Gold Coast Health leads the way for safety

The need for a modern solution

 

Gold Coast Health delivers a broad range of secondary and tertiary health services across numerous facilities, including three hospitals and two health precincts.

 

Approximately 12,000 staff provide a range of health services across medical and surgical, mental health, children’s, women and maternity, emergency and trauma, oral and public health. Around 1,300 of these staff work remotely and/or independently, conducting more than 48,000 visits to patient and consumer homes and community settings each year.

The nature of the support they provide to patients and consumers within a community setting increases staff exposure to potentially unpredictable or higher-risk environments. Gold Coast Health recognises the importance of modernising how safety is monitored and is constantly looking at new ways to better support its workforce in all settings.

“Staff safety is of the highest priority at Gold Coast Health,” Work Health and Safety Governance Manager, Tanya Corr, said.

“We wanted a system that would enable us to better monitor, manage and prioritise the safety and wellbeing of staff in real-time”.

The drive to enhance staff safety at Gold Coast Health was championed by Ian Langdon, former Board Chair. While visiting nurses and midwives in the field, Ian observed the existing safety practices and believed there was an opportunity to digitise and centralise the processes.

“Mr Langdon made it his mission to find a complete digital tool that facilitated real-time safety alerts and enhanced communication between our staff working in the community and in our monitoring teams, so they feel supported no matter where they were working,” Tanya said.

Tailoring SafeZone to Gold Coast Health’s unique needs

 

Community workers at Gold Coast Health span numerous specialties and teams that operate independently and, therefore, have their own unique requirements. To ensure these requirements were met and SafeZone was successfully implemented with minimal disruption, a truly collaborative approach was adopted between Gold Coast Health, CriticalArc and Chubb Fire & Security (Chubb).

“CriticalArc and Chubb worked closely with us to customise SafeZone to meet our specific needs and the complexities of a fast-paced hospital and health service,” Work Health and Safety Director, Yvonne Paye, said.

“During implementation, we had regular enhancement meetings to address any issues that arose, and this has continued long after SafeZone’s deployment, to ensure we get the most value from the platform.

“CriticalArc has worked hard to adapt the platform so user groups receive alerts relevant to them through the SafeZone app, and those who monitor the safety and wellbeing of our staff can do so efficiently.

“Nearly one year on, we continue to tailor SafeZone to meet the ever-evolving needs of Gold Coast Health and staff safety.”

The immediate impact on staff confidence and wellbeing

 

Gold Coast Health has seen significant impacts across all levels of the organisation since implementing SafeZone.

The platform has replaced manual check-in and check-out processes with a dynamic, real-time solution. Managers can monitor staff across community-based appointments and receive alerts through live on-screen feeds.

As of December 2024, nearly 1,200 Gold Coast Health staff are registered with SafeZone, with check-ins increasing by 320 percent from August 2023 to February 2025. The average number of check-ins totals between 6,500 to 8,000 per month; demonstrating how integral SafeZone and Chubb have become to enhancing staff safety across Gold Coast Health.

Nursing teams now enter community environments with greater confidence, knowing their colleagues are monitoring their whereabouts and support is available when they need it.

“It is great to be able to check-in and check-out of home visits when working in our community,” Child and Family Health Manager, Rebecca Shaw, said.

“The introduction to SafeZone for our team has been fantastic and has made us feel very reassured.”

In the first six months post-launch, Gold Coast Health recorded four instances where SafeZone’s duress alerts were activated to call for support. These alerts allowed the team to respond swiftly, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of staff members by providing timely intervention and assistance. Importantly, the ability to monitor and report such incidents in real-time has provided Gold Coast Health with invaluable insights into the types of situations where healthcare professionals may be at risk.

With this enhanced incident reporting, Gold Coast Health is now in a stronger position to not only react quickly to serious incidents, but also to analyse patterns and trends over time. By understanding where and when incidents occur, Gold Coast Health can refine its strategies for staff safety and implement further preventive measures whilst improving training where necessary.

This data-driven approach enables Gold Coast Health to plan more effectively, reducing the likelihood of incidents in the future and ensure a system of support for its community-based staff.

 

Setting the gold standard in safety management

 

The adoption of SafeZone at Gold Coast Health represents a significant step forward in how the health service supports and safeguards its community-based teams. By transitioning to a dynamic, centralised digital solution, Gold Coast Health has improved real-time monitoring of staff safety and responsiveness to serious incidents, as well as fostering a stronger sense of security and confidence among its staff.

“This initiative reflects our ongoing commitment to supporting our teams with the tools and resources they need to work safely, no matter where they are,” Tanya said.

“SafeZone has become a core component of Gold Coast Health’s approach to how we manage staff safety, and it sets a new standard for our service.”

With impressive adoption rates and tangible impacts on staff safety and wellbeing, the success of SafeZone at Gold Coast Health is a testament to the health services’ forward-thinking approach and dedication to increasing staff safety. Gold Coast Health has set a powerful example for other healthcare services looking to improve the experience of their teams.

Get a demo to explore how SafeZone could transform safety, security, wellbeing and emergency management for your healthcare teams.