NUMURKAH District Health Service (NDHS) has won the Premier’s Small Health Service of the Year Award for 2018/2019.

The win was announced at the 2019 Victorian Public Healthcare Awards ceremony in Melbourne last Wednesday.

NCN Health Chief Executive Officer Jacque Phillips said NDHS is delighted to receive the award which recognises excellence, dedication and innovation in health services.

“It is wonderful to be acknowledged as an organisation that is leading the way in health services across the state,” Ms Phillips said.

“I wish to congratulate staff for their hard work and outstanding efforts, and for continuing to provide excellent healthcare to our community.”

NDHS was also a finalist in the Minister for Mental Health’s Award for excellence in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of Victorians for the Dairy Industry Support Project. Community Interlink, a consortium of 19 local health services of which NDHS is one, won the Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers Award for Excellence in Public Sector Aged Care.

Entries in each award category are assessed against six assessment criteria representing the strategic ways in which excellent healthcare is delivered.

Entry criteria are: 

• Providing sustainable, well-managed and efficient health services;

• Providing timely and responsive health services; 

• Promoting least intrusive and earliest effective care;

• Improving health service safety and quality;

• Strengthening the capacity of individuals, families and communities through effective prevention and health promotion; and

• Improving health and wellbeing for disadvantaged people and communities.

Health services must prepare an 18,000-character submission describing their achievements across the six criteria, and must be able to show evidence of their stated achievements. 

Winning entries demonstrate outstanding patient experiences and engagement - not just at the beginning or the end, but all the way through.

Each of the 18 award categories are judged by a separate panel comprised of volunteers from a cross-section of Victorian health services, non-government organisations and peak bodies.  

Individual panel members are selected for their expertise and experience and come from a range of positions including board members, chief executives, general managers, directors, health researchers, quality managers, patient advocates, consumers and policy advisors to make sure the panel represents the full spectrum of healthcare activity.

The judges use the published assessment criteria to score each entry, and the secretariat collates the judges’ scores to arrive at an overall ranking.

Numurkah District Health Service is now part of NCN Health, following its amalgamation with Nathalia District Hospital and Cobram District Health as of July 1, 2019.