Collaboration, shared learning, and data-driven improvement have long been at the heart of the Health Roundtable’s mission to support hospitals across Australia and New Zealand.
For Neil Doverty, CEO of South Metropolitan Health Service, the Health Roundtable has been an essential partner in driving system-wide improvement. “We at South Metro have been invested deeply in the Health Roundtable for over a decade,” he reflects.
“All our hospitals are member hospitals and very keen on the learning collaboration that the Health Roundtable brings about.”
One of the Health Roundtable’s greatest strengths is its ability to help hospitals use data as a foundation for improvement. By sharing performance measures openly, health leaders gain the clarity and confidence to benchmark outcomes and identify opportunities for change. “The sharing of performance data enables us to benchmark how we’re doing against peer hospitals and health services,” Neil explains.
Beyond the numbers, it’s the culture of learning that sets the Health Roundtable apart.
“We love the learning events, bringing people together either virtually or face-to-face in the various programmes and communities of thought and practice development,” Neil says.
These forums encourage openness and reflection, allowing hospitals to learn from both success and challenge, building stronger, safer systems together.
Partnerships also play a vital role in the Health Roundtable’s impact. Neil highlights the collaboration with Beamtree as one that has delivered measurable improvements.
“The partnership with Beamtree has brought about some really practical initiatives such as the clinical coding improvement, the code checker, and the workforce Wellbeing Index.”
These initiatives demonstrate how the Health Roundtable transforms shared data into practical tools that directly enhance patient care and workforce wellbeing.
For health services in Western Australia, the Health Roundtable provides vital connections across the country. “I cannot emphasise enough the importance of being able to hear from our colleagues in NSW and Victoria about how they’ve solved practical problems such as setting up hospital-in-the-home services or patient flow metrics,” Neil explains.
This national network ensures no hospital faces challenges in isolation, solutions are shared, scaled, and adapted to local needs.
Just as importantly, the Health Roundtable remains grounded in its purpose. “It’s refreshingly different in terms of it’s all about service improvement, not so much about performance management for government scorecards,” Neil says.
That focus on learning rather than compliance has made the Health Roundtable a trusted ally for clinicians and executives alike. “The key difference is it’s about a quest for continuous quality improvement and practice development,” he adds.
As the healthcare sector faces ongoing challenges, from workforce pressures to digital transformation, Neil’s reflections highlight why the Health Roundtable continues to play such a crucial role. Shared purpose, open collaboration, and a collective drive works to improve care for every patient.
Watch the full video from Neil below.
