Louise Oriti, Executive Director
Last night we recognised and celebrated the immense contribution to health care by the people of Metro North at the Research Excellence Awards.
There was a great deal of representation from RBWH, including the following award recipients:
- CAR T Cellular Therapy Team led by Dr Siok Tey, CAR T cells: a new frontier in cancer care — winner, Clinical Research Award
- Professor Daniel Chambers, Treatment of multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa by removal of ‘harmful’ antibodies — winner, Discovery and Innovation Research Award
- Associate Professor Teresa Brown — winner, Rising Star Award
- Professor Nicole Marsh — Professor Joan Webster Nursing and Midwifery Award, and highly commended, Research Support Award
- Associate Professor Andrea S Henden, Harnessing immunity to fight blood cancer and treatment complications — highly commended, Rising Star
- Rhiannon Barnes, Implementation Support Groups — winner, Implementation Award
- Professor Owen Ung — Chief Executive Award
Thank you to everyone who nominated and attended, as well as to all who make such a significant and generous dedication of their time to research.
Health and Safety Representatives meeting
On Monday I met with the RBWH Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs), along with Facility Services. They offered valuable insights into the state of health and safety at RBWH. The feedback given was largely positive, as well as provided opportunities to improve our campus. Thank you to all the HSRs who have nominated themselves to advocate for making our workplace safer. The role of a HSR is very important and I am eager to support their work.
Halloween
Thank you to everyone who brought some cheer and joy to the hospital by dressing up for Halloween. While the tradition is still growing in Australia, it was great to see so many areas and people getting into the spirit. I am sure you put a smile on many people’s faces.
Have Your Say staff forums
I will be joined by the RBWH Professional Leads to host a series of staff forums where we will present RBWH’s results of the Have Your Say survey. We will open discussion to everyone and I encourage you all to use this opportunity to raise any concerns, provide feedback or offer any reflections on what we are doing well or need to improve. I hope that the forum format of these sessions sparks productive conversations, and I looking forward to listening to you all. The three sessions will be held in the Education Centre and on Teams; more information will be distributed soon. The first session will be on Monday, 13 November at 3-4pm.
Workforce Roadshow
On Wednesday, Metro North Chief Executive Officer Jackie Hanson, alongside People and Culture, led two Workforce Roadshow sessions at RBWH. The challenges that we are facing in terms of staff and skill shortages are not unique to Metro North or even Australia, however, the plan laid out in these sessions showed the innovative and future-thinking ways we will address these issues as a Hospital and Health Service (HHS). Alongside building new pipelines of talent, we are also committed to supporting and retaining our current talent. I hope you will come along to the Have Your Say staff forums to let us know if there are other ways you require support at work.
Hand hygiene meme competition
Hand hygiene requires constant commitment and practise in order to reduce the transmission of infection. For this reason, Metro North is developing a campaign to reinvigorate our commitment to hand hygiene at an HHS-level. Chief Executive Officer Jackie Hanson is asking for your best memes about hand hygiene. Please email Metronorth-Communications@health.qld.gov.au your memes by Friday, 10 November. The winner will get a pizza party for their team and the chance for their meme to go viral.
Metro North Occupational Violence Prevention staff forum
There are still places available to join this valuable forum on Thursday, 9 November, 12-4pm at Eatons Hill Hotel. The event will be facilitated by the impressive team from Articulous. Your line managers and senior directors have been asked to find ways to allow frontline staff to attend so we can hear from you. If you are interested in attending and have some ideas that you think might be helpful, please complete the nomination form.
‘What Matters to You’ – Patient goals of care
In our Executives’ meeting last Wednesday, we discussed the next steps of the What Matters to You initiative, which launched in September. One of our consumer representatives shared findings from the initiative, as well as her own experience as an inpatient at RBWH, as she discussed the frustrations of being in hospital while not knowing the reason for her stay. The potential of aligning patient goals of care and shared decision-making with improved patient flow was also discussed. I encourage anyone who is interested to sign up to be a What Matters to You Champion and advocate for shared goal-setting with patients in your area.
Christmas Decorating Comp and BBQ
I am looking forward to seeing the creative adornments that you all come up with for the Christmas decorating competition. While it will be my first Christmas at RBWH, I have heard that the decking of the halls here can be quite elaborate. I hope you all get into the festive spirit this year as I am sure patients and visitors also love to see the merry displays you create. Additionally, as always, the staff barbeque will be an opportunity for us to come together and relax after another year of delivering great care to Queenslanders, it will be on Wednesday 13 December.
Thank you for all the work that you do, particularly the work you do supporting each other in the workplace. Your commitment to our community and each other is highly valued and appreciated.
Kind regards,
Louise.