Project History
In late 2007, the QAIHC Board endorsed the Building Business Capacity shared services project. This was a response to the QAIHC Strategic Plan 2007–2010, and to the outcomes of the 2007 Governance and Business Improvement Conference.
QAIHC staff and members worked with a consulting firm to develop a shared services business case for the Queensland community-controlled health sector. The Board endorsed the business case in June 2008. In December 2008, the Commonwealth Government agreed to fund ‘Business Quality Centres’ in two regions.
The model for the Business Quality Centres was developed in workshops with QAIHC members across the state. Over 30 CEOs and Chairpersons agreed to key elements of the model, including:
- a representative governance structure
- the continued independence and decision-making authority of member organisations
- support for increased skills, knowledge and capabilities of individuals and organisations.
The two regions originally agreed upon for these two centres were Far North Queensland with a site based in Cairns and Central Queensland with a site based in Rockhampton.
Project Managers were appointed and undertook a process to establish the two regional Business Quality Centres. The establishment of the two regional BQC’s was unsuccessful due to several factors. After learning from the first attempt at establishing the BQC, the project was restructured and costed to ensure a financially viable model could be implemented.
In 2010/11 the BQC was successfully established as a program under QAIHC with 8 staff being employed in the areas of Finance, Human Resources and Consultancy. QAIHC is proud to say that the BQC is operational and is currently providing services to a number of clients. Interest in the services of the BQC has been increasing and is set to grow further during 2011/12 with the development of the Information Communication Technology and Shared Procurement services.