The Royal Society for the Welfare of Mothers & Babies
This is Tresillian’s official name. Nowadays Tresillian
Family Care Centres is a name synonymous with Child and Family Health.
Find out how we came to be named Tresillian in our history!
Tresillian’s
Mission
Tresillian’s mission is to optimise the health and wellbeing of
families with babies and young children.
Our Values
The values held by Tresillian which are the underlying principles for
all our services include Excellence, Compassion, Respect, Loyalty and
Integrity.
Patron
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
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Tresillian Family Care
Centres Model of Care
What is a Model of Care?
The Model of Care provides a common language to describe and discuss
Tresillian services and programs.
A Model of Care has three overlapping components:
- Beliefs and value on which the model is based
- Goals of practice or what the practitioner aims to achieve
- Knowledge and skill the practitioner needs to develop in order
to gain these goals
The Tresillian Model of Care
The Tresillian Model of Care has, whenever possible, drawn on
existing beliefs and values, in particular the Tresillian mission,
philosophy, vision and roles. Additional work has been completed to
identify practice principles that clearly guide staff to implement the
Model of Care and provide a framework for practice evaluation.
The practice principles are used by managers and staff to
systematically evaluate, for example:
- Current policies, guidelines, documentation (eg job
descriptions, clinical practice guidelines, human resource policies)
- current services (Outreach, Day Stay, Residential, Parent Help
Line etc)
- current programs (PND therapy group, parent education and staff
education).
These practice principles are used to guide the development of new
services, programs, policies and documentation.
The following diagram demonstrates the relationship of the Tresillian
Model of Care (which is the existing Tresillian mission, values,
philosophy and role), practice principles and Tresillian services and
programs.
Tresillian’s Mission
Tresillian’s mission is to optimise the health and wellbeing of
families with babies and young children.
Our Values
The values held by Tresillian are the underlying principles for all
our services which include:
- Excellence,
- Compassion,
- Respect,
- Loyalty and
- Integrity.
Tresillian’s Philosophy
Tresillian believes in the value of the family as a means of
establishing individual identity and promoting the development of
healthy individuals. Each family is treated as a unique entity.
One of Tresillian’s basic beliefs is that the infant and young child has
essential needs met in an effectively functioning family. Tresillian
believes in the inherent right of a child to grow within a healthy,
nurturing environment and that the family and community are responsible
for providing means for achieving this right.
In order to promote the role of the family and community, Tresillian
believes that the organisation exists to provide specialist support and
care, when required, to those family and community members regardless of
beliefs, social circumstances or culture. Tresillian is committed to
enhancing quality and the continuity of care through networking, liaison
and cross referral.
It is also the belief of Tresillian that the health and welfare of the
staff employed by the organisation are of the utmost importance and that
these staff should be given the maximum support to expand their
knowledge and skills.
Our Role
Tresillian’s role is:
- To work towards the promotion of Tresillian as a Centre of
Excellence in child (0-5 years) and family health.
- To provide holistic family care within a primary health care
framework through a range of services responsive to community needs.
Primary health care includes specialised nursing care, medical
support, psycho-social interventions, family advocacy, health
promotion and clinical assessment of the growth and development of
infants and young children.
- To provide child & family health education and associated
resources in child and family health to health professionals and the
community.
- To develop Tresillian’s advocacy and research role.
Practice Principles
The following practice principles are the core component of the
Tresillian Model of Care providing a framework for all aspects of
practice. These practice principles also provide criteria to evaluate
services and programs against.
- Strengths-based
Interactions focus on and promote the strengths and attributes of
the family, parent and child. Interactions between Tresillian staff
reflect and facilitate a strengths-based approach.
- Flexible
The needs of each child and family are recognised and responded to
in a flexible manner. Staff members work in a flexible manner with
their colleagues while ensuring it does not adversely impact on
service provision.
- Self-efficacy
Staff interactions with families, parents and children, and other
staff members aim to promote the development of self-efficacy and a
sense of competence and capability. Self-efficacy is recognised as a
predictor of positive practices by parents, children and staff.
- Social connectedness
Parents are supported and encouraged to connect with appropriate
community supports. This social connectedness enhances parenting
capacity. Staff are supported and encouraged to network internally
with other Tresillian staff and externally with appropriate
professional and community organisations at a local, state, national
and international level.
- Partnership
Relationships between Tresillian staff members, families,
communities and other professionals are underpinned by an approach
that facilitates a partnership. This partnership recognises the
importance of fundamental concepts of trust, respect, honesty and
collaboration.
- Attachment-focussed
Interventions focus on enhancing the child and parent attachment
relationship in recognition that the quality of this relationship is
a major predictor of long-term outcomes for the child.
- Child-focussed
Work with families is focussed on achieving better outcomes for
children through facilitating and strengthening the relationship
between the child and parent(s).
- Equity
Tresillian staff will promote equitable access for all children and
their families. Tresillian management will promote equitable access
to employment, support and education
- Early Intervention
Whenever possible Tresillian takes an early intervention approach
assisting parents identify potential protective and risk factors,
and appropriate intervention and support strategies.
- Reflective Practice
Reflective practice is achieved through:
- Supporting staff implement their skills appropriately and to
the best of their knowledge and abilities
- Encouraging self-evaluation of performance
- Providing an opportunity for the development of additional
skills and ideas
- Providing a forum to explore complex or challenging
situations
- Allowing debriefing and reflection following critical
incidents.
- Best Practice
Tresillian staff [strive to] ensure they use management, clinical
and education best practice drawing on current research, expert
opinion and practice evaluation. This is achieved by working with
the “best available evidence modified by patient [parent/family]
circumstances and preferences, is applied to improve the quality of
clinical judgements” (The Centre for Clinical Effectiveness 2005).
- Quality
Quality underpins all Tresillian services and activities. All
Tresillian staff are encouraged to participate in continuous quality
improvement practices in their everyday work.
References:
Centre for Community Child Health N.D. Practice indicators for
family-centred partnerships in early childhood education and care
settings, Victorian Government Department of Human Services, Melbourne.
Davies, D., Crispin, D. & Bidmead.C. 2002, Working in Partnership with
Parents: The Parent Advisor Model, The Psychological Coorporation,
London.
NSW Health (draft), 2006, Supporting Families Early Policy, NSW Health,
North Sydney.
Schön, D 1983, The reflective practitioner: How practitioners think in
action, Basic Books, New York.
The Centre for Clinical Effectiveness, 2005, Evidence-Based Answers to
Clinical Questions for Busy Clinicians, Monash Institute of Health
Services Research, Melbourne.
Executive Management Committee
Back row (L – R) is Anne Partridge (Director of
Nursing & Clinical Services), Dr Penny Field (Director of Medical
Services), David Hannaford (General Manager), Elisabeth Manning (Quality
Manager), Anne-Lyse DeGuio (Director of Education & Research). Front Row
(L – R) is Lisiane LaTouche (Director of Social Work & Psychology
Services) and Ray Lovat (Accountant).
Centre Managers
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Leanne Daggar
Tresillian Penrith
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Christine Fraser
Tresillian Canterbury
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Aileen Molloy
Tresillian Willoughby
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Marie Clifford
Tresillian Wollstonecraft |
Council Members
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Sandra Littlewood BA, LLB
(ANU)
President elected 2005
Solicitor in Sole Practice
Member of Council since 1990. Vice President elected 1997.
Member: Research and Ethics Committee
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Beulah Warren MA (Hons), MAPS
Vice President elected 2005
Psychologist and
Member of Council since 1999.
Chair: Quality Review Committee
Member: Strategic Planning Committee
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Warren Porter FCA
Treasurer
Member of Council since 1998. Treasurer since July, 1998.
Chairman: Finance Committee
Member: Audit Committee, Publicity Committee
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Dr Nick Kowalenko MB, BS, FRANZCP,
MFCP
Councillor
Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Royal North Shore Hospital
Member of Council since 2003
Member: Research and Ethics Committee, Strategic Planning
Committee
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Hugh Bickerstaff Member of Council since 2006. Chairman of
Audit Committee and Member of Finance Committee
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Natalie Boyd BA Major Projects Manager, Sydney Water
Corporation. Member of Council since 2006. Member of Publicity
Committee |
Organisational Structure
To see a larger image of Tresillian's organisational structure, click
on the image below.
Quality Management/Improvement
Tresillian Family Care Centres is classified as a Third Schedule Public
Hospital offering a broad range of services to parents with children
under five years of age. The four Tresillian Centres are located at Belmore,
Penrith, Willoughby and Wollstonecraft.
Tresillian provides a tertiary referral Residential
Service for parents. Secondary levels of care
include Day Stay and Outreach.
For immediate advice, parents can call Tresillian’s 24-Hour
Parents Help Line. Tresillian also has an Education
and Research Unit, a Long Day Care Centre
(Guthrie Child Care Centre) and Occasional
Care.
Tresillian’s organisation-wide Quality/Improvement Program encompasses
the services available at all Centres.
The managing body of Tresillian known as Council, along with management
and staff, believe that Quality Management /Improvement (QM/I) is essential
for a high standard of client care. This belief in QM/I is reflected
in Tresillian’s organisation statements of Values, Mission and
Goals.
Monitoring and evaluation activities such as the client/customer feedback
activities performance indicators, outcomes of care measures and quality
assurance together with appropriate actions and improvements, are an
integral part of effective quality management.
This has provided a strong foundation for participation in the
Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) Evaluation and Improvement Program
(EQUIP).
Tresillian is committed to maintaining full accreditation status with
appropriate/relevant professional bodies, which are:
Tresillian has been accredited by the ACHS since November 1993 and
was re-accredited until July 2006. Guthrie Child Care Centre has been
accredited by NCAC since August 1996 and was re-accredited until February
2007.
The Quality Manager provides ongoing direction, education and support
for quality activities assisting with the facilitating of continuous
Quality Improvement (CQI) teams.
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