Social worker in Horsham ED is a Grampians Health ‘first’
Despite the extreme pressure of her role, Grampians Health social Worker Katie Cochrane is very much enjoying her newly-appointed position in Horsham’s Emergency Department.
Katie has no qualms about being the first social worker to be appointed solely to work in a Grampians Health Emergency Department. She is proudly accepting the challenge and is working on measures to improve the level of support provided for patients and victims of assault.
Originally from Wagga Wagga, Katie said she moved to Horsham almost three years ago as an acute/sub-acute social worker before being offer the opportunity to step into a Grade 2 position and the new challenge in ED.
“I really enjoy the role at Horsham,” Katie said. “It’s such a generalised practice here so there are a lot more opportunities than you might get in a metropolitan hospital and you have to learn very quickly.
“I’ve really enjoyed the challenges that creates and I’ve also found it easier to connect with the community because of its size.”
Katie said Horsham like many communities had a very high presentation of family violence where she has needed to advocate for the victims.
“A large part of my role is supporting victims of family violence, providing emotional support and giving people information about what their options might be,” she said.
“But I am also there to provide support for the team in ED because they have to deal with a high degree of trauma every day. It would be hard for the average person to imagine what the team have to deal with on a daily basis.
“The biggest part of my job is supporting our aged population to navigate services as their health needs change.”
Katie said she had recently started work on a sexual assault policy and her team was identifying policy gaps.
“One thing we are advocating for is greater access to forensic services following sexual assault in Horsham and I have been meeting with Victoria Police and Family Violence services in the community to work together on improving the experiences of victim survivors,” she said.
“Currently victims need to travel to Bendigo or Ballarat which only adds to their trauma. Our work with other agencies in advocating for change is very important and we hope it will make a substantial difference.”
Grampians Health Emergency Department Head in Horsham Dr Peter Carter said the social worker role had been a significant addition to the Emergency team.
"Katie is a terrific addition to our team at Horsham Emergency and her role is such an important one for our department and our patients,” Dr Carter said.
“She is sensible, smart, proactive and really sets an example of our departmental values of safety, teamwork, service and kindness."
Chief Operations Officer Ben Kelly said the creation of Katie’s role was another example of how Grampians Health was enabling opportunities across the organisation through innovative workforce models.
