The Quality, Practice & Assurance (QPA) division is made up of several teams that are responsible for achieving best practice and outcomes for participants using Ability Options’ services, while advocating for the rights of people with disability.
One of those teams is the clinical services team, which was established to provide health supports to disability services participants.
Melanie has many years of experience as a Registered Nurse and Clinical Nurse Educator. She joined the QPA team in mid-2021, and was appointed to the Senior Manager, Clinical Services role. The role of her team is to ensure the best healthcare services are provided to participants. Her passion for improving participants’ health has allowed her team to support the organisation in many areas, including developing health policies and training frontline workers in providing clinical support.
“I am privileged to have the opportunity to lead a team of passionate Practice Support Coordinators and Clinical Nurse Educators, who coach and mentor Practice Managers in achieving best practice,” said Melanie.
“I assist the organisation in improving daily living outcomes for participants, so they continue to receive excellent service.”
Melanie spends lots of time in her role working directly with participants and their support circle and enjoys getting to know them.
“Working closely with participants towards achieving positive health goals in a dignified and person-centred manner is why I love my job,” she said.
Being responsible for someone’s health can be challenging. For Melanie, working in her role has made her stronger in dealing with the challenges this field brings. Recently, her team has introduced a service delivery model for participants requiring palliative care. This experience has driven Melanie to continue pushing for industry-wide change that addresses the need for palliative care support for people with disability.
Melanie’s experience has led to many great outcomes within the organisation. Her involvement as a member of several academic and industry panels has ignited her passion in advocating for the rights of people with disability. One example is the establishment of the Clinical Governance Committee, which came after receiving praise from a NDIS/ACIS audit for the quality of our clinical outcomes for participants. As the Chair of the Committee, Melanie says it is “one of her greatest accomplishments”.
“Working with Ability Options allows me to amplify the voice of people with disability, while ensuring Ability Options swiftly implements disability-led recommendations into its policies,” she said.
To find out more about our Disability Services, click here.
