Top gongs for sector leaders in customer service and mental health

In this story:

• Aged care provider honoured nationally for its customer service
• Leader in psychiatry recognised for improved outcomes in seniors mental health

Aged care provider recognised nationally for its customer service

WA’s largest not-for-profit aged care and retirement living provider Bethanie has picked up two gold medals at the 2014 National Customer Service Excellence Awards in what organisers described as the most competitive year in the awards’ 12-year history.

The Customer Service Council of Australia’s annual awards, which was held in Perth earlier this month, encourage individuals and organisations to achieve and promote customer service excellence, innovation, and best practice.

Bethanie’s Information Communication and Technology (ICT) and Helpdesk division beat Telstra to win first prize for Customer Service Excellence in the Small Enterprise or Division of Business category.

Customer Service Council chairman Chris Lejmanoski said it was the most competitive year in the awards’ 12-year history. “Bethanie ICT was a stand out through the process and the judges advised their customer interviews and testimonials, customer focus along with state of the art customer centre technology set them apart from the heavy weights in their large category,” he said.

The provider’s general manager of marketing and brand, Chris Frame, then picked up the Rising Star award for Customer Service Excellence, which is given to an individual in business who is less than 30 years of age.

Mr Frame said: “Bethanie clients and stakeholders are at the forefront of all the campaigns that we implement and I am excited that the Customer Service Council of Australia has recognised this.”

CEO Chris How said exceptional customer service was a key objective of the Bethanie team and that it was great to see staff recognised nationally for their work.

Leader in psychiatry and ageing recognised

University of Western Australia’s Professor Osvaldo Almeida has won the GESB Award for improved outcomes in seniors mental health.

The annual Mental Health Good Outcomes Awards recognise the high standard and ongoing commitment of individuals and organisations in addressing key mental health issues at a local, regional or state level in Western Australia.

The awards, which were presented last week by the Mental Health Commission during Mental Health Week, aim to encourage individuals and organisations to strive for excellence in their daily work while enhancing their skills and experience in mental health.

Professor Almeida, who was appointed Chair of Old Age Psychiatry at UWA in 1998, has developed extensive research programs designed to identify and modify risk factors associated with poor mental health in later life.

He is director of the Western Australian Centre for Health and Ageing, which he established with geriatrician Professor Leon Flicker, and also works as a consultant geriatric psychiatrist at the Royal Perth Hospital.

Professor Almeida’s internationally-recognised work on the psychotic states of later life has contributed to the development of guidelines for diagnosing those states.

His most recent research focuses on cardiovascular risk factors associated with depression and improvement in health outcomes for older people with depression.