24 March 2020 – COVID-19 (coronavirus)
Dear Colleagues,
While the COVID-19 situation is rapidly evolving, we too as a healthcare service are evolving to ensure business continuity during this pandemic. This is probably our last week to plan. Each week I will send you an email summing up the previous week’s activities in our response.
Preparedness initiatives last week
- Closed three wards, creating 108 bed surge capacity
- Reduction of planned activity to reallocate capacity and resources to COVID-19 response
- All non-essential training and events cancelled or postponed
- Updated COVID-19 testing criteria
- Established Community Assessment Clinics at Brighton Health Campus and Pine Rivers Community Health Centre
- Admitted patients with mild symptoms into virtual ward, preserving hospital beds for more acute patients
- Video instructions for correct PPE use
- Implementing staff physical distancing through virtual meetings
- Staff HR hotline established
- HR guidelines around flexible working arrangements
- HR guidelines around leave provisions
Our activity for the past week
- Increase of 76 confirmed COVID-19 patients, bringing total to 105
- More than 750 people presented to our two Community Assessment Clinics
- Continued airport screening with around 180 people screened in the past week
- Assessment and testing through hospital fever clinics, bringing total to more than 4500 presentations and over 9850 tests in Metro North region (public and private providers).
- Closed three wards to create 108 bed capacity for a surge of COVID-19 patients
Looking after our people
We have established a HR staff phone hotline and email, 3647 2819 or metronorthhr@health.qld.gov.au, where staff can ask HR related questions including about leave provisions.
All non-essential and non-urgent training, meetings and events have been cancelled or postponed. We have also enacted physical distancing measures including using video conferencing for meetings instead of face to face. Please talk to your line manager if you are not sure what this means for you.
Our HR and Digital Metro North teams have developed guidance around flexible working arrangements and working from home which are available on our Metro North COVID-19 QHEPS page.
We are also recruiting additional nursing and patient services staff. This week we are working on enhanced cleaning protocols above our usual high standards.
Staff and patients are encouraged to use an alternative voting method for this weekend’s local government elections. More information can be found here.
Preparedness initiatives in the coming week
- Reviewing non-urgent and non-essential activity to create capacity
- Sourcing more personal protective equipment
- Creating additional bed capacity to create a total of 170 available beds by the end of the week
- Establishing protocols for higher cleaning routine
- Setting up a staff management hub in each directorate to manage absenteeism and redeployment
- Setting up a Metro North staff management hub to balance staffing needs across the network
- Working with state and commonwealth around 50 NDIS patients stranded in our system
Maximising our resources
Personal protective equipment (PPE) stocks are being monitored and we are sourcing alternative suppliers to boost supplies. You can help by following our guidelines for correct PPE use. There is a section on PPE on the Metro North COVID-19 QHEPS page.
Regards,
Shaun