The safety and quality of our health services and enabling an environment that promotes innovation in delivering world-class health care are fundamental to providing real value to the community and to assuring a sustainable health system for future generations.
With this in mind, former Director General, Dr D J Russel-Weisz, engaged Professor Hugo Mascie-Taylor –internationally recognised expert with a distinguished background in clinical, regulatory and leadership roles– to conduct a review of safety and quality in the WA health system.
The Review was not a reaction to poor quality or major adverse events, but a pro-active measure focused on the effectiveness of system-wide arrangements, strategic priorities for safety and quality, and on areas for improvement and future development.
The Review included observations and recommendations based on key principles of clinical governance, including clear roles, responsibilities, accountabilities; consistency of standards; a culture of transparency; a willingness to benchmark and learn from experiences locally, nationally and internationally; and a patient and community focus from “bedside to boardroom”.
Following the release of this report, in 2017, the Department of Health and Health Service Providers have been working together to make sure we take the opportunity of implementing these recommendations. This has ensured that delivering ongoing high quality and high value outcomes is still our priority, that we continually strive to have a system that is "safer this year than it was last”, and that this is an overt commitment made to our patients, our staff and the Western Australian community.
Review of Safety and Quality in the WA health system - a strategy for continuous improvement. (PDF 623KB)