Ms Renae Moore1, Ms Lauren Toll1
1Northern Territory Health, Darwin, Australia
Abstract:
The ‘One Allied Health Plan’ was launched in April 2024 after extensive engagement and consultation with staff and stakeholders. The Plan, developed by the Office of the Chief Allied Health Officer (OCAHO), outlines the direction and priorities for allied health across NT Health over a five-year period, and is the first such plan for allied health as a collective across the Territory.
The Plan was built on the following key principles, agreed by allied health leaders: Distributed Leadership; Equity of Access; Integration and Multi-Disciplinary Teamwork
It was critically important to unify Allied Health in the NT under one plan in order to establish key priorities for Allied Health across all regions and sectors of health from health promotion and disease prevention to acute care and emergency medicine. The benefits of developing a strategic approach for allied health under the One Allied Health Plan included:
– Establishing shared key priorities for allied health
– Promotion of allied health in new models of care,
– Highlighting the value of allied health within the healthcare system,
– Strengthening allied health professional representation at all levels within the organisation,
– Building and supporting the allied health workforce,
– Enabling ongoing sustainability of allied health services,
– Ensuring a coordinated approach across NT for allied health.
This paper will outline consultation process and communication strategies used to develop this united plan as well as report on outcomes achieved and implementation lessons learnt within its first 12 months.