Action Against Violence in NSW Hospitals Working Group Work Plan

January - December 2024

It's our vision that all NSW hospitals are free from work-related violence and aggression, so workers can safely deliver high quality care.

Work-related violence is any incident in which someone is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work.

The Action Against Violence in NSW Hospitals Working Group (Working Group) was established following the completion of a systems thinking project facilitated by SafeWork NSW to identify issues in response to the increasing incidence of work-related violence against workers in the NSW hospital environment.

The Working Group was established to develop key strategies, priorities and initiatives to address the issue of work- related violence in NSW Hospitals for implementation by PCBUs.

The Working Group will:

  • influence policy and decision-makers
  • promote and communicate key messages to stakeholders and the community
  • act as advocates for driving change, and
  • promote and advocate for safer work, safer care in the health care sector.

Background

The initiatives undertaken by the Working Group will align with the following strategies:

Recent research that applied systems thinking to the issue of work-related violence in hospital settings in NSW identified nine key themes. These themes will underpin the approach to the key strategies, priorities and initiatives of the Working Group.

  1. Risk management
  2. Sufficient & capable staffing
  3. Timely & effective incident response
  4. Promoting the safety & dignity of patients & healthcare worker
  5. Incident reporting & learning systems
  6. Managing risk of patients with high propensity of violence
  7. The design of hospital environments
  8. Collaboration, consultation & coordination across the system
  9. Public attitudes and behaviours towards healthcare workers

Initiatives

Outcome/Approach

Prevention by design (work environment)

Activity

Activity lead: SafeWork NSW and all working group members

  • Research available evidence-based resources (Australian and international) on prevention by design principles and develop a catalogue.
  • Share and promote catalogue

Activity lead: NSW Ministry of Health

  • Engage with Health Infrastructure to identify how they use the Australasian Health Facility Guidelines and explore opportunities for collaboration.

Outcome/Approach

Good work design (systems of work)

Activity

Activity lead: SafeWork NSW

  • Develop a suite of case studies specific to good work design in relation to the prevention, management, and investigation of work-related violence incidents in hospitals.

Activity lead: NSW Ministry of Health

  • Develop a fact sheet on practical mechanisms for how to communicate and provide feedback on incidents and near misses – i.e. staff newsletter, beginning of shift handover, whiteboard in nurses station.
  • Review existing WHS training for managers and develop a gap analysis and recommendations on what to include to better address work-related violence.

Activity lead: All working group members

  • Share learnings and resources on good work design in hospitals.
  • Share and promote WHS Duties and Obligations poster.
  • Promote and implement systems thinking resources.
  • Contribute to the evaluation of systems thinking resources as appropriate.

Outcome/Approach

Guidance and systems to support consultation, collaboration, and coordination

Activity

Activity lead: SafeWork NSW

  • Identify existing guidance on effective consultation, including translated resources, and adapt to hospital setting where required.

Activity lead:  All working group members

  • Share and promote guidance.

Outcome/Approach

Improved incident investigation, reporting and learning systems

Activity

Activity lead: SafeWork NSW

  • Identify and develop a list of incident investigation tools/systems used by public and private hospitals and share with working group members.

Outcome/Approach

Awareness raising and behavioural change

Activity

Activity lead: SafeWork NSW

  • Share insights and research on the effectiveness of community attitudes and behavioural change initiatives on work-related violence.

Activity lead: All working group members

  • Share insights and research on the effectiveness of organisational prevention interventions on work-related violence as appropriate.

Outcome/Approach

Compliance and enforcement action

Activity

Activity lead: SafeWork NSW

  • SafeWork NSW to share learnings of compliance activities relevant to the sector.
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