Beaufort and Skipton Health Service

About the client

Beaufort and Skipton Health service is a rural health service in Victoria, servicing over 8,500 people in their catchment. Operating across two campuses, Beaufort and Skipton Health Service provide hospital services, residential care, community health and medical practice services.

Key to the provision of these services is maintaining high quality, safe environments that meet national accreditation standards and align with Health Share Victoria requirements.

The opportunity

As a small, rural health service, Beaufort and Skipton maintain world class healthcare services on relatively lean resources. Their move to FMI was motivated by a desire to find efficiencies in everyday maintenance operations, and relieve the pressure of compliance and reporting.

The accuracy and accessibility of data facilitated by FMI is critical to meeting compliance obligations and streamlining operations at Beaufort and Skipton. As Support Services Manager Kel Oswin explains “FMI has become the foundation of what we stand on, it is just so critical to our operations.”

The journey

For Beaufort and Skipton, starting with bringing their data into a single platform was key to unlocking efficiencies. With information siloed into various spreadsheets, it was an arduous task to retrieve required information.

“We were working with spreadsheets that were a mile long” explains Support Services Manager Kel Oswin “you’d have to scroll sideways forever to find the piece of information you needed.” For Kel and his team, shifting asset and maintenance data into a single, easy to use platform has completely changed the way they work.

“It saves us a massive amount of time, and improves the accuracy, we’ve far less chance of making a mistake. Being able to create these reports, and see information, at the click of a button just makes our job so much easier.”

“We get audited fairly frequently, so it is important to have this information on demand. Not long ago, I sat down with an auditor, and in about 45 minutes, provided enough evidence to get a big tick against all requirements. It is such an incredible feeling to sit down with an auditor, and have them say that what you’re doing here is amazing.”

The ability to access information in real time, and generate reports quickly, has armed Beaufort and Skipton with powerful insights and supported agile, data-driven decision making.

The benefits of this improved visibility however, are not exclusive to reporting and compliance, but are enjoyed even in everyday activities. All requests and work orders can be seen in a single place within the platform, improving work management on a daily basis.

“We’re managing work orders really well in house. We can triage easily, look at requests and make informed decisions about actioning them. I love being able to sit at my desk, see all the work orders, influence them, and provide insights.” Says Kel.

Speaking about the human impacts of the implementation, Kel tells an incredible story of a changing psyche across the organisation.

“The team have really captured the vision. Initially, none of the maintenance staff had ever used anything like this, and while the management team had heard of it, they’d never had the chance to experience it. Now, they’ve got a huge load off their minds, knowing everything is under control. 

Within the team, we’re now working to KPIs that directly link to the strategic goals of the organisation. Rather than being something that measures them, the KPI’s help to drive self-fulfilment. Team members look at what they’ve done over the month, and can be proud of what they’ve accomplished.”

That sentiment is amplified by the direct feedback Kel’s team have received from the broader team, who love the new maintenance request system. Previously, requesters had little to no visibility, often unsure if their request had even been received.

With FMI, requesters can easily see the status of their job, and have the opportunity to provide feedback. This active feedback loop delivers benefits beyond measurable impacts. Kel explains, “as we see more and more of that feedback coming through, it is having a profound impact on everyone, and really helps the maintenance staff to feel appreciated.”

Looking to the future

For Beaufort and Skipton, the journey with FMI is just beginning.

“We have accomplished a lot, but are only just scratching the surface, the power of the software is boundless” Kel says. “We’re constantly expanding the scope of what we use it for, with the help of the FMI team.

And the practical application is just one part of the story. We really care about our staff, and are always thinking about how we can support them to grow and develop. Because FMI is so easy to use, staff are gaining experience and skills in things like triaging, which helps them to grow and develop in their roles.”

Over the coming months, Kel has plans to ensure FMI is embedded throughout the organisation, and will be working closely with the FMI team to achieve this.

On working with the team, he remarked “FMI is ahead of the game, and the team have been amazing right from the get go. Our training sessions always come with great banter, and are incredibly informative. We come away with that ‘I’ve got it’ feeling, and everything has been so seamless and well managed. It’s really extraordinary, and I cannot speak highly enough of the FMI team.”