Jim McGowan AM, Metro North Board Chair

This is a belated column, as I was aware that the follow-up review of the implementation of the recommendations from the Governance Review into Surgical Services at Caboolture Hospital was imminent. As you will recall that initial review and the follow up review were conducted by eminent South Australian clinician, Dr James Sweeney.

The 2021 report identified 19 recommendations which were required to be addressed by Caboolture Hospital and Metro North Health. A copy of the follow-up review and the implementation plan are available on our internet site. I would encourage you all to read the report because I am sure that there are lessons for us all.

Dr Sweeney concluded that all 19 recommendations have been implemented, with some requiring further monitoring. Many of Dr Sweeney’s recommendations were relevant to our other Metro North facilities.

The Board would like to acknowledge the staff of Caboolture Hospital, indeed the staff across all our hospitals and Metro North Clinical Governance, Safety, Quality and Risk unit, for the way in which they have embraced the recommendations from the review and worked collaboratively to ensure they were fully implemented.

Dr Sweeney was impressed with the progress which has been made to improve safety and quality processes and governance arrangements, which are the foundation for our commitment to patient care and the patient journey. He identified that there is no doubt that the atmosphere within the hospital has changed, and this is the result of having new processes and education; but also having staff and leaders which have energised the workforce with their positive and enthusiastic attitude.

Importantly Dr Sweeney noted that “This is only the beginning of the process, and the on-going stress of the new hospital development will be a significant challenge which will require clear and definitive leadership and positive clinician engagement to meet the needs of the community.”

I appreciate that for many of our staff at Caboolture this has been a challenging and, for some, a very stressful time. However, despite its confronting origins, all of Metro North’s community and staff will benefit. The Board thanks all involved for their positive participation and contribution.

The media

In a related matter, it seems that there is daily criticism in the media of our health system, including our hospitals and services. As a public health system, we accept that we cannot be exempt from criticism. However, many of those articles do not include any commentary on the context in which the events occur. In some cases, our Executive responses are not included. Additionally, we are sometimes unable to provide a context for privacy reasons, which we are careful to honour.

However, on behalf of the Board, I want to assure you of our confidence in your professionalism and your commitment to ensuring the highest quality and safe care. Metro North Health has a great reputation for quality care and that is due to you.

In Metro North, you have been involved in over 4 million occasions of care in the last 12 months. Many of the procedures have risks, and you are undertaking surgery which would not have been attempted a few years ago. The level of complexity and acuity has increased along with community expectations. Overwhelmingly, our patients and consumers have positive experiences and daily, lives are saved, and health outcomes improved. Rarely, though, things go wrong, and patient experiences are not what they would have hoped for. We must accept that, but we also must acknowledge the need to communicate openly and compassionately with each and every one of those people who have had less than a positive experience. That is the essence of compassionate care and our values. Our clinicians need to be clear about the risks prior to any procedure and engage compassionately with people post an adverse event. We have processes such as SAC1s, and RCAs and HEAPs, but personal engagement is critically important to those individuals. We need to see these events from the perspectives of the patient and see them as learning experiences which have the potential to drive improvements in patient care.

The human measure of our safety and quality performance lies not in the number of clinical engagements, but in how we respond to circumstances which did not go as well as expected.

Quotes to consider

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” George Bernard Shaw ((1856-1950) Irish playwright and political activist

“It’s important to make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.” Barack Obama ((born 1951) the first African-American US president)

“Effective teamwork begins and ends with communication.” Mike Krzyzewski ((born 1947) American college basketball coach)

Regards,

Jim McGowan AM
Metro North Board Chair