The Board  held its final meeting of the year at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital last  week and had the opportunity to meet with many staff.

During the  visit a number of Board Members toured Surgery, the Geriatric Evaluation and  Management Service, and Neurology. Deputy Chair Dr Kim Forrester also visited  security staff who do an excellent job in protecting staff and patients in the  face of increased violence against healthcare workers.

As part of  our normal meeting agenda, the Board was briefed by the Chief Executive on the  key issues affecting Metro North, and received management reports on  operations, finance, patient safety and quality, and human resources. In  addition, we received updates on the Medicine Stream and Metro North’s plan for  responding to mass casualty incidents, and approved the business case for  proton therapy to be submitted to the Department of Health Investment Review  Committee.

Dr Amanda  Dines also provided an update on planning for the RBWH 150th anniversary  celebrations next year. Associate Professor Cliff Pollard has been involved in  the steering group for the 150th and Members of the Board are looking forward  to joining staff next year to commemorate this significant milestone for  Queensland’s largest hospital.

While at the  Royal, the Board had opportunity to hear from several clinicians on their  research and clinical breakthroughs, including Dr Geoff Coughlin on robotic  surgery, Professor John Fraser on the bionic heart program, Dr Kevin Tetsworth  on biofabrication and bone implant integration, Professor Jason Roberts and Dr  Krispin Hajkowicz on antimicrobial resistance, and Associate Professor Julie  McGaughran on genomics.

At the two  staff forums, we discussed solutions for long stay patients in RBWH, the  relocation of the GEMS ward, referrals from outside Metro North to RBWH’s  statewide services, and the need, where practical, for single gender bays to  promote patient dignity. Thank you for your questions.

Our next  Board meeting will be in February at The Prince Charles Hospital. If you have  any questions or feedback you’re welcome to contact us viamnbfeedback@health.qld.gov.au.

In the  meantime, on behalf of the entire Board, I wish you and your loved ones a safe  and happy Christmas and New Year.

The Board had  the pleasure of visiting Kilcoy last week for its monthly meeting. Board  Members enjoyed an informal chat with staff and learning more about Kilcoy’s  warm and friendly service.

As part of  the visit, we toured the hospital and had the opportunity to hear wonderful  feedback, such as the note received from patient Shirley who thinks Kilcoy  healthcare staff are truly angels.

As usual, we  received updates from the Chief Executive and senior staff about finance and  HR, operations, patient safety and quality, and risk and audit matters. This  month we also discussed the the  surgery stream and the outcomes of the winter bed strategies.

In addition,  the Chief Executive updated us on the progress of initiatives to tackle  occupational violence against health workers. There is a lot happening across  Metro North in this space and we thank you for your continued efforts to make  our hospitals and health services safer for staff and patients.

During the  day the Board was briefed on a workshop attended by key clinicians, and several  Board Members, on the development of the Specialist Rehabilitation and  Ambulatory Care Centre (SRACC) and strengthening Metro North’s capacity in  trauma, military medicine and rehabilitation.

Members of the Board also attended the Redcliffe and  Caboolture school-based trainee graduations in the past few weeks and were very  impressed with the program and the young people participating. It’s excellent  to see our staff providing opportunities for training and future employment to  our local communities.

The Board  would like to thank member Philip Davies for his service since May. Philip is  taking up a position as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health in Fiji.  We wish him all the best in his new role.

Finally, our  December Board meeting will be at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. The  hospital will mark its 150th year in 2017. Board member Associate  Professor Cliff Pollard AM is part of the planning committee for the  celebrations.

Last week, Board members met at Brighton Health Campus to celebrate the facility’s 70th anniversary. We met with many staff of Community, Indigenous and Subacute Services (CISS) and some residents and volunteers. What a fantastic facility with wonderful staff in a beautiful location!

The Board held a staff forum where we discussed the key role Brighton plays in our health care continuum specialising in aged and rehabilitation care. We were pleased to present a number of length of service badges for staff who collectively have over 400 years of experience. We also presented two staff awards to the Food Services team for their support of Reconciliation Week, and to the Centre Manager for the Healthy Ageing Expo.

While we were there, we had the opportunity to see the InMotion robotic arm which is used for stroke rehabilitation. With so many Queenslanders affected by stroke, it is important to provide a rehabilitation option for those people who completely lose the use of their arm. Metro North is fortunate to have this cutting edge technology available both for our patients and for rehabilitation research. We also visited the new Men’s Shed and enjoyed a barbecue lunch with staff.

As part of our Board meeting, we received updates from the Chief Executive and senior staff, including presentations from Dr Liz Whiting on Clinical Streams, Luke Worth on initiatives to support patients to receive care in non-hospital based settings such as Hospital in the Home (HITH), and Chris Seiboth and Mark Tucker-Evans updated us on the Vision for Brighton.

In addition to the regular reports from management, the Board discussed the refresh of the Health Service Strategy 2015-2020, reviewed the current Strategic Plan 2016-2020, discussed progress of the Herston Quarter redevelopment, approved terms of reference for the Community Board Advisory Group (CBAG) and viewed the MNHHS Strategic Risk Register.

Members of the Board also attended Metro North’s Staff Excellence Awards on Thursday night where we were impressed with the range of outstanding finalists and winners. Congratulations to winners, finalists and everyone who was nominated.

The Board held its meeting last week at North Lakes where Board members were able to meet with some of the staff from Community, Indigenous and Subacute Services (CISS). It’s always good to talk to staff working in the community and residential care space as it offers a different perspective on health care. Providing care close to home is an essential part of the care continuum. We certainly couldn’t ever afford to provide all these necessary health care services from hospitals, and neither would we want to do so.

We held a staff forum and discussed the benefits of mobile technology in community based health care. CISS has been doing some great work in this space, particularly with the trial of mobile devices across community health teams, and innovations like the MOTER cardiac rehabilitation app which helps patients get back to their full health while still getting on with the rest of their life.

As part of our Board meetings, we received updates from the Chief Executive and senior staff, including approving the financial statements, annual report, and Quality of Care report, all of which contribute to meeting our statutory obligations. Luke Worth, who heads up Metro North’s Organisational Development, Strategy and Implementation team, provided a detailed overview of the innovation alliances, engagement and community care work that’s been happening this year.

The Board has also been very busy participating in the judging for Metro North’s Staff Excellence Awards. The calibre of entries has been outstanding and we’ll be announcing the finalists soon.

Last week, I also attended the Board Chairs forum with fellow HHS Board Chairs from across the State. This is a valuable opportunity to discuss issues at both the localised and State-wide level, such as how to better manage presentations of mental health patients to emergency departments.

I was also very pleased to attend Metro North’s inaugural Safety & Quality Alliance forum on Friday and hear Dr Lynne Maher talk about innovation and co-designing health care. I commend the Safety & Quality team for organising such an important event and look forward to hearing the outcomes.

Last week, the Board held its August meeting at Caboolture Hospital where Board Members had the opportunity to meet many frontline and support staff. Caboolture staff are leading the way in many areas, including through their partnership with the community through the Caboolture Academy student training initiative. We were also impressed with their commitment to staff health and wellbeing through the Fit Fab Cab program and their thoughts around reducing the availability of sugary food and drinks in the hospital.

It was excellent to have a full house for the first of our two staff forums, before and after the meeting, and to see staff so keen to engage and ask questions. On behalf of all Board Members, I again reiterated our commitment to a strong stance against occupational violence. Whilst it is always important to consider the personal circumstances of our patients when they are presenting to our facilities and to ensure that we approach everyone with the care and the compassion that distinguish us as health care professionals, occupational violence is never acceptable.

At each of our meetings, we receive monthly updates from the Chief Executive and senior staff, including how we’re performing against our operational, finance and workforce targets. We also received a detailed overview of the priorities for the safety and quality portfolio, updates on our 2016-17 budget and the progress of our winter bed management strategies.We were pleased to tour various clinical and non-clinical areas in the hospital including the general medical wards, specialist and paediatric outpatient areas, and the education centre.

Caboolture Hospital is an essential part of its local community and it was excellent to visit this important region where demand for our services is rapidly increasing as the local population grows. We are currently investing in infrastructure to meet the increases including an additional 32-bed ward currently under construction and a new 300 space car park coming soon.

As a reminder, nominations for the Staff Excellence Awards close this Friday. Board Members are looking forward to participating on the judging panels and to celebrating with staff on the awards night.

Our most recent Board meeting was held at Redcliffe Hospital where we had the opportunity to meet our wonderful staff who work hard to deliver care for patients living on the Peninsula.

As demand for our health services grows, particularly in the fast growing northern corridor, a focus for our meeting was to take a detailed look at the investments needed to meet these needs. In particular, we discussed children’s health services, as growing this area of our service is a key priority.

Each month the Board receives updates from the Chief Executive and senior staff to inform our strategic thinking. This month we were briefed on Metro North’s performance in the areas of patient safety and quality, operations, finance and workforce.  We also had the opportunity to learn more about the work of Redcliffe Hospital’s Clinical Council from Dr Hamish Pollock.

As part of the visit, Board members visited a range of clinical and non-clinical areas including some wards, the Moreton Bay Integrated Care Centre (MBICC), and the engineering department. It is always a pleasure to meet staff working ‘behind the scenes’ across our health service.

We also held two staff forums where we introduced new Board members and had the opportunity to hear about some of Redcliffe Hospital’s recent achievements and major projects. A key topic for discussion was Metro North’s occupational violence prevention efforts. Both the Board and Executive are committed to providing a safe and supportive work environment.

The Board is very much looking forward to being involved in the 2016 Staff Excellence Awards and there will be Board members on each judging panel.

Members of the Board have also helped celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and achievements at our NAIDOC events this week.

The Board and I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible as we visit your workplace.

Since the commencement of the new Board, it has been a pleasure to get out and about to meet with many of Metro North’s staff and to strengthen connections.

The Board held its June meeting at The Prince Charles Hospital where we attended two staff forums to introduce ourselves and hear from staff first hand. We also had the opportunity to visit a couple of very busy areas of the hospital, being Paediatrics and the kitchen on this occasion. Board Members were very impressed with what they saw and heard during these visits.

My first clinical services visits were to the Grantley Stable Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the Department of Thoracic Medicine at the RBWH. My late father would be very proud of the wonderful work the team in the NICU is doing, as was I.  It was also a pleasure to meet with many of the members of the Thoracic team, who are clearly at the forefront of world class research and treatment.

Our new Board Members spent Thursday and Friday of the previous week completing the Hospital and Health Service Boards induction program.  We heard from the Minister and the Director-General, who both outlined their priorities for health and their expectations of Board Members. We also met and networked with fellow Hospital and Health Service Board Chairs and new Board Members from across Queensland.

While attending the induction, I had the opportunity to catch up with the Minister and brief him about the establishment of our innovative solutions to improve patient flow, such as the Patient Access Coordination Hub. The Minister has advised that he will visit the Hub as soon as possible to personally see it in operation and to thank the staff concerned for this excellent initiative.

Board Members look forward to meeting more Metro North staff as we continue to visit other facilities and services. To this end, the Board will meet at Redcliffe Hospital next. We also welcome written feedback, which can be sent tomnbfeedback@health.qld.gov.au.

The Board visited the busy TPCH Paediatrics department and met with staff at a lunchtime forum.

The Board meeting was chaired by Dr Paul Alexander AO and a range of matters were considered at the meeting including:

• Presentations from the TPCH Executive Director, Anthony Williams and Professor Liz Kenny Medical Director Central Integrated Regional Cancer Services and Senior Radiation Oncologist, the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
• Reports from the Chief Executive and Executive team, including the Quality Report, Operations Report, Finance Report, Workplace Health and Safety Report, Primary Care Update and Communications Report.
• Preparations underway for the winter surge in activity across Metro North facilities.

The Board joined staff for a BBQ at North Lakes Health Precinct followed by a staff forum.

The Board meeting was chaired by Dr Paul Alexander AO and a range of matters were considered at the meeting including:

• A presentation from the Chair RBWH Foundation on key foundation initiatives and future plans to increase fundraising.
• Reports from the Chief Executive and Executive team, including the Quality Report, Operations Report, Finance Report, Workplace Health and Safety Report, Primary Care Update and Communications Report.
• Preparations underway for the winter surge in activity across Metro North facilities.

The Board met staff at the Redcliffe Hospital Staff Forum and also observed medical interns during the perioperative care program.

The Board meeting was chaired by Dr Paul Alexander AO and a range of matters were considered at the meeting including:

• The Board approved the draft Metro North Strategic Plan be released for consultation.
• Reports from the Chief Executive and Executive team, including the Quality Report, Operations Report, Finance Report, Workplace Health and Safety Report, Primary Care Update and Communications Report
• Updates were provided on the statewide Digital Hospital initiative and progress of the Government’s Commitment for Brighton
• Progress of Metro North’s significant projects – the Herston Specialist Rehabilitation and Ambulatory Care Centre project, preparing for the commencement of the NDIS, and managing demand at Caboolture Hospital
• Dr Hamish Pollock, Chair Redcliffe Hospital Clinical Council briefed the board on the key priorities for the Council and successes including practical actions which are contributing to better patient care
• Lexie Spehr, Executive Director, Redcliffe Hospital discussed some of the key challenges and successes for the Hospital including celebrating the 50th anniversary of the hospital, opening of a newly refurbished medical ward, master planning and commencement of local community and consumer engagement strategy.

The Board joined staff at the Caboolture Hospital Australia Day BBQ and met emergency department staff.

The Board meeting was chaired by Dr Paul Alexander AO and a range of matters were considered at the meeting including:

• Reports from the Chief Executive and Executive team, including the Metro North Quality Report, Operations Report, Finance Report, Workplace Health and Safety Report and Communications and Engagement Report.
• Updates were provided on the Metro North Mental Health Step Up Step Down Program and College accreditation.
• Gartner presented on strategic IT issues include e-health and electronic medical records systems.
• Dr Lance Le Ray, Acting Executive Director, Caboolture Hospital discussed some of the key challenges and successes for Caboolture Hospital including the launch of Caring Together, opening of two intensive care beds, and Kilcoy Connect which is providing specialist geriatrician services via telehealth.