Victoria - Public Hospitals Policy and Funding Guidelines 1997-1998
Section A: Policy
6.3 Non-English Speaking
Background Grants
The purpose of this grant has historically been to improve service delivery to inpatients of non-English speaking background (NESB). This applies to all public acute hospitals with greater than 1000 NESB separations and to enable hospitals to develop a planned and integrated approach to service delivery.
With the development of a funding formula for outpatient services, the NESB grant will be increased from within existing outpatient funding to facilitate the delivery of culturally appropriate and sensitive services to outpatients.
For Group A hospitals funded under the VACS system a NESB specified grant for non-admitted patients has been allocated. NESB grants have been specified for a further six hospitals within the existing outpatient component of their non-admitted patient grant.
In 1997-98, it was foreshadowed that an additional data field preferred language would be trialed on the VIMD to assess whether its inclusion would enable a more equitable allocation of NESB grants. A trial will be developed and implemented during 1997-98 in conjunction with the outcomes of a joint Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs/ Australian Bureau of Statistics initiative to develop ethnicity identifiers for frontline service providers.
The recent report published by the Ethnic Affairs Unit of the Department of Premier & Cabinet Government response to the Multicultural Victoria Inquiry identified that greater transparency of service delivery to NESB consumers will be required in the future. To meet this objective and enhance accountability of providers, performance indicators for hospitals receiving NESB grants will be developed.
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Victoria - Public Hospitals
Policy and Funding Guidelines
1997-1998 - Table of Contents
