ACT'S INNOVATIVE WALK-IN CENTRE WINS PRESTIGIOUS AWARD

ACT Minister for Health, Katy Gallagher, today congratulated the ACT Health Walk-in Centre project team and the Asset Management Systems Improvement team for winning multiple prestigious ACT Project Management Achievement Awards last night.

The Walk-in Centre team won a total of four awards including Project of the Year, Product Development Award, Community Benefit Award, and the Project Manager of the Year, while the Asset Management Systems Improvement team won the organisational change award.

"I congratulate these project teams for their impressive wins," Ms Gallagher said.

"Change within the health care sector can be controversial and costly, and success is the result of commitment and hard work," she said.

"The ACT Walk-in Centre project team developed the model of care for Australia's first public nurse-led Walk-in Centre within the short space of nine months.

"The primary challenge for the project team was to facilitate a change in attitudes both within the health care sector and in the community to ensure that the new and untested model of care was embraced and would provide better health services for the people of the ACT," Ms Gallagher said.

The Minister said the project was highly complex and involved the management of innovation and service design for the development, building, implementation and marketing of a cutting edge model of health care.

The Walk-in Centre, which opened in May, uses a unique workforce model, combining advanced information technologies with the latest medical evidence to build a ground-breaking nurse-led health care service.

The Centre, located near the Emergency Department at the Canberra Hospital, provides free treatment to people for one-off minor illnesses and injuries such as cuts and sprains, skin complaints, coughs and colds, and minor infections.

The Walk-in Centre has had over 3,400 attendances to the end of July, which is an average of 45 people per day.

The asset management systems improvement team established a new framework to support future growth and reduce resource commitment to manage assets within ACT Health.

Media Contact:

Kathryn Roberts 6205 0242 0402 399 907 kathryn.roberts@act.gov.au