The RCH has signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding with refugee and migrant support agency, AMES (Adult Migrant English Service).
The MOU recognises the growing cohort of families within the hospital who do not speak fluent English, have recently arrived in Australia, or have cultural or religious preferences that are not readily supported in the hospital.
AMES has been providing education and work placement support to migrants and refugees for more than 60 years, with unrivalled expertise in shaping program delivery to meet the needs of diverse communities.
RCH Chief Executive Officer, Professor Christie Kilpatrick, said the MOU was developed to promote cultural awareness and the delivery of cross cultural support at the RCH.
“Australia is a nation of migrants and at some point in our family history this continent has provided salvation for all of us,” Christine said.
“Providing salvation is also the role of The Royal Children’s Hospital, and this MOU recognises that many families have particular needs we must better understand if we’re to provide great care to all patients, regardless of ethnic or cultural background or preferences.”
In accordance with the MOU, the RCH now conducts monthly tours of the hospital, with about 15 participants coordinated by AMES in each visit.
Helen Rowan, Manager of Family Services and Volunteers, said the tours were an important step in welcoming new families to the RCH.
“It’s a great way to welcome newly arrived communities and to create a sense of familiarity with the hospital,” Helen said.
AMES community guides and interpreters accompany participants, who are recent arrivals from Burma, Thailand and Syria. The tour focuses on hospital access for families.
“The groups are given information about accessing our Emergency Department and Specialist Clinics, what to expect when coming to hospital, what to bring and how to access an interpreter,” Helen explained.
Most participants have recently arrived from the Middle East, Africa and Burma; and many feel overwhelmed by Australian health care systems and facilities prior to the tour.
Further initiatives have grown out of the partnership with AMES, including a project to connect bi- and multi-lingual hospital volunteers with patient families from the same language group; and a work experience program to help make AMES clients job-ready, while improving cultural responsiveness within the RCH workplace.
This article originally appeared in the RCH 2013-4 Quality of Care report, find it here.