Sarah Black, Acting Executive Director
Morning tea with the Dietetics and Foodservices team
It has been a pleasure to attend Brief the Boss and Staff Council recently to hear your questions about our operations, as well as valuable feedback. Thank you for taking the time to raise these individual concerns.
I am looking forward to attending the Queensland Philanthropy Awards at City Hall today along with representatives of the RBWH Foundation, in recognition of the strong partnership between the Royal and the Foundation.
Reconciliation Week morning tea
On Thursday the Dietetics and Foodservices team put together a lovely morning tea in recognition of Reconciliation Week. There was a wide range of food available for people to taste test, made with ingredients from native plants, fruits seeds and grains. Thanks to the team for bringing it all together.
Metro North Research Excellence Awards
Nominations are now open for Metro North’s annual Research Excellence Awards. These Awards provide an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of our research community across RBWH and Metro North. This year, the Metro North Research Excellence Awards event as well as the inaugural Metro North Research Summit will be held on Thursday, 5 September.
Nominations are open to all researchers of all stages including early career, well-established, and anywhere in between. Researchers are also encouraged to nominate themselves and share their accomplishments.
Nominations close on Wednesday, 26 June at 5pm.
Please read about some of the excellent work happening across Metro North in the annual Research Snapshot.
Launch of Metro North Year of Children, Adolescents and Young Adults
The Executive Committee this week welcomed Program Director Women Children and Families Stream Laura Stevens, who spoke to us about Metro North’s Year of Children, Adolescents and Young Adults.
While RBWH is home to a number of dedicated services that see young people, most of us think of RBWH as an adult’s hospital. Laura pointed out that in the last year, 54,653 people aged 12-25 came to use our services, with 20 per cent of those under 18, while at least 900 children aged under 16 came to our Emergency Department. This shows that children and young people are very much apart of the community we care for, and it’s incumbent upon us to consider their specific needs.
The official launch of the Year of Children, Adolescents and Young Adults will take place on Monday 8 July, next door in Victoria Park, with the theme ‘Focus on the First Quarter’. Speakers will articulate the powerful impact of preventative health, early assessment and intervention and developmentally appropriate care on future health care utilisation, life course trajectories and multigenerational health, social and economic outcomes. I would encourage you to get a ticket and go along.
Waiting for What Survey
Another reminder that Metro North is conducting the Waiting for What Survey from Thursday to Sunday this week, 6-9 June. Waiting for What is a survey tool that identifies what an inpatient is waiting for that is preventing timely discharge. The survey is intended to give a better understanding of what challenges are causing delays in discharge from acute hospitals or transfer of care to support improved patient flow.
The survey will be conducted at 10.30am and 4.30pm on Thursday 6, Friday 7, and Sunday 9 June and at 8pm on 6 June. Inpatient beds and emergency department short stay units will be included in the survey, with some exclusions. The survey will be conducted by Metro North Health clinical staff with minimal disruption to clinical care. The information collected by the survey will inform updates to the Metro North Acute Bed Capacity Management Plan and the Metro North Subacute Care Plan.
Local Consultative Forum webpage
After consultation with our industrial partners, Metro North has established a Local Consultative Forum (LCF) webpage to promote union encouragement and provide staff with a resource. The local consultative forums are a joint union and employer forum established in accordance with the relevant industrial instruments. The LCF serves as a platform for management and unions to engage in dialogue, collaboration and decision making on various workplace issues, while supporting constructive relations between these parties. You can access the page here.
Positive feedback
I’d like to share with you some positive feedback from one of our patients:
I would like to express my gratitude to your hospital and the wonderful staff you have in the Nuclear Medicine department. What a pleasure it was to be greeted by such a wonderful caring team of professionals. Nothing was too much trouble, and one would have thought that the whole hospital was there just for my needs. I look forward to returning for my first treatment this week – something that I never believed I would say. We are so lucky with our health system… no other country in the world cares so much about their patients, as we do in Australia. What a pleasure. Thank you.
Please reflect on this positive feedback and be proud of the difference we make in people’s lives every day.
Thank you again for your hard work this week.
Kind regards,
Sarah.