Professional support framework: improving access to professional support for professionals

Abstract

From an organisational point of view, professional support is an important aspect of clinical governance and a tool for maximising service delivery quality. As a key factor in staff retention and recruitment, access to professional support is also regarded as an important tool for facilitating workforce growth in a competitive health workforce market. While some work units provide appropriate professional support such as in-service, professional supervision is a key challenge for a large organisation employing many health professionals to ensure equitable and relevant access to finite professional support resources. The goal of this paper is to describe the Professional Support Program designed and implemented by Queensland Health. This program seeks to support professionals who may not previously have had optimal engagement in professional support and to enhance the quality of professional support activities available. Evaluation indicates that the Professional Support Program has been successful in facilitating participation in, and quality of professional support activities. What is known of the topic? There are numerous professional support strategies for health professionals. In many cases, these are understood but delivered in an ad hoc and disconnected way. What does this paper add? The development and implementation of a comprehensive Professional Support Framework is outlined. What are the implications for practitioners? The Professional Support Framework described here has provided effective and equitable professional support to a diverse group of professionals.