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Recommendation 38: Creating an operating environment where capabilities can be realised

Category
Governance and accountability
Owners
CEO
Department of Health
Status
In planning or scoping

The recommendation

In consultation with the Department of Health, Ambulance Victoria should consider how it can enable and support more regular contact and engagement between managers and their team members (including ensuring sufficient time and capacity) to allow them to deliver on a fair, equal and inclusive workplace.

What we are doing

  • Put in place maximum manager-staff ratios and address structural inequalities between regions
  • Address high number of entrenched acting roles by facilitating recruitment to roles on a permanent basis
  • Consider and decide on options to facilitate robust handovers between shifts
  • Amend human resources / financial delegations to locate decision-making at appropriate level and provide guidance
  • Support leadership and people management skills through capability uplift (see above)
  • Create resourcing and system improvements to reduce administration burden and free-up managers to spend more time with staff
  • Consider whether current function time allocation for team managers is adequate and implement any necessary changes

Where we are up to

16/02/2023

  • In November 2022, AV audited the number of true vacancies across the organisation to identify where roles had been filled on an acting basis over an extended period. The audit identified 183 true vacancies (excluding roles vacant due to leave or secondments, for example). Each member of the Executive Committee then developed an action plan to permanently fill the vacancies in their respective division. At the end of January 2023, Ambulance Victoria had reduced the number of true vacancies by 39% (n=110 true vacancies), providing greater job security and team stability for our workforce. AV continues to work to further reduce the number of true vacancies (noting they do fluctuate over time) and is identifying further actions to create stability in other roles.
  • AV has created two additional Regional Director positions and has filled these via secondment after a successful Expression of Interest (EOI) process. Preparation is being undertaken to recruit to all remaining vacant Regional Director positions. The additional positions will provide further leadership and flexibility at this critical operational level and ensure our operational workforce has increased access to senior support.
  • Two additional Emergency Management Planning Coordinators (EMPCs) have been approved for the Metropolitan Region along with an additional Senior Team Manager (STM) to ensure decision-making occurs at the right level, and to build capability and capacity to support our growing workforce.
  • AV is considering the ideal operating model to enable us to deliver Best Care to the Victorian community and provide a safe, fair and inclusive workplace for our people. Key considerations include manager-staff ratios and opportunities to create greater capacity for managers to lead their teams and create positive workplace cultures, among others.
  • AV has begun identifying opportunities to ensure decision-making occurs at the most appropriate levels, by considering opportunities to update our delegation framework.

Timeframe

FY25 Q2

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