Health sector, long-term focus
Situation
A community fund Board, sponsored by a multi-national resources company located in a regional city, wished to support the improvement and long-term sustainability of health services in the region. Health services had been identified by the community as a critical area of need and the Board decided to engage with key health service providers and decision makers to be part of a collaborative solution.
Intervention
da Vinci Consulting was engaged to facilitate a group of senior health executives, key stakeholders and Government representatives from both the public and private sectors. The intent was to empower stakeholders to engage in discussion through a common objective and to take action and drive solutions for their own community.
An initial 2-day (residential) workshop was held so that the issues could be given focused and undivided attention. Given the disparate views, ongoing issues and past challenges, a key goal of the two days was to improve relationships and ensure that group members could put aside their differences to work together on the issues. This was not without its challenges. The group also identified the key areas on which they needed to work.
Outcomes
In the early years, the group achieved a number of outcomes, including a strong baseline of research to inform solutions and a collaborative plan outlining 6 specific areas of focus as well as some progress in these areas.
Five years later, the group continue to meet every 3 months to discuss key issues and potential actions. Many of the original members are still involved as well as new members resulting from role changes in respective organisations. While the (facilitated) group remains working together at a governance level, there are now additional sub-committees that work on the specific areas of need.
While there are ongoing matters that affect regional health services, including matters outside of the group’s control or influence, it is expected that the commitment of the group to a shared goal and the strong relationships that exist in the area will enable further gains to be made.
