Beaufort and Skipton Heath Service (BSHS) is a small rural hospital that has acute and aged care facilities and community services. It caters to the needs of a population of 6,000 people across 2 campuses and includes a medical practice and Allied Health services.    

Significant changes to the organisation in 2019 have proven to be successful, with a marked increase in staff motivation, engagement, and retention. Patient satisfaction survey results also remain strong with 95% of patients rating the care received while in hospital as ‘very good’.   

Being a small organisation, each employee at BSHS is treated as an individual, with individual aspirations. This enables BSHS to tailor learning experiences to each employee, while still meeting organisational goals of succession planning and staff development.   

BSHS provides learning opportunities for nursing, cleaning, catering, maintenance, community, and administration staff who are empowered to explore new study and career pathways. This includes Certificate and Diploma courses in health services administration, commercial cookery, community health, community services and nursing. Over the last 2 years, BSHS supported 64% of non-clinical permanent staff to complete training.   

Transformative pathways happen through collaborations and partnerships with education providers and other health services throughout the region. For instance, partnering with Grampians Health Ballarat and Federation TAFE enabled BSHS to develop a traineeship for Enrolled Nurses where the 3 organisations were involved in teaching a Diploma of Nursing. Investing in professional development and sharing resources ensures a well-rounded and high-level program that offers variety and more training opportunities.