Adj Assoc Prof Jackie Hanson, Chief Executive, MN Health
One of the things we’ve tried to instil as part of Values in Action is that everyone should feel safe to bring their whole selves to work and be treated with respect. Next week is Neurodiversity Celebration Week, celebrating the different ways our brains work and challenging stereotypes of neurodiverse people.
In an organisation of our size, there will likely be thousands of staff who are neurodiverse in some way. I ask managers who are aware of neurodiverse staff in their teams to consider the impact of the physical environment of staff where possible. Embracing neurodiversity not only supports people to be themselves at work but also presents a huge opportunity to benefit from different ways of thinking.
In March we are also celebrating Peer Responder Day. The peer responder program is one of the outcomes from the Have your Say surveys. We now have more than 200 trained peer responders who can provide staff support as well RUOKers and staff psychologists. I’m very pleased to say we have now recruited two Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychosocial support officers, Jesse and Nickita.
The next Have your Say staff survey will be held in May and I encourage you to share your feedback so we can make Metro North an even better place to work.
It was great to talk to people at this week’s Herston listening post along with our Chief Operating Officer Jane Hancock. Next week we’ll be at TPCH before the staff expo, and the Caboolture and Redcliffe Hospital staff expos the following week, as well as a listening post at the Sandgate dental clinic. I’m looking forward to chatting and listening to your thoughts, feedback and ideas.
Thank you to Halwyn staff Julie Miller and Heidi Owen who provided compassionate and respectful care for a resident at end of life. Julie and Heidi provided support in hospital on their own time and at Halwyn to ensure he received personalised care from people who knew him. They also provided emotional support and comfort to his mother during a very difficult time. Thank you to all Halwyn staff who provided support.
Metro North Language Services
Our STARS Education and Research Alliance with UQ is gaining traction. SERA researchers have been involved in 77 projects to date including 33 STARS-led, 32 STARS collaborating, 5 STARS-facility only, and 7 in development. The SERA Research Consumer Group currently has 14 members. Professor Dave Copland has joined Professor Nadine Foster as co-director of SERA. Great work!
Our Metro North Language Services (formerly Interpreter Service) has welcomed nine new staff interpreters. Until now we have used agency interpreters, but we’re now trialling a new model of directly employing Health Service Interpreters at Herston. When staff contact Language Services a staff interpreter will be assigned if available. Agency interpreters are still available for other languages and when a staff interpreter is not available. The trial includes Mandarin, Arabic and Cantonese interpreting services.
Kind regards,
Jackie.