Speak Out
December 2014
21
BRANCH news
new south wales
Sister city relationships
provide a forum for
educational interchange between communities with a focus
on encouraging friendship, co-operation and understanding.
They can be used to promote professional links, provide
support to clinicians, and as a forum for sharing resources and
knowledge. For the past eight years Royal Rehab and Ballina
Rehabilitation Unit have maintained a sister city relationship.
How the arrangement works
Royal Rehab holds monthly clinical discussion meetings as
a forum for staff to problem solve challenging cases. Rural
speech pathologists at Ballina Rehabilitation Unit link in to
these meetings via teleconference, facilitating collaborative
discussion. A Memorandum of Understanding was developed
between the two services outlining costs and roles shared
between the services.
Benefits of the arrangement
The collaborative clinical discussion meeting provides an
opportunity for speech pathologists involved to:
•
Share clinical ideas and treatment approaches
•
Receive and/or provide support and feedback to
clinical peers
•
Share resources, current research or professional
development
•
Discuss challenging or unusual clinical scenarios
•
Receive professional development
•
Discuss issues related to work contexts e.g. metropolitan
versus rural service models, sole therapist versus team
approaches to client management
•
Network with peers.
For rural clinicians, the forum provides an opportunity to ask
questions, receive support and maintain links with a range
of experienced clinicians who work in a variety of specialised
services. Clinicians are able access a range of professional
support, and in doing so reduce the isolation of working within
a rural setting.
For metropolitan clinicians there is an opportunity to think
critically about the challenges faced by their rural counterparts
and problem solve around how models of care can be
provided with variations in staffing, service delivery and
resources.
Associated costs
•
Teleconferencing equipment – video or telephone
•
The cost of the phone call or teleconferencing call
•
The clinicians’ time to participate in the discussions.
How can your department establish
a sister city arrangement?
These types of arrangements are cost effective and easy
to establish if incorporated into already established service
routines. Larger services often have regular professional
development meetings and clinical discussions within their
department’s monthly calendar. Larger teams can extend an
invitation or include isolated/rural clinicians via teleconference
in these meetings. It’s important to match teams and clinicians
of a similar service type (e.g. acute teams pairing with similar
rural acute therapists). Once services have been paired, a
Memorandum of Understanding can be developed between
the two services outlining the shared responsibilities of both
parties.
Casandra Tibika
Speech Pathologist, Ballina Rehabilitation Unit
Using the ‘Sister City’ model in speech pathology
Clockwise from top left: Ballina District Hospital; Ballina speech pathologists
Casandra and Annabelle; and Royal Rehab.
