Ms Cassie Plant1, Ms Hilda Griffin1, Ms Meg Allan1, Ms Rebekah Allwood, Dr Aruska D'Souza1
1Department of Allied Health, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Australia
Biography:
Cassie Plant is an accomplished Senior Occupational Therapist and dynamic leader with extensive experience in managing teams and driving innovation. Cassie works as the Grade 4 Occupational Therapist and Clinical Lead for Medical Services at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where she leads multidisciplinary teams, oversees the implementation of new services, and drives quality improvement initiatives. Cassie has led multiple projects, including the development of new models of care and response strategies for the COVID-19 pandemic. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Leadership and is a sessional academic at Australian Catholic University. This is her first conference submission.
Abstract:
Background:
The Royal Melbourne Hospital general medicine service implemented a seven-day model of care (MOC) supported by an increase in allied health resourcing to establish general medicine as a desirable clinical specialty. This pre-post study explores staff views on acceptability pertaining to this new MOC.
Methodology:
All staff working in general medicine were invited to complete pre/post surveys comprised of Likert scale questions and open-ended questions. Categorical data were presented as count and percentage; and free text comments were explored independently by three authors using inductive thematic analysis.
Results:
Sixty-two and sixty-seven staff across nursing, medical and allied health completed the survey before and after the new MOC respectively. The most represented professions were Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Nursing, with the majority of respondents having five or more years of clinical experience. Prior to implementation, staff reported general medicine was complex; they felt they were unable to provide adequate care and lacked senior support. Post-implementation, 86% (n=58) of staff reported having adequate senior clinicians in general medicine (compared to 8%, n=5, pre-implementation). More timely, consistent, and high-quality patient care and increased responsiveness to referrals across seven days were also reported. Additionally, staff felt valued, enjoyed working as a multidisciplinary team and appreciated opportunities for career advancement. Suggestions for ongoing improvement regarding processes such as handover, rostering and communication were also highlighted.
Discussion:
The MOC was acceptable to staff, allowed opportunities for career advancement and perceived to improve patient and hospital outcomes. Future directions should evaluate feasibility of this MOC.