Embedding our Strategy to
drive innovation
In the second year of our Strategy, we continue to push the boundaries of clinical innovation to achieve better, fairer, sustainable healthcare for NSW. We have made progress on a range of strategic initiatives; changing how we work to respond to health system needs and improve health experiences and outcomes.
“As an innovation organisation within an ever-evolving healthcare environment, we are making changes that will increase the ACI’s capacity to respond to health system needs, drive transformation and improve health outcomes.”
Dr Jean-Frédéric Levesque, Deputy Secretary, Clinical Innovation and Research and Chief Executive, Agency for Clinical Innovation
Changing our organisational structure to respond to health system needs
We have made structural changes that better align to the intention of our Strategy and the way we deliver value to the NSW Health system. Our new structure enables:
- greater collaboration, both within and across teams
- greater connection and consistent ways of working across our clinical networks
- greater capacity for engagement with clinicians and system leaders to identify, prioritise and progress innovative projects
- a balance of work across innovations that refine, evolve and transform healthcare.
More about key changes to our workforce model
Our people
Our partners
Portfolio approach
Supporting a balance of projects and programs of varying complexity and scope
Engaging
Partnering with agility
Informing
Triangulating sources of evidence
Enabling
a toolbox of transformation methods
New approaches to developing clinical guidance and models of care
We are refining how we develop clinical guidance to optimise resources while meeting the needs of health services and clinicians.
- A six-month pilot of the Adopt, Adapt, Collaborate or Lead (AACL) process has been completed. The final process, including tools and guidance, is being embedded across the ACI. This is reducing duplication of clinical guidance products and maximising the use of existing resources.
- A new Guide for Developing Models of Care provides clarity on key considerations and supports consistency in these resources. Related templates and additional guidance support integrating digital technologies and implementation.
These tools will be shared more broadly across NSW Health in 2025.
Applying different ‘health lenses’ to meet patient needs
We drive innovations that are person-centred by considering the person, their context, their needs and expectations.
We developed a series of ‘health lenses’ to guide staff on how to ensure we consider all community groups and care settings, so our innovations align with NSW Health strategic directions.
The updated Burn Model of Care has considered these health lenses to ensure all people in NSW with burn injuries have equal access to best-practice care that aligns to current and future system priorities and challenges.
Aboriginal health and culturally appropriate care
Environmental sustainability
Multidisciplinary approaches to care
Kindness and compassionate care
Rural and regional settings
A structured process for identifying, prioritising, and advancing high-potential innovations
We have progressed the following initiatives to operationalise the pipeline of innovation and pilot new ways of working.
- Developed a framework with assessment criteria and decision gateways at various stages of the pipeline.
- Identified innovative processes and change methods to progress projects at different stages of the pipeline.
- We are piloting new approaches to rapid evaluation and developing a business case to fast-track innovative projects and bring them to scale.
- Completed a successful two-year pilot to develop and test a new, contemporary and flexible approach to project management at the ACI, through a centralised Project Acceleration, Enablement and Coordination (PACE) team.
Further stakeholder engagement and testing projects through the pipeline will occur into 2025.
Unpacking Strategy elements with our staff
We empowered staff to understand the key messages of our strategy and actively contribute to its implementation.
- Cross-organisational working groups defined key terms and how these relate to our work, now and into the future.
- We created tools and resources to clarify our focus areas, define our roles, and support informed decision-making.
- We hosted an immersive activity – the ACI Strategic Olympics – for staff to take part in friendly competition over classic games aligned with key messages in our Strategy.
“This was a fun way to leverage the hype around the Olympics this year. Coming together to experience some of the key elements in our strategy helps us to embed them in the way we work.”
Karen Perini, Associate Director, Strategy, Communications, Planning and Engagement
Leveraging our skills through a consultancy model
Following a successful proof-of-concept in 2023, the ACI now provides a consultancy service to other areas of NSW Health, which leverages our skills and reduces costs to the health system.
- 30 projects, either completed or underway.
- Attracted $3 million in internal funding over three financial years and generated at least $1 million in savings compared with estimated costs for engaging external consultants.
Products and services:
- Evaluation
- Business case and cost-benefit analysis
- Evidence checks
- Consultation and experiential evidence
- Service and policy review
- Data analysis
- Dynamic simulation modelling
- Strategy development