Joint communique from Metro North HHS and union partners

1 May 2020

Dear Colleagues, 

We are continuing to respond to COVID-19 and everything the changing environment presents. Thank you all for your professionalism and dedication as we navigate this unfamiliar terrain.  

Our current healthcare environment is highly complex and demanding. Every day we are presented with new challenges that we need to work through to reassure our patients that they are receiving the best possible care.  

It’s important not to let our frustration and anxiety about the unknown get the better of us. We need to support each other through the uncertainty and be a comfort when things are rough.  

We’re not through the worst of it yet. We need to be there for each other. If you find yourself feeling scared or angry, please talk to someone. Our free confidential employee assistance service Benestar is available to help too. You can call them any time on 1300 360 364. 

We know everyone is doing their best and working incredibly hard. As the frontline of the COVID-19 response, our community is looking to us to provide a sense of calm and control over what is an unprecedented and confusing situation. Working together we can offer them hope and a clear path through the next few challenging months.  

Please remember that we are all experiencing this rapidly changing situation together and lean on our Metro North values of respect, compassion, integrity, high performance and teamwork to support each other at all levels.   

Regards, 

Shaun Drummond, Chief Executive, Metro North HHS
Beth Mohle, Secretary, Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union
Alex Scott, General Secretary, Together Union
Dr James Finn, State Secretary Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation Queensland