Barwon Health’s 16th annual Quality Awards were hosted on Thursday, 19 November 2015 at the Health Education and Research Building on Ryrie Street.
The awards are an opportunity recognise project teams and individual staff members throughout the organisation who improve the care and services we deliver.
Cancer Services' Being the Patient pilot project won the Pillar 4 – Research, Education & Training for Excellence Award.
Being the Patient was designed and implemented by Loretta Marr in the Radiation Oncology Department over the past two years.
Being the patient is a practical tutorial focusing on improving practitioner to patient communication and clinical skills by asking the participants to stop and reflect on their practice from the perspective of the patient
The concept was developed based around literature which noted that without an understanding of the impact that cancer and its treatments have for patients, we are unable to adequately care for them.
The tutorial places participants’ emotionally and physically in the shoes of their patients by highlighting common patient questions and anxieties, and then identifying strategies to overcome these issues to improve patient care. This prompted participants to understand why it is important to be mindful of how procedures are undertaken and make a change for the better in their clinical practice methods.
