Team receives top honour for their support of people and families with end of life choices
The WA Voluntary Assisted Dying Statewide Care Navigator Service has been working behind the scenes since before the VAD legislation was implemented in 2021, developing strong, collaborative, respectful and enduring relationships across public, private, aged-care and community-based providers, to ensure equitable access to VAD across Western Australia.
The customer-focused and nurse-led service advises and supports patients, families, networks and care providers on VAD, and provides individualised care to each person's unique needs regardless of where in the State they live.
Through a focus on relationship building, the VAD team ensured stakeholders across WA felt informed and supported about VAD choices and supports, enabling them to feel comfortable in referring their patients to the VAD team for further advice.
Their success was evidenced by the higher-than-expected levels of access to VAD, with more than 700 people contacting the service and over 170 people accessing this end-of-life choice in the first year - well above the initial expectation of 50 to 70 people.
Recently at the 2022 South Metropolitan Health Service (SMHS) Excellence Awards held on Thursday 20 October 2022, the team was recognised for its contribution to patient outcomes, taking home the top prize in the 'excellence in strengthening partnerships' category as well as the prestigious Southern Star Award, which recognises the best-of-the-best among the team category award winners of the year.
WA Voluntary Assisted Dying Statewide Care Navigator Service Clinical Nurse Consultant, Meg Plaster, said in the context of all the other incredible finalists and category winners, the VAD team felt very humbled to take home both trophies.
"It was a huge surprise to win - particularly the Southern Star Award," Meg said.
"VAD is still a very new end of life choice and can be quite polarising, so it felt really special and reassuring to feel the enormous support from our colleagues and the executive at SMHS.
"The VAD Statewide Care Navigator Service has involved a remarkable amount of work, under the leadership of Alice Morison, but it is work that is largely unseen within the health service because of the confidential nature of what we do, so it felt like a really heart-warming acknowledgement of the service.
"I think I can speak for the whole team, including our VAD doctors and nurses, when I say we are so privileged to be trusted with such an intimate moment in a person's life, helping them take control at the end of their life and to die with dignity and respect."
SMHS Chief Executive Paul Forden said he is continually impressed by the high calibre projects, teams and individuals who are in the running at the SMHS Excellence Awards every year.
"We are privileged at SMHS to have a cohort of staff and volunteers who are so passionate and committed to further improving the patient outcomes for our community," Paul said.
"Congratulations and thank you to all the winners, finalists and nominees."
