Message from the Acting Executive Director

Our Director of Medical Services, Dr Donna O’Sullivan last week shared the news that she would be finishing up at TPCH in early February 2024, with the plan to begin her retirement. Donna has had a longstanding affiliation with TPCH, undertaking her current role as Director Medical Services for the last eight years and also acting briefly as the Executive Director TPCH prior to this.

It was at TPCH she commenced her years as a Senior Medical Officer, undertaking the role of Deputy Medical Superintendent for close to 10 years, which provided the foundation to successfully undertake numerous leadership positions throughout her over 40-year career. These included Executive Director Redcliffe Hospital, Director Medical Services for Redcliffe Hospital, Caboolture Hospital and St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital.

During her time at TPCH, Donna has been a solid advocate and innovator in the areas of infection control and accreditation, maintaining a strong focus on patient safety and governance. She is recognised for her open and fair approach, as well as her compassionate leadership towards the business of health care, and people she supports. We thank Donna for the many years of work in supporting TPCH and its people – patients, staff and families alike. We will acknowledge Donna’s contributions more formally at a farewell event next year.

I will personally miss Donna’s calm, supportive and considered approach to challenging problems and her collegial support and strength. Donna will leave a gap in our TPCH tapestry but for her, this is an exciting and long considered decision and I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing her well.

Cultural load

I’d like to talk about the impost or Cultural Load placed on our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff in our journey towards and focus on Equity. ‘Cultural load’ refers to the invisible load knowingly or unknowingly placed on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to provide Indigenous knowledge, education and support.

Cultural load can be made more challenging by discourse surrounding political and social debates or events such as the upcoming Voice referendum or other significant national dates or events in our national calendar. To reduce the cultural load for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and community, it is important for us all to be conscious of cultural load and do our own research before reaching out to First Nations staff to provide their perspective or advice.

Health Equity is everyone’s responsibility and I really challenge each of you to consider and identify your role and positive actions towards Equity. Start with thinking about how you discuss culture, ask if we provide a safe working environment for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander staff, or maybe check with your colleagues if there is anything you can do to make their work environment safer.

Check out QHEPS for up-to-date information regarding Health Equity and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health initiatives.

I also invite you to read the following article on cultural load: First Nations people often take on the ‘cultural load’ in their workplaces. Employers need to ease this burden (theconversation.com)

Executive update

This week, I had the chance to visit a number of wards and departments and learn about the important work they do in supporting our patients. Earlier in the week, I dropped into the Gastroenterology Department and ICU which like all areas of the hospital, are working hard to continue delivering high quality care to patients during a period of high demand. (Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos – I’m not the selfie master like Tami!)

My visit to the Specialist Outpatients Department with A/Director Corporate Services, Bianca Neaves provided the opportunity see the department in full swing, with this busy area supporting up to 38 sessions each day across all specialties using the area. Thank you to Administration Manager Outpatient Services, Cheryl Ross for taking the time to give us a comprehensive overview and tour of the department.

Karen Leighton, A/Director of Operations, Heart and Lung and I also stopped in at the Thoracic Ward for a brief visit where I chatted with staff and had the chance to view the handy work of Registered Nurse, Jack Li who had created a large hand out of our cardboard to promote hand hygiene on the ward.  Certainly served as a good reminder to us all!

Our Medical Education team invited me to attend TPCH’s first Australian Resuscitation Council (ARC) Accredited Advanced Life Support Instructor Course since 2019. TPCH is only one of two accredited (ALS2) course providers in Brisbane and the only Queensland Health provider in Brisbane. The course enables medical and nursing staff to be trained in level 1 or level 2 advanced life support, granting candidates internationally recognised certification which is valid for four years. As a previous ALS/PLS instructor myself, it was great to see TPCH staff gaining these vital skills
to help others. Well done to the Medical Education team and to Course Director, Dr Alastair Newton. An
excellent initiative!

During my time as Acting Executive Director, I have made it one of my objectives to visit services which share our campus. So this week, I visited the Group Linen Service for the second time, with the view to learn more about the specifics of its operations. Interestingly, I learnt that the GLS laundry at TPCH provides linen services to all of Metro North, not just our hospital, as well as some other HHSs and aged care facilities. That’s a lot of linen! Thank you to David Gourdie for taking the time to show me around. You can learn more about the GLS in today’s Fast Facts.

I would also like to congratulate Danielle Johanson, Nursing Director Workforce and Innovation, TPCH on her appointment to the Director of Nursing, Workforce, Metro North. We are working through backfill and will advise further next week.

TPCH Charlies Week

I am pleased to advise that TPCH Charlies Week will run from 23 to 27 October 2023. You may be aware that this popular annual celebration has been scaled back for the last few years due to COVID-19 so we’re very keen for staff to join in the celebrations this year. The aim of TPCH Charlies Week is to bring our staff together through various educational, recognition and fun activities to celebrate TPCH’s birthday, focusing on the great culture of camaraderie, teamwork and high performance that has been part of TPCH for many decades. The program for Charlies Week will be available in the next few weeks, so watch this space!

ESM go live

From Monday 7 August, we go live with the Enterprise Scheduling Management (ESM) module of the integrated electronic Medical Record (ieMR).  ESM is replacing our current HBCIS appointment scheduling (APP) functions.

A big thank you to the Digital Metro North ESM project team and TPCH staff who have worked hard to ensure a successful transition from HBCIS to ESM.  The implementation of ESM is a significant change for TPCH, particularly for our administration colleagues. Your patience and support is appreciated during this transition period.

FAST FACTS

This week, we’ll profile the Group Linen Service (GLS).

Did you know?

• The 2000 square metre laundry facility at TPCH was designed to process 100 tonne of linen each week when commissioned in 2001.
• Through upgrades and redesigns, the laundry now processes over 300,000 individual items a week (140 tonne) and in some weeks, has processed over 175 tonne. Wow!
• Items processed by GLS include sheets, pillow cases, towels, gowns, bathmats, operating theatre scrubs, gowns and jackets, bedspreads, bunny rugs, nappies, aprons and even mops!
• Each item is individually handled at some stage during the laundering process.
• GLS at TPCH is supported by almost 100 staff from 19 different cultural backgrounds with an average length of service of about 10 and half years.
• The service’s transport partners travel almost 500,000 kilometres a year delivering its linen.
• GLS has staff permanently based at RBWH to deliver clean linen to wards and collect soiled linen for return to the laundry, releasing hospital staff to conduct their core duties.
• If you’ve ever lost an ID badge, watch, ring, or phone, call GLS as it’s probably been swept up in the soiled linen!

Staff profile

Today we will profile Clinical Nurse Consultant Patient Flow – Mental Health, Lonah Abuto.

Lonah works collaboratively with different departments to help optimise bed use and availability with the goal of improving the overall patient experience. Her role includes monitoring and managing patient wait times and implementing strategies to streamline patient flow and ensure that patients receive timely and appropriate care.

Lonah, who has a diverse background in mental health, enjoys helping others, and the opportunity her role lends to making a positive impact on the well-being and recovery of patients. She is passionate about patient-centred care, which for Lonah is about ensuring that patients receive respectful, timely and excellent care and support.

Outside of work, Lonah enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, gardening and listening to music. She is a huge soccer fan – go the Super Falcons and the Matildas!

Shout out

This week’s shout out goes to our Patient Support Service Officers. In recognition of the great work this team does, the Intensive Care Unit held a special local ‘Wardies Week’ celebration to thank the officers for their efforts in supporting the delivery of high quality to some of our most critically ill patients at TPCH. Well done team, you are stars!

Closing thought

As a health care organisation, we are inevitably in the business where our remit is to care for people. During these busy times, I am constantly reminded of the need to be aware of those around us, their personal situations and struggles, and being mindful that we are here for the shared purpose of taking care of patients and consumers. In considering this, I ask that we take a moment out of our busy days, to listen with genuine purpose to understand one another, check in with each other, and respond with real care and compassion.

Remember the old saying ‘walk a mile in my shoes.’ This is attributed to Native American tribes and from the 1895 poem ‘Judge Softly’ by Mary T. Lathrap.  I think the words ‘judge softly’ are so important as we move through life, not only work.

“Empathy is communicating that incredibly healing message of ‘You’re not alone.’ – Brene Brown

Karlene.