National Capital Private Hospital

Located in Garran ACT, the National Capital Private Hospital provides a range of acute and medical healthcare services including orthopaedics, cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, general surgery, neurosurgery, plastic surgery, vascular surgery, urology and geriatric medicine.

“Healthy staff leading the way is how we show Canberra we are an elite hospital,” says Jessica Kearney, Health Information Manager at National Capital Private Hospital.

This attitude towards health has become an embedded part of the hospital’s culture, thanks to the way staff have embraced the activities and initiatives of their health and wellbeing plan.

“The feedback we get from staff is that they genuinely enjoy having healthier work goals and feeling supported in this way,” says Jessica. “This motivates me to find new ways to engage them to continue our success as a Healthier Work hospital.”

Steptember has always been a big hit with hospital staff, with departments competing against each other for bragging rights. Their plan also includes a water awareness program and subsidised nicotine replacement therapy.

Management support is a defining factor for their success.

“By having such a large number of staff working over a 24-hour period it can be challenging but all managers are regularly involved in pushing forward our Health Wellness Program to staff,” explains Jessica. “By involving more managers I have found they take pride in the program and help me continue to promote what we started.”

It makes a difference, not only to staff, but to patients and the hospital’s staffing scorecard.

“Being healthy and happy at work has a followon effect – we see less absenteeism and greater productivity around the hospital,” says Jessica. “By promoting a positive work health balance, we can continue to provide our patients with the best care possible.”