SOS Project

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Above: Project leader Clementia Yap and staff specialist Marianne Martinello in Outpatients

A new project has been launched at Blacktown Hospital to improve patients’ experience in clinics with a focus on improving attendance, reducing waiting times, updating booking procedures and creating better connections with local GPs.
 
Called SOS, for Streamlining Outpatient Services, the project will initially focus on the Infectious Diseases Clinic with plans for a phased roll-out to other outpatient clinics in the future.
 
Since 2014, there has been a 66% increase in outpatient activity, and that will continue to increase as Blacktown expands to become a major teaching hospital for western Sydney.
 
Once the main clinical departments relocate in mid 2019, the project team will refurbish large parts of Building B to create more capacity for the outpatient clinics.
 
The SOS project is starting the transition now so that issues can be identified and solutions implemented early. The aim is to have systems and procedures in place by next year, so that by the time the expansion is completed, it’s just business-as-usual.

 Key focus areas include:

• Reducing long patient wait times
• Identifying delays in patient access to care
• Implementing digital systems to replace the heavy reliance on paper processes
• Addressing high rates of non-attendance
• Ensuring patients have a positive experience in clinics which supports their recovery.

 
More information:

Shivorn Blackman, Outpatients Project Manager Ph:0428 793 789
 
Clementia Yap, Project Lead, Innovation & Redesign Clementia.Yap@health.nsw.gov.au
 
Julianne Harvey, Project Lead, Innovation & Redesign Julianne.Harvey@health.nsw.gov.au