Congratulations to all of our 2021 winners and highly commended recipients:

People Focus

Winner: Surgical Ambassadors: Our Heroes

The RBWH Surgical Ambassadors team are a team of non-traditional security staff managed under protective services, providing patient focused liaison. The Surgical Ambassadors focus on the proactive engagement of patients and visitors to improve the “customer experience” to prevent and/or reduce aggressive and disruptive behaviour by employing appropriate verbal intervention strategies through people focused, respectful, empathetic, and supportive interactions. The three ambassadors Immanuel Faalau Toafa, Evile Evile and Letusa Kaleti have received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from patients and staff.

Highly Commended: Benjamin Dougherty, Metro North Mental Health

Values in Action

Winner: Patrick Bazeley, Clinical Skills Development Service

Patrick Bazeley is the Equipment and Facilities Co-ordinator for the RBWH Skills Development Centre and the inspiration behind the “Pat on the Back” award that recognises exceptional work in the Clinical Skills and Development team. Pat regularly receives positive feedback on his exceptional customer service and professionalism from Metro North staff including Executives, CSDS staff and clients, as well as over 600 state-wide clinical educators. Pat always troubleshoots with a smile and brings a can-do attitude to work every day.

Highly Commended: Aimee Brooks, Caboolture Hospital

Excellence in Training and Education

Winner: Development of decision aids to support mainstreaming of genomic testing in renal medicine

The Renal Genomics Team and the Clinical Skills Development Service collaborated to produce the Genetic Kidney Disease Decision Aid that was developed to support in nephrologists’ accessing the benefits of genomic testing. The decision aid provides guidance on selecting the correct panel for testing, ordering the correct panel, and interpreting the test results. Rather than relying solely on education, the decision aid makes genetic testing more accessible thereby improving outcomes for patients with genetic kidney disease.

Highly Commended: Metro North Certified Health Informatician Australasia Program

Excellence in Integrated Care

Winner: Melanie Carter, Metro North Medicine Stream

Melanie Carter is the Program Manager for the Metro North Medicine Stream where she works to improve the delivery of healthcare to Metro North patients. Melanie’s persistence, hard work and passion for delivering patient-centred care has to an outreach service that will result in sustainable skills uplift for outpatient, nursing, and medical registrar training opportunities throughout Wide Bay.

Highly Commended: Shaynee Stanyon, Metro North Mental Health

Innovation

Winner: The Development of a 3D Interactive Animation to Improve the Teaching of Shoulder Dystocia Obstetric Emergency, CSDS

Team Shoulder Dystocia 3D Animation from the Clinical Skills Development Service have developed a 3D Interactive Animation to improve the teaching of Shoulder Dystocia Obstetric Emergency. The team took an interdisciplinary approach to produce this novel solution which has improved training in the manoeuvres of shoulder dystocia with teams including clinical midwives, digital, innovation and research teams.

Highly Commended: Accelerated Arthroplasty Program, STARS

Leadership

Winner: Perioperative Services, STARS

The STARS perioperative leadership team demonstrated great leadership skills whilst navigating the challenges of opening a brand new and fully digital hospital. The team exhibits perseverance, dedication, and a commitment to patient-centred care throughout their work and in six months achieved their goal of delivering high quality care to thousands of surgical patients. The leadership team actively support each other through difficult challenges and are committed to making STARS a centre of excellence.

Highly Commended: Heart Failure Service, The Prince Charles Hospital

Excellence in Performance

Winner: Psychosocial Treatment Teams Model of Care, Metro North Mental Health

The Metro North Mental Health – Alcohol and Drug Service’s Psychosocial Treatment team developed a unique model of treatment. This model of care was developed to assist with the provision of high quality and evidence-based treatment, beyond traditional individual counselling to offer a range of alternative psychosocial treatments and therapies, with a focus on trauma informed care.

Highly Commended: Ila Stuer, STARS

Chief Executive’s Award

Winner: Aaron Suthers, Legal Services, Metro North Health

In what has been an incredibly busy period for legal services, Aaron has gone above and beyond for his team and those across Metro North more broadly. Aaron’s team value his collaborative approach to leadership, creating an environment where people can ask questions and their opinion is valued. He is celebrated for his commitment to acknowledging the wins of his team and ensuring their professional and personal development. Similarly, his commitment to his clients is unparalleled, encouraging a focus on achieving the best outcomes for his clients and meeting their deadlines.