Message from the Chief Executive

Adj Prof Jackie Hanson, Chief Executive

This week we welcomed 180 new medical interns across Metro North. We will also see 280 graduate nurses and 21 graduate midwives, 50 allied health cadets, 34 new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cadets, and around 30 Deadly Start trainees joining Metro North this year. Welcome everyone and thank you for choosing Metro North.

RBWH has undergone short notice assessment this week, and I’m told the assessors were met with helpful and friendly staff. Thank you all for your efforts. We anticipate STARS will get the call soon for its assessment.

Have your say

Thank you to everyone who took part in the Have your Say staff survey last year. We have been working through all the feedback closely and a draft organisational wide response has been developed. The four key focus areas are safety at work, support for staff, leadership, and workload and resourcing. I am committed to ensuring that new programs of work and initiatives are designed by our people for our people. The plan is being finalised, and you will have the opportunity in the coming months to get involved in co-designing initiatives and solutions around the things that you’re passionate about.

Late last year we also developed a workforce reform roadmap and took it on a roadshow across Metro North to get your thoughts. I’ll be hosting a vidcast in early February for those staff who were unable to attend the roadshows in person.

Health Alliance

This week Metro North and the Brisbane North PHN signed the extension of the Health Alliance. It builds on a long history of collaboration across both organisations, including at the Board and executive level. The PHN CEO Libby Dunstan and Deputy CEO Rachelle Foreman met with me and Acting ED Clinical Services Dr Glen Kennedy to sign the agreement and discuss our ongoing collaborations.

The Health Alliance was established in 2017 and most recently we saw evidence of the value of this collaborative approach when we received Connected Community Pathways funding to establish a network of community based pain services. This will provide comprehensive assessments, evidence-based treatments and education for lower acuity patients referred to the Tess Cramond Pain and Research Centre.

Respect at Work

The new Queensland Government Directive ‘Preventing and Responding to Workplace Sexual Harassment’ came into effect in July 2023. Over the coming months Metro North will be finalising a new stand-alone sexual harassment prevention and response policy which will be supported by Respect at Work, a comprehensive staff complaint management framework. This process is being led by Brett Bourke with support from Jodie Waller.

Consultation with our industrial partners is currently underway and feedback closes on 1 February. This valuable contribution will inform the communication strategy and plan, and training that will complement the introduction of Respect at Work.

Through your active participation in this process our staff can assist each other to meet our commitment to maintaining a safe, respectful, and inclusive workplace, free from sexual harassment, for everyone. Should you wish to provide feedback please email Jodie.waller@health.qld.gov.au.

Metro North Newsroom

Late last year we launched the Metro North Newsroom across our websites and it’s been lovely to see so many positive stories about what’s happening across our health service and profiles of our people. Since it launched we’ve shared more than 70 good news stories from across Metro North.

Back to school

I know many staff will be getting ready for the start of school next week. It’s been a while, but I remember those days well. Good luck and I hope the school year starts smoothly for everyone.

Back to school is the focus of the first session in our new Family Wellbeing Support program which starts on Monday. There will be a webinar on Monday at 11am. You can register online to get access to the monthly program.

Kind regards,

Jackie.