Canberra Health Services CEO Dave Peffer. CHS said the project will deliver “very clear and positive benefits”. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Canberra Health Services (CHS) has defended plans for an $800,000 rebrand after the opposition dubbed it “PR spin”.
The two-year contract between the ACT Government and Melbourne-based creative design company Studio Binocular calls for a “refreshed brand mark” for CHS, including a new uniform design and brand communication strategy and campaign.
The brief is to define “who we are, what we stand for, what we can offer employees in return for their skills, capabilities, and the experience they bring to a role with CHS”.
In criticism reminiscent of the Bureau of Meteorology spending $220,000 last year asking people to drop the ‘BOM’ in favour of ‘The Bureau’, Shadow Minister for Health Leanne Castley has described the contract as a “marketing strategy from a worn-out government”.
“If Canberra Health Services don’t know who they are or what they stand for, who their stakeholders are and what tone they should use to address them, then heaven help us,” she said.
“Canberrans are currently enduring unacceptable wait times for emergency department treatment and specialist outpatient services – $800,000 would pay for 30 hip replacements, 200 cataract operations or 300 MRIs. The people of Canberra just want a functioning health system, not more PR spin.”
CHS split off from ACT Health in 2018 to look after the day-to-day running of the Canberra Hospital, University of Canberra Hospital, the Walk-in Centres and many other community-based health services.
A spokesperson has defended the rebrand project as “consistent with other jurisdictions” and a fix for local staffing issues.
An artist’s impression of the Canberra Hospital expansion, showing the new emergency entry and Welcome Hall. Image: ACT Government.
“We have heard from consumers some of the difficulties they have with navigating around the Canberra hospital campus, understanding our services and where to get more information,” a spokesperson said, referencing a 2021 audit.
“This project is about strengthening the CHS brand – improving the way our consumers and carers navigate and experience our services, increasing staff engagement and pride and giving us a point of difference in a highly competitive recruitment market.”
Last year, a report by the Australian Institute of Health Welfare (AIHW) found that patients in Canberra’s emergency departments were waiting more than double the national average time to be admitted. It’s not the first time.
And in another report by the ACT branch of the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (ASMOF) in September 2022, staff at Canberra Hospital were found to be “fatigued … unsupported, undervalued and did not feel they were sufficiently skilled to take on duties allocated to them”.
But CHS declared the project will deliver “very clear and positive benefits”.
Signage will be improved around the different health facilities, while a “consistent approach” to uniforms will make team members “more easily identifiable to patients and carers, and … reflect the health literacy needs of all our patients and carers from different backgrounds”.
This project is also said to help make the Territory stand out in the healthcare job market and establish CHS “as an employer of choice”.
“We are competing interstate and internationally in a saturated health care professional recruitment environment for high-calibre staff,” the spokesperson said.
“Our brand project will deliver an employee service offer to highlight the benefits of working for CHS, recruitment materials and campaigns to support in recruiting and retaining the best healthcare talent.”
It’s understood CHS will also announce a wave of new nurses and other healthcare workers tomorrow (21 February).
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