About Our Staff

Director’s profile  

David A Ford B Pharm, MPS, PhC, MSHPA, Grad Dip Hosp Pharm Admin

David Ford is a proven hospital executive with 35 years of clinical and management experience in hospital administration and department directorship, with key strengths and demonstrated skills in:

  • Leadership and change management
  • Staff management and development
  • Financial management of complex budgets
  • Procurement, contract, stock and supply chain management
  • Project leadership and management
  • Expertise in diverse hospital department management
  • Hospital practice and policy
  • Local and international education, teaching and training

 

Professional experience

Director, David Ford Healthcare Consulting

April 2010 - current

(Concurrent) Executive Director Pharmacy and Redevelopment, North East Health, Victoria, Australia

May 2016 - current

This Executive position has responsibility to the NHW Board, CEO and Executive for a $30M capital redevelopment which includes new ICU, ED, Short Stay, Medical and Paeditric units

The Director of Pharmacy role is for the Hume region and has included another successful accreditation survey from ACSQHC regarding Standard 4 - Medication Safety and Standard 3.14 - Antimicrobial Stewardship, with 3 criteria met with merit and no new recommendations

(Concurrent) Acting Director of Pharmacy, Northern Health, Melbourne, Australia

May 2015 - Feb 2016

Northern Health comprises:

  • Northern Hospital Epping
  • Broadmeadows Health Service
  • Bundoora Extended Care Centre
  • Craigieburn Health Service

This temporary tenure included a successful accreditation survey associated with Standard 4 - Medication Safety and Standard 3.14 - Antimicrobial Stewardship according to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare Standards

Director of Pharmacy, Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Australia

Sept 2000 - April 2010

Melbourne Health comprises:

  • The Royal Melbourne Hospital – City Campus,
  • The Royal Melbourne Hospital – Royal Park Campus,
  • North West Mental Health,
  • North West Dialysis,
  • Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory,
  • and for Pharmacy Services, the Royal Dental Hospital of Victoria.

 

Melbourne Health has over 8000 staff and an operating budget of around $600M. The City campus of The Royal Melbourne Hospital is published as the busiest hospital in Australia. The Pharmacy department at Melbourne Health has over 100 staff, an operational budget of $6M and a drug budget of $42M.

(Concurrent) General Manager, Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Melbourne Health

Sept 2006 – June 2007

(Concurrent) Executive Director, Division of Diagnostic and Therapeutics Services, Melbourne Health

December 2003 - June 2006

The Division of Diagnostic and Therapeutics services comprised:

  • Radiology
  • Nuclear Medicine
  • Pathology
  • Pharmacy
  • Allied Health
  • Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL)
  • Victorian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System (VICNISS)

This Executive position had direct responsibility for the financial and service performance for these departments and reported directly to the Chief Executive Officer, Melbourne Health.

Network Director of Pharmacy, North Western Health

June 1999 - Sept 2000

North Western Health was the largest public Health Network in Melbourne comprising 11 public hospitals and programs:

  • The Royal Melbourne Hospital,
  • Melbourne Extended Care and Rehabilitation Service,
  • The Royal Dental Hospital,
  • Western Hospital Footscray,
  • Western Hospital Sunshine,
  • Williamstown Hospital,
  • The Northern Hospital,
  • Broadmeadows Health Service,
  • Bundoora Extended Care,
  • North West Mental Health
  • North West Dialysis Service

Director of Pharmacy, Western Hospital Footscray

July 1997 - June 1999

Inaugural Director of Pharmacy, Western Hospital Sunshine

Feb 1990 - July 1997

Intensive Care Specialist Clinical Pharmacist, Western General Hospital

Nov 1985 - Feb 1990

 

 

Significant career accomplishments

  • Managed multiple hospital Pharmacy departments, in major Teaching and Regional hospitals (Western Health, North West Health, Melbourne Health, Northern Health, North East Health) across Victoria, Australia

 

  • Held Executive management positions at both Melbourne Health (Executive Director of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Services, including Pharmacy, Pathology, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, Allied Health, VicNISS and VIDRL) and North East Health (Executive Director Pharmacy and Redevelopment, involving a $30M rebuild of ICU, Medical, ED, Short Stay and Paediatric units)

 

  • Led successful Austrialian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare accreditation surveys for Melbourne Health, Northern Health and North East Health

 

  • Managed, trained and led over 100 Pharmacy staff in a dynamic & economically challenging environment at Melbourne Health for 11 years, resulting in multiple promotions and advancements of staff, consistent delivery of work force KPI’s (A/L, ADO/ S/L, absenteeism) and 100% pass-rate for all pre-registrant pharmacists

 

  • Managed 10 Pharmacy–based cost centres at Melbourne Health with a combined budget of around $48M and produced budget results of 10% or better for each cost centre during this period

 

  • Implemented several complex changes across multiple departments at Melbourne Health, including the introduction of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme into Melbourne Health, with a resulting $8M of savings to the drug budget per annum

 

  • Led at hospital and at State level via the Department of Human Services, the implementation of a Picture Archive Communication System (PACS), which resulted in film-less radiology for all of Melbourne Health, with a subsequent cost saving in consumables of in excess of $500K and an improvement of radiology reporting times by more than 50%.

 

  • Succeeded in winning international tender for VIDRL of $23M from the Commonwealth to house the WHO Influenza Centre for the South Pacific global region, giving Melbourne Health and VIDRL international standing in influenza research, surveillance and monitoring in the Asia-Pacific region

 

  • Proven ability to create and sustain win-win commercial partnerships with the Pharmaceutical industry, resulting in contract drug purchasing savings of over $2M over 4 years, and negotiated access to high-cost drugs at no or affordable cost for hundreds of critically ill patients, allowing treatment to proceed

 

  • Active member on the Board of Management for Cancer Trials Australia, a collaborative body undertaking international collaborative research in oncology, resulting in a vibrant and financially sustainable organisation undertaking globally significant oncology-based research for cancer patients

 

  • Establishing the Pharmacy service of Melbourne Health as an entity, resulting in a collaborative network of Pharmacy services across multiple sites and programs, consistently delivering on service KPI’s such as prescription dispensing and sterile manufacturing waiting times, dispensing accuracy, fiscal targets, workforce KPI’s, research activity and 100% pass rates for under-graduate training

 

  • Led the planning and construction of new Pharmacy Departments at both RMH City and RMH Royal Park campuses, which has resulted in two state of the art departments, which have subsequently passed multiple inspections by the ACHS using the EQuIP accreditation criteria, and the Pharmacy Board of Victoria

 

  • Implemented and managed a community-based medication treatment program for North West Mental Health, which resulted in improved access to pharmacy services in the community for 2400 Mental health patients and a reduction in hospital re-admissions by more than 50%

 

  • Implemented and managed devolved budgets to the Medical Divisions at Melbourne Health, resulting in medical staff becoming actively involved in robust processes for approval of high cost drugs prescribing. This reduced non-reimbursed drug expenditure by 3% below the previous year’s expenditure for 4 straight years, an annual saving of around $500K.

 

  • Led and implemented modifications for drug storage within Melbourne Health following a report from the Health Services Commissioner, resulting in medication storage and safety guidelines and design that set the benchmark for other institutions to follow.

 

  • Negotiated numerous instances of clinical trial and research support from the pharmaceutical industry, an example of which resulted in the treatment of 76 patients with severe auto-immune diseases who otherwise would not have received treatment

 

  • Developed and supported the establishment of an antimicrobial sub-committee, which ultimately resulted in the development of the i-Approve electronic antibiotic prescribing approval system, which is now being implemented nationally and potentially in Europe and the USA.

 

  • Appointed as Special Lecturer and Principle Associate of the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Monash University, and Clinical Associate at the School of Pharmacy at the University of Tasmania, resulting in formal linkages between Melbourne Health Pharmacy Department and the Universities providing significant research, teaching and training opportunities for staff and students of each establishment.

 

  • Formally recognised by Melbourne Health by receiving the Special Recognition Award by the CEO and Executive in 2005

 

  • Managed a staff of 100 radiologists, radiographers, nurses and support staff in an area outside my professional expertise, and created a new organisational structure and budget process within this department which created improved management functionality and improved financial control, resulting in the delivery of a favourable budget for the first time in 10 years

 

  • Instrumental in the tendering, procurement, business cases, funding applications, design and installation of several pieces of major radiological equipment including
    • 3 tesler (3T) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine
    • 64-slice CT scanner
    • Picture Archive and Communication System (PACS)
    • Digital mammography system
    • Bi-plane flat panel angiography system
    • Digital ultrasound systems.

all of which resulted in improvement in diagnostic capability and therefore patient outcome for all patients, improvement in patient access to radiological examination by more than 20%, and an increase in private radiology income of over $500K

 

  • Demonstrated ability to manage multiple diverse areas and departments of hospital business, including budget, workforce, major capital projects, service review and organisational structures in each department.

 

  • Invited speaker at numerous Pharmacy conferences in Australia, USA and Europe, speaking on a range of pharmaceutical and pharmacological topics.

 

  • Managed the significant changes required within the provision of the Pharmacy services from multiple separate departments into a single unit across multiple sites, with the result of a cohesive team approach and attainment of fiscal targets across all sites

 

  • Led and managed the Pharmacy services for the hospitals of North Western Health, ensuring that all financial, staff, legislative, accreditation, teaching, procurement, training, operational, contract and performance requirements were met

 

  • Wrote, negotiated and managed Pharmacy Service level Agreements with each hospital, which identified service and fiscal KPI’s for each hospital and department cost centres, which were met in all hospitals for each year

 

 

Professional Associations and appointments

Chair, Melbourne Health Drugs and Therapeutics Committee

Chair, Melbourne Health Therapeutics Review Group

Member, Drugs and Therapeutics Committee, Dental Services Victoria (Royal Dental Hospital)

Member, Board of Management, Cancer Trials Australia

Special Lecturer and Principle Associate, Department of Pharmacy Practice, Monash University

Member, Faculty Board, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, Monash University

Chair, Masters of Clinical Pharmacy Advisory Group, Monash University

Clinical Associate, School of Pharmacy, University of Tasmania

Member, Product Advisory Committee, A-Z Pharmaceutical contract, Health Purchasing Victoria (HPV)

Member, Product Advisory Committee, IV and Dialysis Fluids, HPV

Member, Product Exemption Committee, HPV

Chair, Western Region Education Program, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA)

Member, Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA)

Member, Chapter of Pharmacy Practice Tutors

 

 

Consulting partnerships

At DFHC, we understand that it is difficult to be an expert in everything. Based on our years of professional work in the health care sector, our network of professional colleagues in the medical, nursing, I.T, procurement and consulting specialties is significant. We engage these external experts as required to ensure our clients receive the best, most up-to-date and comprehensive advice possible. Our external partners have expertise a range of health-related fields, which includes:

  • Clinical systems
    • Cerner Millenium®
      • E-prescribing
      • E-pathology
      • E-radiology
      • E-health record
    • Symphony®
    • Vocera®
  • Dispensing systems
    • Merlin®
    • i-Pharmacy®
      • Drug usage, distribution and financial reporting
  • Robotic systems
    • Pyxis®
      • Implementation
      • Functionality
  • Market research
  • Private hospital pharmacy practice
  • Non-hospital pharmacy services (Justice Health, Corrections Victoria, Yooralla)
  • Home Medication Reviews
  • Tendering processes