VAGO undertakes performance audits into the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of public sector agencies and their operations to provide assurance to Parliament and drive public sector improvement. We aim to achieve this by identifying issues and making recommendations to agencies about how to address them. However, our recommendations cannot result in improvements unless they are accepted and enacted by public sector agencies.

Timely and reliable patient information is fundamental to the effective planning, management and delivery of clinical healthcare. Advances in ICT are having a profound effect on healthcare service delivery and raising expectations that patient information will be readily available to clinicians in electronic rather than paper formats.

Occupational health and safety (OHS) covers staff health, safety and welfare in the workplace. OHS is particularly important in public hospitals because major hazards exist—such as exposure to infectious and chemical agents, manual handling of patients and materials, slips, trips, falls, and occupational violence. These hazards can lead to musculoskeletal injuries, acute traumatic injury, infections such as hepatitis and potentially even death. The impact of poor OHS is felt not just by affected staff, but also by the patients they are treating.

Good mental health is one of the foundations of a good life and a healthy society. The World Health Organisation broadly defines mental health as 'a state of wellbeing in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community'.

Almost 50 per cent of people aged 16 to 85 years will experience one or more mental illnesses—such as anxiety, mood and substance-use disorders—in their lifetime.

Public health services routinely use computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) scanners to diagnose, manage and treat medical conditions. These scanners take high-quality images of internal organs and tissues. They are now critical to clinical decisions at key points in a patient's treatment, and can significantly influence patient outcomes.