Timely and trauma-informed drug and alcohol counselling

A big congratulations to four of our Drug and Alcohol team members who have completed an Agency for Clinical Innovation (ACI) Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Redesign with their project: ‘Redesign of the SESLHD Drug and Alcohol Counselling Service’. The project has established a counselling clinical stream, commenced a drop-in clinic model and improved data collection.  

The ACI Centre for Healthcare Redesign school supports efforts to build capability for health redesign and improvement. More than 900 participants have completed the ACI Redesign Program, implementing over 400 projects in the past 17 years. The graduates come from a range of LHDs and health services. 

“This is all part of a larger aim to optimise counselling processes across drug and alcohol services, ensuring clients experience timely, equitable, trauma-informed, high-quality care,” said Helen Hamilton, Project Lead and CNC, Drug & Alcohol Services.  

Certificates were presented to the team by Dr Jean-Frederic Levesque, Chief Executive, ACI, at a ceremony held in late 2024.  

The team recently presented a poster on their redesign at the Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs conference. The team consisted of Helen Hamilton; Fiona O’Neill, Manager, Psychologist at Sutherland Drug & Alcohol Team; Kyrsten Winkley, Ambulatory Care Manager at The Langton Centre; and Lachlan Simms, Senior Social Worker at The Langton Centre.  

The project was sponsored by Professor Apo Demirkol, Director of SESLHD Drug & Alcohol Services, supported by Brendan Crozier, Senior Allied Health Manager, Drug & Alcohol Services, and coached by Daniela Feuerlicht, Strategic Change Manager, Strategy, Innovation and Improvement.  

For more information about the project: Redesign of the SESLHD Drug & Alcohol Counselling Service | Agency for Clinical Innovation