Thank you to everyone who completed the New Directions staff survey. I am pleased to announce that 58% of you took part (65% if we take out casual employees) so the response rate was significantly higher than in previous years. Your feedback will help us develop meaningful action plans that will improve the way things are done at the hospital. Due to the great response we decided to award $1,500 in prizes. The winner of a $500 prize is: Specialist care The remaining $1,000 will be shared between: CSSD Supply and facilities Operations and technical services (includes the Agency Relationships Team, Service Improvement, Community Liaison and Technical Services). These teams were the quickest to get to either a 100% response rate or close to it – a fantastic achievement! We don’t want to bite off more than we can chew, so we are going to chose a few significant actions that will make a real difference to your working lives. Rest assured, action will be taken based on the survey results and we will keep you informed every step of the way. Thanks again for your participation. Regards Deborah Cole

 

I have some exciting news. On Sunday, the Federal Health Minister, Tanya Plibersek announced that the 2012-13 Budget has committed over $500 million to a comprehensive dental package. Ms Plibersek issued a media release confirming that the Budget will direct: $345.9 million (over three years) to treat patients on waiting lists, providing vital services to around 400,000 adults including support for Indigenous Australians $35.7 million (over three years) to expand the dental graduate year program $45.2 million (over four years) to introduce an oral health therapist graduate year program $77.7 million (over four years) to encourage dental professionals to relocate to regional, rural and remote areas $8.2 million to improve facilities and buildings for dental services in regional Australia $10.5 million for national oral health promotion activities $450k to help non-government organisations coordinate the provision of pro bono dental services to those most in need. This is fantastic news for all of us working in the public dental system. These funds can be used to increase access to services and make a real difference in people’s lives. Greens Senator Richard Di Natale has called this “the most important dental reform in a generation” and “exactly the outcome we needed in this year’s Budget to start Australia on the road to Denticare.” I am sure you will join me in supporting this investment in public dental care. I’ll keep you all updated as new information comes to light. Regards, Deborah Cole

 

The journal is produced by the Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF), who have launched a campaign to highlight the huge and growing crisis in public dental health care in Australia. solutions
for Australia’s dental crisis

 View the article - How State dental services can improve access for those most in need [PDF, 90KB]

*This month The Health Voices journal showcases a range of views about how to fix the dental health crisis. These include a targeted package of health measures as well as increasing scope of practice for dental hygienists and therapists; targeted dental funding for those most in need; more overseas trained dentists and greater investment in clinical registrar appointments in public hospitals.

To download the full Health Voices journal, please go to the CHF website 

The Victorian State Budget 2012-13 was handed down by the State Treasurer, Kim Wells late yesterday. The budget papers outline the financial commitments of the Victorian Government into the later stages of 2012 and the new year. Though the wider health sector is expected to receive funding for new and ongoing projects throughout the state, dental health did not see a share. Mental health, aged care and rural and regional hospital services were the main focus points of health related budget allocations. A funding increase of $883 million will go toward acute care services and $364 million is estimated to be invested in aged care. Funding for new acute mental health beds and re-development of community-based mental health infrastructure are amongst the ambitious goals of the State Government. $199 million was committed to rural and regional hospitals across Victoria including Ballarat Hospital: expansion and helipad development Kilmore and District Hospital Seymour Hospital: chemotherapy chairs Geelong Hospital: expand by 64 beds Southwest Radiology Castlemaine Hospital Charlton Hospital: replacement Swan Hill District Health: upgrade and redevelopment with addition of 45 new aged care beds. The State Government also made commitments to expanding the Vision 2020 initiative and will provide funding for a home and community care program to enable people living with a disability to remain at home. We eagerly await the Commonwealth Government's budget announcement next Tuesday evening where we hope to see a greater focus on dental health. Also, please take the time to complete the staff survey before the end of this week if you have not done so already. We need your feedback to make the changes you want to see at DHSV. Regards, Deborah Cole  Download the New Directions staff survey FAQ and survey champions [PDF, 770KB]

 

Do you need assistance setting up your salary package or changing an existing package?

As an employee of Dental Health Services Victoria you are entitled to salary package up to $9,095 each year towards your mortgage, rent, credit card and other approved items. Read more about salary packaging

In addition to this, you can package extra benefits such as Meals Entertainment, Venue Hire and Laptops/PDAs.

If you would like to start salary packaging or amend an existing package, Remunerator will be here on Thursday 3 May 2012 in the Common Room from 9.00am -12.00pm.

To make an appointment with Daniel please email him at hurley@remunerator.com.au or you can call him directly on 9805 5603. 

Dr Deborah Cole is the Chief Executive Officer of Dental Health Services Victoria. As a Dentist and a mum she has a range of great advice on how to care for your child's teeth.

 Go to the ABC podcast on Baby teeth (opens a new browser window)

Related resources:

• How to brush your child's teeth correctly
• Infant tooth care
• When should I start cleaning my baby's teeth?
• Dental check-ups: when to take your baby
   

This year, to support the Cancer Council’s research efforts, prevention programs and patient support services, DHSV will be taking part in Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea!

Cakes, scones and muffins are just some of the yummy treats we will have for sale. Bring a cup of tea or coffee and join us to help raise much needed funds and to make a difference in the lives of Australians suffering from cancer.

All proceeds will be donated to the Cancer Council.

Date: Thursday 24 May 2012
Time: 10.00am – 11.00am
Location: Ground floor, Common Room

We are now looking for volunteers to bake goodies to be sold at the morning tea. If you would like to help please contact Megan Waddell on x1137 or megan.waddell@dhsv.org.au
 

Each of you should have received an email inviting you to participate in the staff survey.

The survey will be open until Friday 4 May and provides a great opportunity for you to tell us what you think of working at DHSV.

If you have limited access to a computer, the following rooms in the Corporate Office will be available from 7.30am – 5.00pm, Monday to Friday:

• Week 1 (23 – 27 April): Computer Training Room
• Week 2 (30 April – 4 May): Meeting Room G, set up with laptops

The competition

Everyone wants to win the $500 prize for achieving the highest participation rate, so we have decided to award two prizes worth $500 each - one for the clinical area and one for the corporate area. This will ensure an even playing field as clinical staff with limited computer access will not be competing with corporate staff who have access to computers throughout the day.

This is a great opportunity to improve the way things are done at DHSV so please take part in the survey. If you have any concerns, please talk to your survey champion.

 Download the new Authority to Enter Liability Policy PO-A145-01 [PDF, 49KB]

 Download the new Recording of Committed Expenditure Policy PO-A146-01 [PDF, 53KB]

 Download the new Revenue Recognition Procedure PR-A147-01 [PDF, 58KB]

Your chance to make a difference (and win a great prize) As part of Project Connect, we are introducing the New Directions staff survey. The survey will be open from 23 April until 4 May and provides a great opportunity for you to tell us what you think of working at DHSV. You will receive an email from ORC International with a link to the survey on 23 April, so make sure you check your inboxes on this date.  Click here for further information on the survey and survey champions [PDF, 770KB] The survey results will help us improve our work environment, we’ll be able to celebrate what we are doing well and identify areas that we need to work on. I believe that happy staff members will result in high quality patient care and satisfied patients. I realise that similar surveys have been done at DHSV in the past and you have not always received feedback about how the results have influenced decision-making. Rest assured that this time we are determined to get it right. We will keep you all in the loop about the survey results and will let you know how we are going to make changes based on your feedback. Independent research company, ORC International is looking after the survey for us. Your survey responses will go directly to ORC International. They will then process all the survey responses and present the combined results back to us. All survey responses are completely anonymous and your individual details will not be passed on to anyone at DHSV, so please give your honest opinion. If your department has less than 10 members, you will be grouped with another department. The group that has the highest completion percentage will receive a $500 voucher to spend on a team activity. So tell your fellow team members to get on board! Your survey champion is available to answer any questions you have about the survey. This is a great opportunity to improve the way things are done at DHSV so I encourage all of you to take part. Thank you in advance for your participation.   Warm regards Deborah Cole Chief Executive Officer  Download the New Directions staff survey FAQ and survey champions [PDF, 770KB]

 

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter surrounded by family and friends and (not too much) chocolate. I am happy to hear that the Connect Program is going well. A lot of people have told me that they have found the above and below the line workshops very useful and we are receiving some great ideas about how we can improve DHSV. The conversations around what DHSV values mean is extremely important as it drives how we interact with each other and the community. It also shapes our culture which we need to strengthen to ensure we continuously improve the service we provide to Victorians. So far 23 workshops have been conducted covering 252 employees. Approximately 24% have completed the workshop evaluations and a snapshot of the results can be viewed here [PDF, 70KB]. All of the workshops will be completed in June. We will then ask each department to add about three behaviours to each of the DHSV values of respect, integrity, teamwork and excellence. These behaviours will become themes for the whole organisation. Each department’s above and below the line behaviours will also be uploaded onto the Connect webpage, which will be launched over the coming weeks. At the workshops, we have asked each of you what you think would encourage employees to live the DHSV values. A lot of you said you want: informal CEO forums that will encourage two-way communication between the CEO and staff to know what other departments do. As a result, we will be introducing the Connect with the CEO program. Small groups of staff will be invited to have an informal lunch with me where we will talk about what’s going on at DHSV and our vision for the future. These lunches will begin in May and invites will be sent out soon. We also want to introduce the Connect with Peers program where different departments will be asked to host a lunch session for fellow employees. Stay tuned! Thank you for your participation in the Connect workshops. I look forward to continuing to receive your ideas for improving our organisation.   Warm regards Deborah Cole Chief Executive Officer

 

Meet your Account Manager, Melissa Bodycoat at the DHSV common room. Please bring your latest Health Super statement.

Tuesday 17 April 9.30am - 11am
Tuesday 8 May 12pm - 2pm
Monday 18 June 10am - 12pm

Learn more about:

• Co-contributions
• Salary sacrificing into super
• Investment options and returns
• Insurance benefits
• Government changes to super
• Consolidating your super

For further information email your Account Manager Melissa Bodycoat or call her on 03 8613 9428.

Depending on your bank or financial institution, funds may be deposited in your account on Wednesday 11 April, with the latest deposits occurring of Thursday 12 April.

Should you require any further information, please contact Deborah McEwan, Employee Services Officer on x1122.
 

Be part of 20 years of cycling history! 

Email Jose Urias, x1323 by Friday 13 April to find out more and enter this event. 
 

This mandatory online training consists of reviewing the DHSV Code of Conduct Policy and correctly answering 5 true or false questions.

This training must be completed by 30 April 2012.

You should have already received an email with a link to the training module or you can go directly to the Learning Centre here.

If you require assistance with accessing or completing this training, please email Megan Waddell or call her on 9341 1137.

• Footy tipping time!
• The DHSV Oral Health Promotion Roadshow
• The Connect Program – what’s it all about?

Go to the Word of Mouth page for the March edition >>