Department of Health, WA

We asked the following questions of all survey respondents:

• What are your biggest current strategic challenges for safety and quality in WA Health?
• How can the DoH support your S&Q initiatives and priorities?
• How can the DoH improve collaboration to drive effective safety and quality in WA Health?

We also asked a series of specific questions depending on whether respondents worked in a Health Service Provider or the Department of Health.

You said the key issues facing our safety and quality system include:

• The availability of high-quality, accessible safety and quality data, and a desire for more skills to use data effectively to support safety and quality initiatives;
• HSP and DOH awareness and ability to implement contemporary approaches to quality and quality improvement in healthcare;
• Resourcing to support a strong, positive patient safety culture, and to sustain positive safety culture long-term;
• Barriers to compliance with safety and quality measures and engagement between the Department and Health Service Providers to proactively resolve patient safety issues

Your feedback contained a mix of concrete suggestions for safety and quality activities and initiatives, and ways of working towards these within the confines of our health system.

We have used your feedback to help shape detailed goal setting for the Patient Safety and Clinical Quality Directorate’s Strategy 2022-2025. 

We will continue to refer to specific comments and feedback as we implement the Strategy.

In November 2020 we launched the statutory review of the Tobacco Products Control Act 2006 (the Act) and the Tobacco Products Control Regulations 2006 (the Regulations).

We published a discussion paper which asked for views on the operation and effectiveness of the Act and the Regulations, if the legislation is achieving it’s purposes, and how it could be improved. We also sought stakeholder views on other evidence-based legislative reforms that could update and strengthen WA’s tobacco control legislation to ensure that it continues to meet its objectives.

A total of 53 submissions were received in response to the discussion paper.

Submissions were received from a wide range of respondents including members of the public, universities, industry stakeholders, nongovernment organisations and government departments. Submissions highlighted the varying perspectives and expectations that exist among different stakeholders regarding tobacco control legislation in Western Australia (WA).

A consultation report summarising the submissions was tabled in Parliament by the Minister for Health on 24 June 2021.

The consultation report can be viewed on the Parliament website.

Information gathered from this stage of the review will assist in identifying possible areas for further investigation to strengthen the operation and effectiveness of the WA Tobacco Products Control Act 2006 and the Regulations. Following the development of options for regulatory improvements further consultation will be undertaken to inform the Government’s decision making process.

The WA Health End-of-Life Care Program released draft high level strategies for Advance Care Planning (ACP) education and awareness raising amongst health professionals and the community for broad consultation in September to October 2020.

The survey asked for input on the comprehensiveness and anticipated effectiveness of the overall approach outlined by the strategies and sought to identify existing education, training and awareness raising initiatives that are of relevance to the strategies.

All members of the WA community were encouraged to have their say, with the invitation to participate circulated amongst a broad range of stakeholders including consumers and carers, community organisations, Government departments/areas, health and allied health professionals, health and legal services, and aged care providers.

Over 75 responses we received to the online survey.

Overall the feedback from the consultation was positive with 77% of respondents indicating they agreed/ strongly agreed that the strategies:

• were easy to understand
• outline an appropriate approach for advance care planning education, training and awareness in WA
• provide appropriate direction for future advance care planning education, training and awareness in WA.

As a result of the positive feedback, no strategies were removed but the following are some of the changes that were made:

• More examples of current related activities in WA and Australia were added
• The target population was clarified for some strategies where it was unclear
• The need to tailor strategies to populations and provide information in a variety of formats was emphasised
• The need to recognise existing resources and materials and adopt a coordinated approach where possible was noted
• A strong emphasis on a collaborative design approach for the development of resources and implementation planning of the strategies was supported
• The need to recognise the role that different professions play in supporting ACP varies, and education and training should reflect that.

Additional more-detailed feedback has been noted and recorded to inform the implementation phase.

Further background information was added to the document to provide clarity on the purpose, development process, and implementation (i.e. how it should be used and by who). A one-page summary has also been included. The final document is referred to as WA Health’s strategy for Advance Care Planning education and awareness raising: For health professionals and the community.