1 min read
Department of Health business case for
significant change: Phase 1
On 9 April 2021, Dr John Wakefield Director-General of Queensland Health provided a decision on Phase 1 of the Department of Health business case for significant change.
NPAQ's Health Contact Centre members are concerned that there was no consideration given to their feedback and that the document provides no detail as to how the Nursing role fits within the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) role. Many questions remain unanswered, including:
- Is there a role description change?
- Will there be changes in nursing reporting lines?
- Will the role be modelled on the NHS model which merged the Nurse's Helpline with the Emergency Phone line?
- How is merging with QAS avoiding ED presentation/hospital avoidance?
- What are the steps in the transition phase?
- Will there be a work site change?
- Will members retain current fringe benefits or will there be an improvement in the FBT benefit?
- How will QAS/ Nursing cross-cultural issues be addressed?
Members have also sought answers from the Director of Nursing with no answers forthcoming to date. In an ad hoc meeting, she stated that she was blindsided by the changes and this has not assisted in allaying staff fears in a time of upheaval. No transparency is being shared in this time of major service change.
Staff were pulled out of the ad hoc emergency Nurse meeting as well as no minutes for staff who were unable to attend due to rostering.
Statements by middle management "Don't worry about it. You've got a job at the moment" does not engender any confidence in the Department of Health business case for significant change - phase one.
Basically, there is no plan, no actual change management steps, hence no informed feedback is available.
NPAQ is asking Dr Wakefield for the blueprint so members may have some insight into the pending changes and enable them to adapt.
If you experience any issues during this change process, be sure to contact your NPAQ support team for assistance.