014 aimed at simplifying the process of selecting stock equipment, submitting stock requests and tracking the progress EnableNSW’s Equipment Allocation Program won the Service Award in the ‘Creating Value’ category at this year’s Expo of applications. The new portal features an updated online catalogue with the latest shopping-cart functionality. EnableNSW also embarked on a range of initiatives to improve communications with stakeholders during 2014. A comprehensive review of EnableNSW’s written correspondence is ongoing, ensuring letters for consumers and prescribers are easy to understand and provide greater clarity and guidance. Work Health and Safety The Work Health and Safety (WHS) team is not a team which rests on its laurels. After all, safety waits for no-one. The team has rolled out and redeveloped the Stay Safe Promotion Package, renaming it the Stay Safe Hazard Management Program as well as simplifying it in response to business feedback. These forums, which were very positively received, also explored ways to work together to improve assistance for people with disability and chronic disease. The Safety Ambassador Program has continued to gain momentum, with 46 ambassadors initiated and more coming on board all the time. The WHS team also continues to assist injured workers in their recovery and transition back to work, concentrating on enabling Managers to better assist their staff. One new initiative is the Job Fitness Service which helps Managers better support workers who have personal health conditions that impact their work. “It’s been an incredibly busy but successful year. We look forward to an even better one in 2015,” said Anne Mok, Medical Director, WHS. ➦ The team has also been busy promoting the importance of health and safety in the workplace through holding My Safety My Health events, launching My Health, the survey with a difference, delivering monthly health and wellbeing calendar program activities, coordinating flu vaccinations and recognising national events such as RUOK? Day. The EnableNSW team also held a range of successful information forums and roundtables during 2014 to keep prescribers, consumers, suppliers and other interest groups abreast of their latest work. Contents Page 10 HealthShare News December/January Service Centres Service Centres Parramatta, Newcastle and Westmead had a productive year, with the highlights being: • Relocation of MoH payroll to SCW • Completed audit of NSW Health Agency Employment Screening processes • T ransition of financial, procurement and payroll services for Cancer Institute NSW to Service Centre Westmead (SCW) • A ssisted NSW Ambulance to transition to eRecruit as well as providing ongoing training and support • T ransition of Health Infrastructure from Supero to StaffLink • C ompleted mapping of all Service Check Register (SCR) records from former Area Health Services to LHDs • N on-Emergency Patient Transport billing system implemented at SCW • Made changes to the SCR database to meet new Policy Requirements. What a legend! ➦ Jeffrey Bond, Statewide Financial Reporting Officer at Service Centre Parramatta, spent 15 hours of his own time turning Level 20 into a Christmas extravaganza! Contents Page 11 HealthShare News December/January The year in review Service Centres Shared Financial Services • A ll Financial Services Teams were extensively involved with the upgrade of Oracle StaffLink Financials in April, including User Acceptance Test (UAT), cutover plans and training. • S ince go-live, Financial Services staff have been assisting eHealth NSW with future developments and enhancement across all Oracle StaffLink modules. • F inancial Services Teams have reviewed procedures and processes due to system changes in Oracle StaffLink Financials and these have updated where appropriate. • T he Accounts Payable Team had an increase in invoice scanning functionality for Health Agencies, with a particular focus on Purchase Order related invoices. • T he Sundry Debtors Team has successfully implemented email functionality when sending invoices and reminder letters for a majority of debtors. • V MO Process Teams are now in a business as usual status for the VMO Web Portal and almost 50 per cent of VMO’s claims are now submitted online using the VMO Web Portal. • T he Financial Accounting Teams completed a project analysing the StaffLink expense component of the annual leave and alignment for a number of Health Agencies. The analysis included reviewing adjustments, calculations and reporting, findings were supplied back to Ministry of Health (MoH) and affected Health Agencies. • F inancial Accounting Team Parramatta transitioned SWSLHD annual leave alignment and associated expense distribution into the Service Centre. It is anticipate that a remaining three Health Agencies will transition during 2015. • A ll targeted timeframes were achieved by both Financial Accounting Teams for end of financial year. ch ing the n u mb er s Approximately… 3.8 million pays produced $8 billion payroll cost paid out 403,932 incoming calls 2,087,645 invoices processed $5.5 billion in invoices paid to vendors 92,616 sundry invoices processed $2.2 billion paid to sundry debtors ✵ • T he introduction of the new Reconciliation Portal within the Service Centre provides a framework for recording, sharing, tracking and reporting the status and results of Unreconciled Items between stakeholder teams which included the Finance Accounting Team (FAT), Payroll Accounting Team (PAT), ETS and individuals. The portal’s utility overcomes the constraints imposed by a single shared spreadsheet providing a straightforward means of documenting outcomes. The benefits of this portal have assisted the FAT, PAT and ETS with the management of the unreconciled items. ➦ • F inalisation of Hunter New England LHD VMO Processing transition into the Newcastle Service Centre. Cr un It’s been one of the busiest and most productive years in the history of the service centres. RETS State Manager Sue McGovern and Shared Financial Services Statewide Manager Glenn Hackenberg say the dedication and determination shown by their teams continues to inspire a high-achievement culture and this is evidenced by the key achievements, listed as follows: Contents Page 12 HealthShare News December/January Recruitment & Employee Transactional Services (RETS) ith all customers successfully migrated to StaffLink, opportunities for refinement and improvement were sought. W This happened across all parts of the business including… • R ETS worked on a number of optimisation projects to heighten customer satisfaction and engagement in their responsibilities though ongoing activities. This includes, the continued rollout of eForms, Overpayment Recovery improvements, working closely with the HA rostering units to ensure accurate roster files are submitted. • E stablished and successfully integrated locations between FMIS Procurement and HRIS StaffLink, assisted MoH in overhauling the Medical Speciality Codes across the state and worked tirelessly to keep ANZSCO coding up to date to meet mandatory training requirements. The team continues to assist other teams manage their peaks in workload and has provided work structures awareness training internally to RETS teams. • 2013/14 saw the last ‘Supero’ payment summaries produced, with all SCN/SCP customers now fully live on StaffLink. Payment summary reprints were replaced with statewide employee education on how to access via Employee Self Service (ESS) to view, print and save their payment summaries. This has laid the foundation for the 2014/15 Financial Year where employees will no longer receive printed payment summaries but will be able to access through ESS anytime, anywhere. • The Service Centre Statewide Training team has facilitated and completed over 350 sessions spreading over the 20 Health Agencies and over 70 venues, training up to approximately 2,500 health employees this year. This training includes both internal and external training ranging from eRecruit, ESS, MSS, and eForms to Excel and team designed StaffLink modules, both face to face and WebEx sessions. A major aspect for this year was the eForms roll out where the team worked closely with the respective Health Agencies to deliver this outcome. The team has also been involved in migrating all training modules and session across to our new HETI platform. • The eForms project has facilitated the roll-out of eForms to all Health Agencies bar two with the majority making a full transition and no longer accepting paper forms. Work has begun on enhancements to existing forms and development of new forms. • The AMR/Rotations team worked closely with HAs to successfully transition 2,982 Medical Officers to Pay Cycle 2 across the state. The transition assists in streamlining the Medical Rotation process and alleviates payment issues surrounding pay cycle changes, providing customers with a seamless service. Sue and Glenn said a highlight of 2014 was showcasing the service centres at the 2014 HealthShare NSW & eHealth NSW Expo. They will continue to work collaboratively with all stakeholders on continuous improvement activities in 2015, ensuring their teams receive training, have up-to-date skills and knowledge and are recognised by their customers as vital to the success of a truly customer-centric service culture. ➦ Sue and Glenn would like to thank all their team members who will be working over the festive period. They wish their teams, their families and all the staff across HealthShare NSW a safe and happy holiday and they look forward to the challenges and opportunities that 2015 will bring. ✵ Contents Page 13 HealthShare News December/January Joy to the world! HealthShare NSW prides itself on its inclusiveness and diversity, with our 6,400-plus staff members dotted around the state hailing from all four corners of the globe. Here we talk to staff members with various cultural backgrounds about the traditions they and their families uphold at Christmastime. May we take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very merry Christmas and a new year filled with love, light and laughter. Vera Fiala, Director, Customer Service and Corporate Governance What is your heritage and how does that inform how you celebrate Christmas? I was born in the Czech Republic. The Christmas festivities there start on 6 December, the feast of St Nicholas. As kids, we would leave an empty plate out for St Nicholas in the afternoon. My dad would take us out for a walk and when we got back the plate was overflowing with nuts, oranges and chocolate. I remember genuinely believing in the magic of it all, and when I did get to see ‘St Nicholas’ at the local church as a four year old (pictured), it all felt terribly serious and overwhelming! Christmas Eve dinner was the main family event and fish was always on the menu. I remember once my dad buying a large live fish and keeping it in the bathtub for two days so it was as fresh as possible for Christmas dinner. We found it hilarious to be sharing a house with a fish nearly half our size. What was the highlight of 2014 for you and your family? Our trip to Turkey this year was a major event, both for the great things we saw and experienced and for being together for weeks. How will you spend the summer? We’ll be going to Geelong to spend Christmas with my husband’s family, visiting their holiday house on the Great Ocean Road, enjoying the beach and being active… and also preparing for the work year ahead. What are you most looking forward to in 2015? ➦ My youngest son starting high school will be a big event. I’m also looking forward to my sister coming to visit me all the way from Canada. Contents Page 14 HealthShare News December/January Siobhan Moore, Administration Office, Food & Hotel Services, Illawarra Shoalhaven Sector What is your heritage and how does that inform how you celebrate Christmas? I’m Irish, so many our traditions are very similar to Australian traditions. Christmas starts with most families getting together for Midnight Mass, and there is also an old tradition of lighting a candle to leave in the window as a symbol of welcome to all. In my part of Ireland there is also a tradition of going to the races and having a flutter, usually in the wind and rain… but with a few hot whiskeys help to keep warm… What was the highlight of 2014 for you? Getting married! How will you spend the summer? I’m looking forward to taking a drive out to Mildura, Victoria, and a leisurely drive back on the Great Ocean Road to catch up with friends in Apollo Bay; take the ferry from Geelong to The Mornington Peninsula to catch up with family; on to Lakes Entrance and an easy drive home to Wollongong. What are you most looking forward to in 2015? Hoping to do a cruise for my Big 5-0 in September… (note to self… get that organised). “ Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas. ” —Dale Evans (1912-2001) What is your Christmas wish? ➦ For all to have a happy, peaceful and enjoyable 2015. Contents Page 15 HealthShare News December/January Helen Kelly, Food and Hotel Services Sector Manager for Northern Sydney and Central Coast What is your heritage and how does that inform how you celebrate Christmas? I grew up in Lark Hall, a small Scottish village, where we spent Christmas with the extended family – obviously it was freezing and we wished for snow, especially on Christmas Eve, and we usually got it. As neither of us has family in Australia, my husband Jack and I now spend Christmas with my godson’s family as we have done for 23 years. We graze on seafood and champagne all afternoon and then we have a swim before a traditional hot dinner and a table-tennis competition, which Jack invariably wins! What was the highlight of 2014 for you and your family? After a long time single, our eldest daughter, Lauren, 35, is confident she has found the love of her life. I am so happy for her I could – and do – cry tears of joy. How will you spend the summer? Mona Vale Hospital is starting its new service project, so I will be looking at Mona Vale beach from my Mona Vale office window! What are you most looking forward to in 2015? The success of new service delivery models being currently trialled at Mona Vale. What is your Christmas wish? To see my daughter Lauren still happy with Dominic. Bruce Poulter, Manager, Project Management Office, Food Services Improvement Project What is your heritage and how does that inform how you celebrate Christmas? My heritage is Australian. I originally lived on a farm in Kilmore, Victoria, was married in Port Pirie, South Australia and moved to Sydney with my work in 1975. Our tradition has been to travel back to our families in Victoria and South Australia at Christmas to be with the family at a traditional roast-pork lunch or dinner with a home-made Christmas pudding, complete with coins inserted into the pudding (wrapped in foil). We have continued to have that lunch or dinner with our Page 16 own children and their relatives and now with the five grandchildren as well. What was the highlight of 2014 for you and your family? Having all the family back in Australia safe and sound, with everyone healthy. We also have had a great time watching the five grandkids at their sport and school activities and watching our daughter Tracey play her part in the Fawlty Towers play at the Mittagong Play House. HealthShare News December/January Joy to the world! Aqis Shangloo, Assistant Accountant, Capital Programs What is your heritage and how does that inform how you celebrate Christmas? My family is from India, where Christmas is big due to the large population of Christians. Here in Australia we celebrate Christmas with friends. We like to uphold some Indian traditions, such as displaying small electric lamps or clay oil-burning lamps and decorating our home with banana or mango leaves. Some also put up a nativity scene with clay figures or a Christmas tree, which in India are usually imitation pine trees or branches of native trees or bushes. What was the highlight of 2014 for you and your family? Helping people by providing food and shelter to those who were stranded due to the floods which struck our city of Kashmir this year. Beyond that, we also raised funds for the relief of those who were severely struck by a gigantic thunderstorm. How will you spend the summer? How will you spend the summer? Trying to stay cool and hoping my volunteer Community Engagement service with the Rural Fire Service will not be too demanding this year. Being creative and releasing my inner artist! I’m planning to take photographs with my new camera and experiment with new hobbies, such as learning to swim. What are you most looking forward to in 2015? What are you most looking forward to in 2015? Finding ways to be more creative with my life and trying to be the best version of myself. What is your Christmas wish? What is your Christmas wish? To have a safe and happy Christmas and New Year with our family and friends. That we all realise that life’s most beautiful things are not seen with the eyes, but felt with the heart. ➦ Spending more time with the our three children and grandchildren, who are aged between nine months and five years. Contents Page 17 HealthShare News December/January A delicious Diwali One of the happiest and most important of the ancient Indian festivals, Diwali is also a bright shining light on the HealthShare NSW social and culinary calendars. Every year, dozens of our staff gather in Chatswood, many dressed in traditional saris, and partake in a feast of home-cooked Indian food to commemorate a festival that spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil and hope over despair. This year, some $473 in donations was also collected and given to the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation, which helps prevent and treat illness and injury in children. Organiser Shantha Tekkatte (pictured above left) coordinated the production of an array of delicious food, prepared by a number of staff members of Indian heritage. Many thanks to Shantha and her team of talented and generous cooks including Ravi Subramaniam, Vijaya Khandekar, Kalyan Mamidi, Samrit Pamnani, Ram Chandupatla and Rakesh Pandey. Thanks also to Khushbu Rana (pictured left) for the lovely henna designs and the Bollywood dance displays, and to Sandeep Singh and Aqis Shangloo for photography. Not only has the Work Health and Safety (WHS) team been busy working to implement safer work practices, they’ve also been commended for their efforts. On 12 November, the team (pictured below) received accolades at the annual 2014 Treasury Managed Fund (TMF) Awards for Excellence. The team received a special commendation in the Frameworks and Systems category for its safety promotion activities and was a finalist in the Processes Design category for its Job Fitness service. The TMF awards recognise people who make a difference through improved performance and reduced costs to agencies and the TMF. Applications were judged by an independent panel of representatives drawn from the areas of academia, industry and risk management. Get LinkedIn HealthShare NSW now has an active LinkedIn company page. The new page lets HealthShare NSW staff, NSW Health employees and members of the public keep up to date with the latest news and job vacancies. In addition, HealthShare NSW Staff who are registered on LinkedIn can now update their profile and link their job title to the company page. To ‘Follow’ HealthShare NSW, go to www.linkedin.com and enter HealthShare NSW in the search field. Page 18 ➦ WHS team wows Contents HealthShare News December/January Sun it sensibly Summer is here, so we’ve (beach)combed the facts from the fiction to help ensure that you enjoy the sunniest season safely. The facts on skin cancer • A ustralia has the highest incidence of melanoma in the world • M elanoma (a type of skin cancer) makes up only 2.3 per cent of all skin cancers but is responsible for 75 per cent of skin cancer deaths • M elanoma is caused by exposure to UV radiation from the sun or other sources, such as sunbeds. • Most melanomas develop as a new spot on the skin or a long-standing mole that changed. Any changes – including an increase in size, shape, irregular border, colour, itchiness, bleeding or recent appearance – should be checked by your GP as soon as possible. How to reduce your risk For outdoor workers (or if you spend a lot of time in the sun) the five most effective ways to protect yourself are to: • Seek shade, especially in the hottest part of the day (11am-3pm) • S lip into a protective shirt which covers the back of the neck. Try to cover as much skin as possible with clothing • 1 in 17 Australians will be diagnosed with melanoma before age 85 • Slop on some sunscreen with minimum SPF30+ broad spectrum and water resistant • M elanoma is more common in men. Men are 2.5 times more likely to die from melanoma than women • Slap on a broad-brimmed hat to protect your face, head, ears and neck from the sun. Caps do not provide adequate protection • M elanomas do not always occur on areas of the body that have been exposed to sun • Slide into some wrap-around sunglasses. ➦ • More than 1,500 Australians die from melanoma each year Contents Page 19 DECEMBER 2014 JANUARY 2015 Contents Chief Executive’s message . . . . . . II Migrating to GovDC (continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II New directors join eHealth NSW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III eHealth news Migrating to GovDC The year in review . . . . . . . . . . IV-VIII Path to Production powers into 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IX Joy to the world! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X-XI Check out our website at www.ehealth.nsw.gov.au David Thomson (pictured far left) from the NSW Office of Finance & Services speaks with the eHealth NSW Executive Management team on a recent tour of the NSW Government Data Centre at Silverwater If you’ve got a story or feedback for eHealth News, please contact Karen Fontaine on 8644 2246 or email karen. [email protected] eHealth NSW’s Executive Management team recently visited the NSW Government Data Centre (GovDC) at Silverwater for a tour of the facility to mark the commencement of NSW Health migrations. NSW Health to host production systems, paving the way for the implementation of new corporate and clinical applications and the migration of existing systems into the GovDCs. Led by Metronode and the Data Centre Reform (DCR) Program Manager, Peter McMillan, the tour took eHealth NSW management through the purposebuilt facility which will eventually house all NSW Health applications. The Corporate IT Program has already migrated its development and test environments to the Data Centre and is currently in the process of completing the build of the production environments with a view to go live in early 2015. The tour coincided with the completion of the foundation infrastructure build, which enables The Silverwater Data Centre is a next-generation facility which boasts the prestigious Tier III Accreditation for Continued page II Continued p2 ➦ eHealth News December/January Chief Executive’s message I’d like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your dedication and commitment to supporting the work of eHealth NSW. Your energy, ideas and talents are greatly appreciated. As we approach the end of the first six months of our ‘official’ life, it is a good time to reflect with considerable pride on the manifold achievements for which we have worked so hard. The Year In Review feature, which begins on page IV, outlines the many milestones we’ve reached, the projects we’ve launched and the initiatives we’ve introduced. Over the past couple of months it’s been my pleasure to welcome to our team Simon James and Kerri Ryan, both of whom you will find profiled on the page opposite. Simon has hit the ground running in his role of Director, Program and Change Management Office (PCMO), for which we are working to finalise the recruitment of key positions. Over the coming months we will be progressively recruiting to the four senior positions within the team: • A ssistant Director PCMO & Manager, Portfolio Office • Manager, Program Delivery Support • Manager, Change & Implementation • Manager, Methodology & Compliance Also showing great dynamism has been Kerri Ryan, our new Director of the Rural eHealth Program. Last but not least, I’d like to wish you and your family a safe and enjoyable festive season and a much-deserved break. I look forward to another rewarding year of working with you in 2015. Michael Walsh Chief Executive Chief Information Officer eHealth NSW ➦ It’s people that make the difference to any organisation, and ours is no exception. Connecting and supporting Australia’s largest public health system, our work makes a difference every day to the lives of 140,000 health professionals who provide healthcare to the people of NSW. Contents Migrating to GovDC (continued) From page I both Facility Design and Construction by the Uptime Institute. This means that it meets world best practice and rigorous global standards for reliability. “I was impressed by the standard of the facility, especially from an eco‑technology perspective,” said Michael Walsh, Chief Executive and Chief Information Officer, eHealth NSW. “The Data Centre has been developed using BladeRoom technology designed to maximise efficiency through the use of Page II free-flow air cooling. This will translate to significant operational savings and reliable performance.” The direct free air-cooling and modular plant systems deliver power utilisation efficiency, with on-site rainwater harvesting and an intelligent site-monitoring system. The tour was attended by Michael Walsh along with John Lambert, Chief Clinical Information Officer; Simon Geraghty, Chief Technology Officer; Andrew Pedrazzini, Director, Infrastructure Office; Michael Costello, Director, Innovation, Strategy & Architecture; Farhoud Salimi, Director, Corporate IT; and Peter McMillan, Program Manager, Data Centre Reform. eHealth News December/January New directors join eHealth NSW eHealth NSW’s ever-evolving organisational structure has been bolstered by the recent high-level appointments of Simon James and Kerri Ryan, with recruitment for key positions in Simon’s Program and Change Management Office (PCMO) currently underway. As Director of the PCMO, Simon joins us with more than 20 years of program and project experience in a variety of industries, including 12 years of experience in the establishment and leadership of PMOs, most recently with CharterMason, Asciano Limited and Boral Limited. As Director of the Rural eHealth Program, Kerri, meanwhile, has worked for more than 20 years in the information technology industry, with experience in fields including Data Centre management, system management, operations, network/field support, helpdesk/customer service, business continuity, strategic IM&T planning/implementation and clinical and corporate application support and delivery. eHealth NSW Chief Executive and Chief Information Officer Michael Walsh said the appointments further supported the organisation’s aim of leading the implementation of a state-wide eHealth strategy through the delivery of new, cutting-edge initiatives. Simon James, Director, Program and Change Management Office (PCMO) Q: What are your short-term goals in your new role? A: To engage with the existing team and our customers to understand the key challenges and opportunities that delivering the eHealth NSW portfolio of programs (Clinical, Corporate and Infrastructure) pose to them, and ensure that in the first instance the services we deliver today are well aligned to assist with the management of those challenges and opportunities. I also hope to build a stronger PCMO capability through completing the recruitment of the team. And finally, supporting the establishment of the portfolio and program governance structures which have been designed to improve the way in which we govern and deliver major programs of work. Q: And your long-term goals? A: To deliver services that improve the likelihood of the successful delivery of eHealth NSW programs. Further supporting this goal will require building on existing capabilities and strengthening in particular the areas of program delivery support, program assurance, frameworks, tools and organisational change capability. I’m also excited about the opportunity to develop closer relationships with our customers at LHDs and Agencies, both directly and through the establishment of customer relationship management roles within the PCMO. These CRM roles promise to be a major benefit not only to LHDs and agencies but also to the program and project teams working to deliver with those groups. Q: What’s your Christmas wish? A: It’s for all of the people who are selflessly giving their time – and, in some cases, their lives – to help those affected by the Ebola outbreak in Africa. Their efforts help define what ‘giving’ really means. Kerri Ryan, Director, Rural eHealth Program Q: What are your short-term goals in your new role? A: I’m thrilled to be offered the opportunity to be an advocate for rural and remote LHDs across NSW in delivering eHealth solutions and I’m impressed by the passion and positive feedback received to date by many staff, management/executive and customers as to the establishment of a dedicated rural eHealth program of work. My short-term priority is to work closely with my team, rural health LHD customers and other key stakeholders including ICT programs (corporate, clinical and Infrastructure Office) and ICT teams, to understand how we can best assist rural and remote NSW Health customers in delivering eHealth solutions. Q: And your long-term goals? A: Through focusing on the key elements of the Rural eHealth Program, I hope to build on the excellent work done to date in establishing the program, by improving governance, collaborating with our customers and embedding this in our day-to-day business practice. This can inform and guide us in delivering value where our customers feel empowered and supported and, as a result, continue to improve on the excellent care they provide patients across rural and remote NSW. Q: What’s your Christmas wish? A: Lots of fun and frivolity with family and friends. Page III eHealth News December/January The year in review Corporate Programs 2014 was a significant year for Corporate Programs, seeing the complete statewide roll-out of three major corporate systems – the NSW Health Learning Management System, (HETI Online); the VMoney Web application for Visiting Medical Officers; and Oracle Release 12 for Financials and Procurement. The implementation of HETI Online commenced in Mid North Coast LHD in July 2013 and concluded with Hunter New England in September 2014. As of mid-November, there were 1.3 million online course completions recorded, with 140,000 completions in the month of October alone. In addition, 120,000 classroom completions have also been recorded, and the number of specialised and mandatory courses available to users continues to grow. At the end of the first six months of being a separate entity from HealthShare NSW, we reflect on the highlights of 2014 for eHealth NSW. application once Corporate Programs successfully implemented to a control group. Other highlights for the year include the implementation of the Asset & Facilities Management system, AFM Online. Since September this year, four out of five key business functions have been released. StaffLink HRIS and Finance & Procurement was successfully implemented at the Cancer Institute NSW and StaffLink Financials & Procurement, including iProcurement which went live with all Health Agencies on 3 April 2014. According to Farhoud Salimi, Director of Corporate Programs, HealthRoster, the new rostering system for NSW Health, will be the big focus for eHealth NSW in 2015 with implementations scheduled to commence from February. The VMoney Web application, which allows Visiting Medical Officers to submit claims for payment online and to track the progress and payment of claims, was first introduced in Western NSW LHD in September last year with a control group of 30 VMOs. ➦ Since then, the system’s uptake has been rapid, with 43 per cent of VMO claims now submitted via the application. This is a great achievement and a testament to the local project managers in each LHD whose job was to continue to promote the Contents Page IV eHealth News December/January Information Services In 2014, Information Services: • Integrated the support team for statewide email and directory services, which currently supports more than 40,000 customers on a 24/7 basis • E ngaged multiple technical teams in building and testing the foundation infrastructure in the whole of government data centres • Ran over 7,000 daily backups (systems, databases, etc.) of approximately 4 Petabytes of data • M igrated more than 4,000 HealthShare NSW, eHealth NSW and Pillars user desktops to Windows 7, delivering a supported, secure desktop environment • R olled out major telephone upgrades and supported the statewide email and directory services migration with a new voicemail platform and secure mobile device management (mdm) solution which included 2,100 voicemail users and over 350 mobile devices • T ransitioned the Health Wide Area Network (HWAN) to operational support and engaged closely with the Infrastructure Office to support ongoing deployments ➦ • U pgraded the Clinical Integration platform which provides messaging support to critical clinical application for Local Health Districts. Teams replaced obsolete and ageing infrastructure to powerful IBM infrastructure. The platform provides greater reliability and performance, high availability and Disaster Recovery solutions and overall cost savings in maintenance, storage and hosting. Contents Page V eHealth News December/January The year in review Clinical Programs Electronic Medication Management (EMM) The launch of EMM projects at Prince of Wales Hospital and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead were landmark steps for the EMM Program, along with EMM going live at the Concord Repatriation General Hospital’s Mental Health Unit. This was complemented by the implementation of Antimicrobial Stewardship approval systems to improve antibiotic prescribing at Western Sydney, Northern Sydney, Murrumbidgee, Mid North Coast and Western NSW LHDs. Electronic Medical Records (eMR) Functional enhancements to emergency departments (EDs) FirstNet system were made available for deployment by Local Health Districts, which make the system easier to use and allow clinicians to more quickly record their care. Speech recognition enhancements were also made to FirstNet, which provides 506 emergency department doctors across all LHDs with improved functionality. Blacktown, Wellington, Cobar, Walgett and Corowa Hospitals have implemented new ‘safety’ functionality, which electronically reminds clinicians to complete mandatory risk assessments. Once completed, the system will provide clinicians with summarised risk levels including advice as to the most appropriate interventions they can take. The second release was completed in November, facilitating improved teamwork, automation and clinical quality. The Between the Flags solution has been developed and implemented in the majority of EDs. The remaining EDs in Sydney and South Western Sydney LHDs will be completed by the end of 2014. Implementation of an eMR into Justice Health was also completed. Incident Management System (IMS) After an extended Tender evaluation process, which included a new and effective structured negotiation phase, RiskMan International was selected as the preferred vendor for the new Incident Management System (IMS). The commitment of stakeholders from across all facets of NSW Health has been a huge benefit and driver for the Program throughout the evaluation, IPS and dataset development undertaken this year and we look forward to working with them to design and build in the first half of 2015. ➦ Project site and commencement of implementation will occur in the second half of 2015 through to mid-2016. Contents Page VI eHealth News December/January HealtheNet In December 2014, HealtheNet was successfully rolled out to Hunter New England LHD allowing clinicians to share patient information electronically via the NSW Health clinical portal. During 2014, HealtheNet has progressively rolled out across NSW and is already in place in most metropolitan LHDs and the Illawarra. Planning and integration of HealtheNet for North Sydney and Central Coast, Northern NSW and Mid North Coast, Western NSW and Far West and Southern NSW and Murrumbidgee, Sydney and South West Sydney LHDs is underway and expected to go live at the end of March 2015. Intensive Care Clinical Information System (ICCIS) The ICCIS Program commenced its build mid-2014 and is now over 50 per cent complete. A phased approach to delivery of interfaces for connectivity with other integrated systems continues in parallel, with strong quality control processes being implemented in preparation for formal testing phases. Clinicians continue to be heavily involved with providing oversight and expertise, with up to 80 ICU nurses, doctors and allied clinicians working closely with the eHealth NSW ICCIS program team. With a recent increase in funding, ICCIS will now be delivered statewide to up to 53 Adult, Paediatric and Neonatal intensive care and High Dependency units throughout NSW, with the first going live in late 2015. Community Health and Outpatient Care (CHOC) Program Functionality in the electronic medical records (eMR) system was introduced to North Sydney and Central Coast Local Health Districts, allowing clinical notes to be documented in the one eMR for the first time. This will support Aboriginal Health, Sexual Health, Allied Health, Aged & Chronic Care, Community Home Nursing, Child Youth & Family and Mental Health. Functionality to support Mental Health services in South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Shoalhaven (SES&IS) LHDs was also completed, giving clinicians across multiple sites timely access to information previously captured on paper. SES&IS LHDs have commenced detailed implementation planning to roll-out the remaining eMR solutions developed through the eHealth NSW, North Sydney & Central Coast LHD partnership. Drug & Alcohol services will go live using the Cerner solution in by the end of this year. Deployment projects have been initiated in Western Sydney, Nepean Blue Mountains, Mid North Coast, Northern NSW, Sydney South and Western Sydney LHDs. ➦ St Vincent’s CHIME 4.0 upgrade was completed and the Justice Health CHIME 4.0 project commenced. Contents Page VII eHealth News December/January The year in review Rural eHealth Program A dedicated Rural eHealth Program has been established within eHealth NSW to coordinate the planning and implementation of eHealth clinical, corporate and infrastructure solutions across six rural LHDs. Led by Kerri Ryan, Governance has been established and agreement reached to ‘act together’. Program planning is nearing completion and recruitment is in progress for the four-year program, with initial program(s) due to commence implementation in early 2015. Infrastructure Office IO had a big year, with its achievements for 2014 including: Health Wide Area Network Implementation of the statewide Health Wide Area Network (HWAN) is progressing, with a total of 15 LHDs, the Ministry of Health and the new Government data centers being provided with initial interconnections. Interconnection for the Ambulance Service, the Cancer Institute and Justice Health is expected by the end of 2014. It is also expected that eHealth NSW and HealthShare NSW will have a majority of their sites connected by the end of the year. Planning for the rural site implementations onto HWAN has commenced. Conferencing and Collaboration A statewide video conferencing capability has been established. eHealth NSW is working with the Pillars to use the Conference and Collaboration solutions to assist with the implementations of selected models of care. Data Centre Reform (DCR) The eHealth NSW DCR team has completed the foundation infrastructure build at the Government Data Centres (GovDC), which enables NSW Health to host production systems, paving the way for the implementation of new corporate and clinical applications and the migration of existing systems into the GovDCs. The Corporate IT Program has already migrated its development and test environments to the data centre and is currently in the process of completing the build of the production environments with a view to go live in early 2015. Email and directory services migration The Infrastructure Office has recently completed the first phase of the State Wide Infrastructure Services (SWIS) program which has seen the migration of email and directory services across six LHDs, eHealth NSW, HealthShare NSW and Pillars. ➦ This has included the establishment of a Statewide Directory, StaffLink integration, Messaging and Desktop tools and a server management tool. Contents Page VIII eHealth News December/January Path to Production powers into 2015 It has been a busy year for Information Services’ IT Service Management (ITSM) transition team, which has had 15 new projects engaged in the Path to Production (P2P) process, 15 programs currently passing through the P2P, 15 new programs at the initial stages of engagement, and 15 programs which have completed the transition. These include NonEmergency Patient Transport Optima rollout, Justice and Forensic Mental Health Orion Hospital Electronic Health System, Endoscopy Information System, Statewide Infrastructure as a Service, and the Health Wide Area Network, to name just a few. Vikram Ranna and Ross Edwards of the ITSM transition team P2P provides a flexible framework that helps projects and support teams ensure that the right level of project engagement is achieved and that appropriate governance structures are in place. It is intended to help project managers and teams understand what is required to transition a new or changed service into operation. ITSM Transition Managers have been working closely with Clinical Programs, the Infrastructure Office and Information Services (IS) to refine the P2P framework to ensure that the right level of project engagement is achieved and that appropriate governance structures are in place. “We have had a number of program teams, such as the Electronic Medication Management, Intensive Care Clinical Information System and the Incident Management System, engage us to ensure that the P2P is imbedded into their program from day one and to ensure that they are active participants in the process,” said Vikram Ranna, IS Transition Manager. “It also ensures support teams have been able to put forward their requirements with confidence the P2P process will ensure their requirements are fulfilled.” With a high volume of programs moving through the P2P process, eHealth NSW has seen the benefits of following a structured framework when transitioning services to the support teams. It has also provided project managers with clear engagement points, enabling delivery of the service with correct roles and responsibilities defined and appropriate and tested support models. As the P2P process has matured and lessons have been learnt, the P2P artefacts and associated processes have once again been updated. The updated artefacts will be available in the various transition tools by mid-December. P2P refresh sessions will be held in January and February 2015. To register your interest in attending, contact Vikram Ranna at vikram.ranna@health. nsw.gov.au or on 8644 2738. Page IX eHealth News December/January Joy to the world! eHealth NSW prides itself on its inclusiveness and diversity, with its Gladesville Corporate IT program boasting staff members from all four corners of the globe. Here we talk to staff members with various cultural backgrounds about the traditions they and their families uphold at Christmastime. May we take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very merry Christmas and a new year filled with love, light and laughter. “ Christmas, my child, is love in action Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas. ” —Dale Evans (1912-2001) Heidi Gonzalez HealthRoster Implementer, Corporate IT What is your heritage and how does that inform how you celebrate Christmas? My family comes from El Salvador, the smallest country in Central America, and as Catholics, Christmas for us is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. We celebrate this by coming together with all our family on Christmas Eve. What was the highlight of 2014 for you and your family? Moving into our new home and seeing my girls’ little faces light up as they ran around the house saying this is “our home”. How will you spend the summer? Enjoying the outdoors with my two girls, especially the beach. What are you most looking forward to in 2015? I am looking forward to my family trip to Fiji in the new year. Kristina Vuckovic, Electronic Medication Management (EMM) Project Coordinator What is your Christmas wish? My Christmas wish is to keep all my family and friends safe and to have a happy festive season with lots of joy. What is your heritage and how does that inform how you celebrate Christmas? My parents migrated from Croatia in the 1960s. Page X , Anita Mudyara, Medical and Dental Officer Rostering Lead What is your heritage and how does that inform how you celebrate Christmas? I am Zimbabwean by origin and our Christmas celebrations are a huge event. A large population of Zimbabweans are Christian and the event starts by attending a church service followed by family gatherings and celebrations with lots of food. People exchange gifts and the little ones still think that Santa Claus brings them gifts, evident of the European influence dating back to the 1800s. In Australia I spend Christmas with my family and friends if not travelling. What was the highlight of 2014 for you and your family? The major highlight of my family in 2014 was the arrival of my nephew, the second grandchild for my lovely parents. How will you spend the summer? Spending quality time with family and friends. What are you most looking forward to in 2015? Living my childhood dream to become a lawyer. I will be studying law part-time. I’ll also be working more with the underprivileged and I am currently setting up a local board with key people to build a maternity hospital in southern Africa … because no woman should die while giving life. What is your Christmas wish? I love surprises. Christmas is an enormous two-day celebration. In Croatia, religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter are accompanied by a certain dish. As is customary in Catholicism, most Croats don’t eat meat on Christmas Eve – instead, we eat fish. On the Dalmatian coast where my family come from, traditionally this would be salted cod called ‘balkar’, but my family ‘Aussified’ this to a feast of seafood followed by a festive desert called ‘fritule’ – a jam-filled donut-style treat, but, without the hole and nicer dough! Christmas Day is celebrated in the family home filled with music, a traditional roast turkey, exchanging of gifts and a backyard game of cricket – another Aussie addition to Christmas my father started when we were little. And, as you can see from the photo, Thompson the cat never goes hungry. How will you spend the summer? Staying as close as possible to the air-conditioning. What are you most looking forward to in 2015? The Rugby World Cup in the UK. What is your Christmas wish? A white Christmas – I’ve never had one! I have relatives in Sweden and Germany who are always asking me to visit and help them shovel snow. ➦ n. eHealth News December/January Contents Page XI