It was a special day across Metro North as we celebrated International Nurses Day. As Alanna highlighted in a separate message today, it’s quite a coincidence that in the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, the skills, character and knowledge of our incredible nurses are carrying a large part of our response to an unprecedented global pandemic.

Over my years in healthcare, I’ve been constantly inspired by the compassion, dedication and professionalism of our nurses and today, I couldn’t be anymore grateful for the invaluable role they play for our patients and the community.

Some more updates to share today:

• Hospital visitor rules – support persons
• Staff Psychology Service – now available
• COVIDSafe App

Hospital visitor restrictions and support persons

Last week, I clarified the latest update to the Hospital Visitors Direction from Queensland Health. It states that patients can now receive one visit per day, with up to two visitors for no more than two hours.

I’d like to be clear that this two-hour limit does not apply in a number of specific circumstances. Up to two people can stay with a patient at all times if they are:

• Carers for children under the age of 18
• Carers for a patient with a disability
• Partner and/or support person/s when the patient is admitted for care related to the pregnancy; or
• Support person for in the emergency department or outpatient care appointments.

We are still encouraging our patients to connect virtually with their loved ones where possible. We know that support from family and friends is an important part of our patient’s recovery and wellbeing, so a big thank you to all our staff helping to encourage and coordinate these virtual visits.

Metro North Staff Psychology Service – now available

Today, Metro North launched the new Staff Psychology Service! It’s an amazing service that provides tailored counselling for any Metro North employee seeking support related to distress or difficulties encountered by COVID-19. This service can be delivered in person at any Metro North site or via secure videoconferencing or telehealth.

The service also offers:

• Training on topics relating to wellbeing
• Group supervision for peer responders
• Group debriefing for teams experiencing change fatigue/stress.

I encourage staff feeling challenged under the current circumstances to make contact with the service. You can find out more information or self-refer by visiting the Staff Wellbeing page.

 COVIDSafe App

By the weekend, we will be seeing more movement across our State than we’ve seen in months. With this gradual easing of restrictions, it is an important time to consider downloading the COVIDSafe App, if you haven’t already.

While the app is not compulsory, it is an effective way of keeping us safe by supporting contact tracing when a case is identified. It works by keeping a secure note of other users you’ve been near if you go out, so that you receive a notification if any of those people test positive.

In addition to downloading the app on your personal devices, Metro North staff can download the app on their Queensland Health device as well. There’s a useful guide on how to do this here.

For those of who you asked, I’m feeling much better than I was yesterday (thank you) and even surprised myself by how much I achieved from the home office yesterday.

Kind regards,
Dr Liz Rushbrook
Metro North Health Incident Controller

Metro North HHS – Overview of Cases*

*With effect 1000 12 May 2020

**Metro North has three recorded deaths (one person a return traveller into NSW, who passed away in NSW)

*** These numbers reflect the cases being managed by Metro North