Carole McDiarmid continues her look at what is going on behind the scenes at Bathurst Hospital.
I’D like to introduce to the Bathurst community our acting general manager of the Bathurst Hospital, Cathy Marshall.
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Cathy has had 18 years’ experience in the Local Health District and has a sound knowledge of local health needs.
Originally from the South Coast, Cathy trained as a paediatric nurse before heading to the United Kingdom as an agency nurse with the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
She has specialised in general paediatric and intensive cardiac care.
Following managerial experience in the Sydney Children’s Hospital and Westmead Hospital, Cathy transferred to the Central West to work in paediatrics and the female medical ward at Orange Base Hospital.
In 2006, Cathy joined the Clinical Governance Unit for the Western Area Health District. This unit is responsible for patient safety for the vast area from Goodooga to Condobolin.
Her considerable experience in this area has been invaluable as the Bathurst Hospital undergoes its accreditation process in November.
A program Cathy highlighted that operates in our hospital is called R.E.A.C.H. The letters in R.E.A.C.H remind carers and loved ones of a communication program that operates in the hospital to ensure carer concerns are shared with staff.
If you recognise a worrying change in a loved one’s condition, engage with the nurse who is looking after them to share your concerns.
If your concern is not responded to or your loved one is getting worse, act and ask to speak to the nurse unit manager and ask for a clinical review.
If you are still concerned, call the emergency response team and help will be on its way.
Independent surveyors will appraise our hospitals’ processes and systems for patient care against National Health and Quality Standards in November.
Currently, Bathurst Hospital rates highly against state benchmarks and key result areas: in falls within the hospital, admission rates, infection rates, hand hygiene, and Hospital in the Home, a program supporting patients in their home to ensure they won’t need to be admitted to the hospital.
In a recent patient survey, the areas that we received higher than state responses included:
- Overall hospital care is good.
- At discharge, completely adequate arrangements are made for services needed at home.
- Nurses always answered questions in an understandable way.
- Wards and rooms are very clean.
- Toilet and bathrooms are very clean.
- Always saw nurses wash their hands or use clean gloves.
- Care and treatment received “definitely” helped.
Cathy has noticed since she started working as the general manager how many compliments the staff receive on the quality of their nursing care.
Cathy is enjoying working in Bathurst and finds the hospital a friendly and open workplace.
She feels all staff are working toward world-class standards in patient care.
Her message to the community is: “If you are at all worried about a patient in the hospital, contact the nursing unit manager or the executive of the hospital for support and assistance.”
It is good to know our hospital is in safe and caring hands.
Welcome to Bathurst, Cathy!