In a happy coincidence, the day hospital management was called to task in front page news, they got in contact to share the updates the community has been demanding.
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General manager of the Bega Valley Health Service Wendy Hubbard spoke to Fairfax Media on Tuesday afternoon saying they are working hard to rectify issues at the South East Regional Hospital and implement the recommendations made by the "Reid report” published a little over two months ago.
"We're working hard, but there's still a lot of work to do as well,”she said.
“People here are really seeing some positive changes.”
Ms Hubbard said the report, which was scathing in its assessment of the year-old facility, was “a gift” for her in her first months on the job – she was appointed in late February amid calls for an external review and a public “crisis meeting”. “This was some meat and potatoes for me to work on,” she said.
She said a project manager had been appointed from "day one” after the report's release to lead the hospital in implementing its recommendations, among them a communications strategy to keep the community informed of progress – “we waited until now to make sure we had something to talk about”.
Offers for 10 additional administration roles are expected to be made within a fortnight after whittling down an incredible 250 or so applicants, Ms Hubbard said.
The extra hands are destined for roles as ward clerks, front of house and to fill gaps on weekends and nights – "giving our clinical staff back their clinical time”.
There is also recruitment underway for emergency department doctors, orthopaedics, paediatrics – which started an outpatient service as of this week – and intensive care.
Ms Hubbard also was pleased to say around 45 staff members had put their hands up to help lead a culture change program.
“We're going to work with a group of those who came forward to develop initiatives like a reward and recognition program for our staff,” she said. “So they can see there's some positives to being here and it's not just all the negative stories coming out.”
Ms Hubbard said there may even be a way for patients and their families to play a role in nominating staff members deserving of recognition. Staff are also identifying what's ‘above or below the line’ behaviour, making sure the workplace culture is appropriate and calling it out if it's not.
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