Glynis Schultz, Executive Director
Welcome to the third quarterly newsletter for 2024, with a focus on some wonderful initiatives, staff profiles and patient stories.
There are many great things happening across our service as highlighted in the Spring COH Express newsletter and stories linked through to our Metro North Health Facebook page and Metro North Health Newsroom.
There are great stories about our new GEMS service at Brighton, QAS Falls Prevention Program winners, our amazing engineering team, excellence awards nominees and much more.
Making a visit to the dentist less scary
For many people going to the dentist can be scary, but for oral health therapist Kate, it was always an experience that had her interested to learn more and happily showing off her pearly whites.
Kate is part of the broader Metro North Oral Health Service which delivers oral health care across multiple adult, adolescent and children’s clinics and mobile sites.
Each year, more than 15,000 children between the ages of 0 and 15 years old receive treatment at clinics and mobile vans at public schools and in the community.
“I enjoy seeing the same patients over a period of time so that I can monitor and see how they are doing.”
Our COH excellent ones shine
An impressive 81 staff were individually named and nominated, and a further 10 teams were nominated for the Community and Oral Health Staff Excellence Awards for 2024.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to nominate a fellow staff member or team, this was an exceptional effort.
Through late September and all of October, we will deliver a number of Staff Excellence Awards ceremonies at various sites based on the winners’ locations.
The winners will receive a local award and trophy donated by QSuper and be considered for the Metro North Health Excellence Awards later in the year.
Read the full list of COH nominees online …
Brisbane Broncos stars Kotoni Staggs and Tristan Sailor dropped in to the Brighton Brain Injury service (BBIS) before training to wish patient Kaleb a happy 18th birthday!
The visit provided a much-needed boost to the recovery journey of this Broncos loving, footy and Oztag playing, bull riding teenager from Rockhampton, who has had family, including mum Toni by his side since his accident.
“Kaleb only came out of a coma a few weeks ago following a motor vehicle accident that occurred late last year,” Toni said.
“He is currently undergoing speech, physio and occupational therapy to help him to do some of the simple things for the first time again.”
Read more about the visit online …
Career provides perfect pathway to an exceptional falls response service
Having worked in health care across multiple states, hospitals and services has been the variety that has seen Kym Murphy now lead an internationally recognised falls response team and service that is doing remarkable things.
Kym, the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) Falls Co-Response program manager, has spent the last 20 years perfecting her skills, knowledge and perspectives as an occupational therapist in Perth, Townsville, Toowoomba and now Brisbane.
“I have worked at the Toowoomba and Townsville Hospitals, and in particular the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth, where I was purely in the Emergency Department helping the elderly who have had falls,” she said.
“This gave me variety in my career. Variety makes you a well-rounded clinician, it is important so that you don’t have a narrow perspective on health care.
“Health care services are now diversifying and there are many opportunities for occupational therapists to grow as it is no longer just a Monday to Friday job.”
The QAS Falls Co-Response program is challenging the norms of the way that occupational therapy and physiotherapy services are being provided across the community.
Around 50 percent of patients seen through the program are safely treated and left at home, helping to avoid preventable trips to the hospital.
Best Spring Compliment – Caboolture Satellite Hospital Dental Clinic
“If I could give an academy award for an outstanding dental department, it would go to the team at Caboolture Satellite Hospital Dental Clinic. Previously, I was a patient in the RBWH and after a successful surgery I was left with a disfigured mouth and no teeth.
“Three local dentists could not help me at all, I felt like a monster and isolated myself for many months. However, public dentistry and the team at the Caboolture Satellite Hospital Dental Clinic came to the rescue.
“Eventually due to the dentist’s skill, patience and perseverance I now have a beautiful set of upper and lower teeth which have reshaped my mouth and face back to normal.
“I feel I have been given a new lease on life! To the man who said ‘I can do this’ when others said ‘we cannot’ – I am forever grateful to this wonderful dentist who made this possible.”
FAST FACTS
Last finanical year was another big year for the Metro North Oral Health Service with around 1,300 oral health appointments delivered across oral health clinics at the satellite hospitals at Caboolture and Kallangur, including direct referral from the minor injury clinic onsite.
Close to 3,300 kids received corrective dental care for cleft lip conditions, treatment for trauma and other conditions requiring a highly specialised oral health team.
Nearly 19,000 eligible adults received general oral health care and treatment at our community and hospital clinics at Redcliffe, Caboolture, Sandgate, Kallangur, Stafford and by our Outreach program for emergency and general dental care.
Glynis.