Friends and families of patients have a crucial role to play under new policy.
 

Staff from across Sydney Local Health District and NSW Health gathered at Concord Hospital on Tuesday 5 May for the official joint launch of the Caring Together, Welcoming Visitors Policy Directive.

The policy emphasises the importance of visitors in healing for the patients in the care of NSW hospitals and how those visitors can be crucial partners in care.

In her speech at the launch, District Chief Executive Deb Willcox AM said it was vital for patients to have the people who cared most about them there when they were in hospital.

“This policy builds on recognition of the patient and family-centred care, making healthcare safer and higher quality,” she said.

"If we stand back and think about our own family, friends or ourselves, I think we would want those closest to us with us. The evidence is clear, it clinically makes a difference. 

“Our job in the health system is to support and bring friends and families together at a time when our patients need them the most and we recognise it’s not always easy. 

"This policy is really going to help us be even better.”

Deb – who was involved in development of the policy in her previous role as Deputy Secretary of Health System Strategy and Patient Experience – paid tribute to the team behind the policy, especially Anne Marie Hadley, Chief eXperience Officer, Strategic Planning Economics and Experience Branch at the Ministry of Health.

Ms Hadley said ensuring visitors spent time with patients wasn’t just something nice to have, “but something fundamental to dignity, cultural safety and truly human-centred care”. She said the new policy would come to life in the “small moments” and conversations where health staff welcome friends and families of patients. 

During the launch, which was hosted by Dr Amelia Lewis, guests heard Concord Hospital volunteer Dr Diane McPhail tell of her lived experience of visiting her husband, Dr Alan McPhail, in hospital after he was seriously hurt in a cycling accident. She recalled how a large family gathering at the hospital proved a turning point in Alan’s recovery, “because he could see that we as a family were taking on this challenge”. 

Alan spoke about his own experience of family visits during his recovery during a panel discussion that also included  Dr Kathy Dempsey, Infection Prevention and Control Lead, Clinical Excellence Commission, consumer representative Mel Neish and Professor Len Kritharides, Senior Staff Specialist Cardiologist,  Concord Hospital.