Chairman’s and CEO’s Report

We are delighted to present you with the St Andrew’s 2021-22 Annual Report.

The report provides an overview of what we have accomplished during the course of the year, highlighting our departmental and organisational achievements. It demonstrates the commitment of our staff and visiting medical officers (VMOs), and the vibrant happy culture that exists at St Andrew’s.

Whilst the past year has presented us with considerable challenges, we are so proud of the way that our people have worked together as a team to deal with them and make us even stronger. The pandemic has continued, and we have seen governments reset and refine how the community and hospitals respond. This has resulted in all hospitals, including St Andrew’s, facing inconsistent activity levels with elective surgery shut downs, continuity of supply issues, rising costs, nursing shortages and, ultimately, having to operate the hospital in a dynamic and difficult environment. Our priority throughout all of this has been the safety and wellbeing of our patients, visitors, staff and VMOs which has been successfully achieved through the teamwork of all involved at St Andrew’s. A sporting quote comes to mind: ‘One thing about championship teams is that they’re resilient. No matter what is thrown at them, no matter how difficult the situation, they find a way to overcome adversity.’

The pandemic has made us all rethink how we achieve our goals, and I know that we will retain some of these new ways of working.

We have reviewed our strategy and developed our new and exciting Strategic Plan for 2022–2025. This plan was developed in conjunction with our staff, key stakeholders and our Board. The plan has also refreshed our vision: To be the leading private hospital in South Australia, with a supportive culture where relationships matter, teamwork counts and care exceeds expectations. We are confident that our new Strategic Plan prepares us well to meet future challenges, while being positioned at the leading edge of emerging opportunities.

Our strong governance has continued with all Board members responsible for chairing a Board sub committee and providing an annual summary of activities throughout the year. In November 2022, we will farewell our long serving Board member and Deputy Chair, Dr Mary Sutherland. Mary has had a long association with St Andrew’s as an anaesthetist, working on and chairing sub committees, our Foundation and, of course, our Board. Her advice, experience, knowledge and personality will be sadly missed.

We have also refreshed our Constitution during the course of the year, to make it more contemporary and to reflect our role as a private hospital.

Construction of our new building at 334-337 South Terrace has progressed extremely well during the course of the year and should be ready for occupation in March 2023. The state-of-the-art building will house a new GenesisCare radiotherapy facility complete with two linear accelerators; Jones Radiology CT scan with breast centre (mammography and fine needle biopsy); Cancer Research SA and their clinical trials centre; and medical consulting rooms.

On 5 January 2022, we reached an incredible 5,000 robotic cases performed at St Andrew’s on our DaVinci Xi. Our experienced robotic team is widely known across the country for its expertise, excellent patient outcomes and volume of procedures performed. In fact, our DaVinci robot is the busiest in the southern hemisphere, and our program is something we are extremely proud of.

As a nation, we are facing a skills shortage, and this has presented us with recruitment challenges in a range of areas, particularly in nursing. Our focus, though, is clearly on the retention of our staff, and we do our very best to make St Andrew’s a happy and enjoyable place to work. Whilst we have seen some increase in our staff turnover rates, our turnover continues to be lower than the industry average which is testament to our positive culture and supportive leadership. We have had some key areas where we have needed to recruit skilled nursing staff and we have been successful in our efforts, adding to our wonderful nursing team. As you will see in this report, we are highly focused on providing a safe, supportive environment for all our staff with excellent opportunities for education and development. From a clinical perspective, our commitment to patient safety and quality is demonstrated by the joint appointment with the University of Adelaide, Dr Tamara Page, Associate Professor of Nursing, Innovations in Quality and Safety. Dr Page commenced in November 2021 and has already had a very positive impact.

In September 2021, we had our organisational-wide accreditation survey with the Australian Council of Healthcare Standards (ACHS). The survey was conducted using a hybrid model with two surveyors on site and two undertaking the survey remotely, and it worked extremely well. All of the surveyors were glowing about St Andrews’ achievements and exceptional culture. Following the survey, we received formal notification from the ACHS that we had maintained our full accreditation until 24 March 2025.

In conclusion, we would like to thank and acknowledge the entire St Andrew’s team, including our dedicated nursing staff, support services areas, visiting medical officers, volunteers, our Board and our Foundation, all of whom have contributed to another successful and remarkable year at St Andrew’s.

Until next time, stay safe, happy and healthy.

David Whitbread

Chairman

Stephen Walker

Chief Executive Officer