Tuesday 10 March 2026 | 13:30-14:30
Stream: Safety
Session format: Presentation 
Chair: Vibeke Rischel Danish Society for Patient Safety; Denmark

Part 1 - Moving from programs to a systems approach to build safety and resilience - the NSW experience

The core of the New South Wales (NSW) public health system in Australia is providing safe, high-quality, accessible, person-centred care. The Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC) leads system-wide clinical governance and safety assurance, being specialists in safety and partners in improvement. Preventable harm remains a global challenge, with complications costing Australian public hospitals billions annually, underscoring the importance of strong governance and leadership. Our role as stewards of clinical governance leadership is crucial to reducing patient harm and driving continuous safety improvement.

Over two decades, the CEC has provided support and guidance to build safety across NSW health. Linking with our 9-year strategy, we have developed the NSW Health Safety System Model as a contemporary framework for embedding patient safety and resilient clinical governance. This Model comprises six interdependent elements:

• Embedding Safety Strategically – Integrating safety into organisational strategy and governance to build resilience.
• Accountable Leadership and Culture –Safety is everyone’s responsibility, supported by transparent leadership and just culture principles.
• Safety Governance – Establishing robust structures for oversight, risk management, and shared learning.
• Safety Intelligence – Leveraging real-time, triangulated data and predictive analytics to inform proactive safety and improvement decisions.
• Safety and Improvement Capability – Building workforce capability.
  
• Safety Improvement – Through prioritisation of safety risks and implementation of targeted programs.
  

We have combined this approach with resilience thinking to assist health services to ‘create and maintain resilient systems that prevent harm, support wellbeing, and deliver lasting improvements in quality and safety.

After this session, participants will be able to:

• Understand how NSW has shifted from a program approach to systems and resilience thinking.
• Describe the elements of safety as outlined in the NSW Safety System model.
• Further their understanding of the concepts of resilience in safety.

Michael C. Nicholl NSW Clinical Excellence Commission; Australia
Patricia Bradd NSW Clinical Excellence Commission; Australia

Part 2 - From harm reduction to resilient systems: how Victoria’s Safer Together program builds a learning health system for safer care everywhere

Victoria’s health care system is one of the most diverse and decentralised in Australia, with more than 70 independent health services serving urban, regional and rural communities. This complexity creates both strength and challenge; excellence exists across the system, yet persistent variation and episodes of avoidable harm highlight the need for a more coordinated, statewide approach to safety. As the state’s lead agency for safety and quality, Safer Care Victoria plays a critical stewardship role in unifying system effort, strengthening clinical governance and accelerating shared learning across the state.

Safer Together is Victoria’s coordinated, statewide safety improvement model designed to embed a whole-of-system response, creating a learning health system that embeds resilience and continuous improvement.

Framed by “Know, Enable, Deliver What Matters”, Safer Together:

• Knows what matters – Using statewide safety intelligence, predictive analytics, and consumer insights to identify priorities and learn from everyday work.
• Enables what matters – Building capability and culture through co-design, governance reform, and collaborative networks that empower clinicians and consumers.
• Delivers what matters – Embedding safety into organisational strategy and translating insights into measurable outcomes for patients and communities.
  

Grounded in Safety-II principles, the program focuses on understanding how care succeeds under varying conditions and designing systems that support adaptability. With dedicated resourcing, shared tools, and visibility for regional success stories, Safer Together demonstrates how health systems can learn, adapt, and thrive. This session will share practical strategies and lessons that complement NSW’s experience, offering a national perspective with global relevance.

Louise McKinlay Safer Care Victoria; Australia
Rebecca Van Wollingen Safer Care Victoria; Australia