Message from the Executive Director

I wanted to start with a heartfelt thank you for the hard work and support for colleagues during another busy week. I know it is greatly appreciated by our growing community.

Hand Hygiene Audit results

Hand Hygiene Audit data for the last submission period shows compliance at Caboolture Hospital at 79 per cent, a decrease from the previous audit which was 82 per cent. The national benchmark is 80 per cent.

Our Moment 1 and Moment 5 opportunities were both below the national benchmark.

Moment 1 is before you touch the patient and a Moment 5 is when you have touched the patient’s environment but you have not touched the patient. An example of a Moment 5 would be if you pick up the patient bed chart from the end of the bed, then place it back. Prior to moving onto the next patient, you need to clean your hands.

Please also pay attention to the patient zone and curtains. The patient zone is within the curtained area in a patient shared room or when you enter the door of a single room. The patient zone includes the patient and their immediate surrounding.

Patient bed curtains are outside the patient zone and frequently contaminated. Touching the curtains after caring for a patient is considered to be the equivalent of leaving the patient zone. Hand hygiene should be performed between touching the curtains and touching the patient and vice versa.

Remember that before and after you touch the patient to clean your hands. If there is no alcohol-based product available on the end of the bed please raise this with the Team Leader or the Nurse Unit Manager of the clinical area so product can be made available.

Please remember the importance of proper hand hygiene is for the sake of the vulnerable patients we care for and your own wellbeing.

Cultural Capability Kit and Audit Tool Survey

Did you know that six of the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) standards include actions aimed towards improving the quality of care and health outcomes for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers?

The CKW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Services team has started rolling out a Cultural Capability Resource Kit to NUMs and team leaders with an Audit Tool Survey available for all staff.

The Cultural Capability Audit Tool Survey takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. It helps recognise the diverse needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals and consumers, which is essential in providing good quality of care.

The audit challenges us to think of our cultural capability and values which may limit consumers, unknowingly, from accessing our services and providing a clinically responsive and accountable response.

The Cultural Capability Audit Tool Survey, while informal, can be the catalyst to identify service gaps.

CKW’s Cultural Capability Officer, Janita Adams, can help guide service units to provide more culturally appropriate resources and spaces for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Use this link to access or scan the QR code to access the Cultural Capability Audit Tool Survey. It will take about 10 minutes to complete and open until Wednesday 31 May.

For more details, contact the Cultural Capability Officer via email or phone 5316 5348.

Short Notice Accreditation update – Shared decision making and planning care

Are you familiar with Action 2.6 NSQHS Partnering with Consumers and Action 5.3 Comprehensive Care?

Action 2.6 requires you to partner with patients and/or their substitute decision-maker to plan, communicate, set goals and make decisions about their current and future care. Don’t forget to document.  These processes are supported by:

• Training in communication and interpersonal skills
• Shared decision making, care planning, and goals of care tools
• Consumer feedback, audit

The intent of Comprehensive Care is the coordinated delivery of the total health care required or requested by the patient. Care is aligned with the patient’s expressed goals of care, healthcare needs, effect of healthcare issues on their life and wellbeing, and is clinically appropriate.

This Metro North Accreditation QHEPS page has a useful checklist. Contact Safety and Quality Director Corrina Green for further details.

Short Notice Accreditation vidcast

Metro North’s Vidcast series on providing kind, safe, and inclusive quality care every day continues next week with Chief Executive Jackie Hanson and Consultant Pharmacist Martin Canning, discussing National Standard Four – Medication Safety.

Click here to join that Vidcast from 12.30pm next Friday (5 May).

The Medication Safety Vidcast will be the fourth in this series, with more to follow between now and July. If you’ve missed any, they’ve available for viewing anytime on QHEPS.

Caboolture Satellite Hospital quickly taking shape!

Each satellite hospital will have a minor injury and illness clinic to deliver non-urgent care and support emergency departments at major hospitals by giving people more options to access healthcare for minor injuries and illnesses close to home.

As the building gets closer to completion, we will start organising building tours.

The Caboolture Satellite Hospital is in Rowe Street, about 900 metres along McKean Street from the main hospital campus (near the Spar).

What a compliment!

A great compliment about everyone showing compassionate care to every patient:

“The assistance I received by staff in the drop off area. The staff member ran down got a wheelchair came back and took me to triage and she didn’t even work in that area.

“The doctors, nurses and CT scan department were fabulous and one of the wardies pushed me out to my car so my husband could get the car.

“I was a bit apprehensive at first, but I really had nothing to worry about as all the staff were over and above my expectations.”

Finally,

It was remiss of me last week not to acknowledge those colleagues who celebrated Eid-ul Fitr last Friday evening (21 April), marking the end of the month-long dawn to sunset fasting for Ramadan. I hope you had an Eid Saeed or ‘happy celebration’.

Take Care,

Angie.