Dhelkaya Health Testimonial & Outcomes
When I arrived at Dhelkaya Health in early 2023 there was a significant and concerning nursing workforce shortage. One of the factors contributing to this was the volume of manual handling injuries to clinical staff. There was at least one a week.
Injuries to staff result in a downstream impact on client care because there is either a gap in staffing or a casual staff member is engaged, both of which reduce the consistency and quality of care systems.
Unbroken and unwavering commitment to the implementation of the program was the key to our success.
The Executive and staff at all levels got behind the program because they were frequently seeing the effect of poor practices. The engagement resulted in penetration throughout the organisation in use of the program and other ideas coming forward as to how we can improve staff safety (such as reducing clutter in resident rooms).
I highly recommended the mobility program to healthcare providers because it offers a consistent, well researched framework to conduct manual handling, and it delivered the results we were seeking.
The reported manual handling injury rate reduced by 70%.
Injury compensation claims due to manual handling reduced by 40%.
Melodie Heland Executive Director, Clinical and Aged Care Services (2023-2024) Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer