Jim McGowan AM, Metro North Board Chair

Welcome to 2023. A new year heralds new opportunities!

While, with recent decisions, we are apparently back to business as usual (BAU), of course, there is no such thing as BAU. We still have people in our facilities, including our virtual ward, with COVID; we still have many staff absent with the virus; we have challenges with escalating demand pressures; we have to manage the legacy of the COVID period on our waiting lists; there is major infrastructure construction at Caboolture, the three satellite hospitals and planned for Redcliffe and Prince Charles; and mental health pressures are complex and growing.

But Metro North has a long tradition of meeting all these challenges and a well-deserved reputation for high quality care. We continue to value research and innovative models of care, so necessary if we are to meet future challenges.

Clinical/Staff Councils

I want to encourage you to feel confident to call out concerns over safety and quality. There must be no “closed doors”. I would encourage you to use the usual channels, but if you feel that your concerns are not being addressed there are a range of other avenues. While clinical / staff councils are not the appropriate avenue to manage individual grievances, they can and should have a role with organisational / cultural matters and importantly as avenues to advance innovation and improved practices. I see the councils as vitally important elements of communication, both upwards and within the directorates. We must strengthen the relationships between the councils, the Executive and the Board.

Consumer engagement is critical

The Board met on 31 January at STARS. We now commence our meetings with an opportunity to meet and listen to consumers. Their insights at all levels with Metro North, need to be acknowledged, particularly if we are genuinely committed to patient centred care.

German-Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce Event, Herston Health Precinct

One of the genuine joys for me in my privileged role as Board Chair is the opportunity to see and hear of the amazing things that are happening in the medico-research space. The event sponsored by the German-Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce and BellaSeno, a medical device company based in Germany and Australia, on Wednesday 1 February was an inspiring occasion. The event provided opportunities for health professionals and clinicians to engage with industry members, academics and other researchers and public servants to hear about the highly innovative work in the area of regenerative implants and other groundbreaking medical engineering procedures. The impact of the presentations by Dr Tobias Grossner, Chief Medical Officer, BellaSeno, Professor Gerhard Schmidmaier, Director, Clinic for Traumatology and Reconstructive Surgery, and from our local heroes Dr Michael Wagels and Professor Owen Ung created the impression that we were seeing the future of medical innovation in the present. Dr Wagels and Professor Ung have led the world first breast scaffold surgery and Professor Ung the Interoperative Radiation Therapy procedures.

Metro North is being recognised as a global leader in clinical care, health innovation, education, research and training. Our teams within our various institutes are leading in the drive for precision and personalised medicine. Such achievements are only possible through the strong collaborations which have been established with industry, the universities, other research organisations, governments and other health providers. We should all be proud of what is being achieved, but the future requires an ongoing and stronger commitment to innovation and reform.

Metro North has committed to reconvene the group in about six months to discuss shared opportunities and obstacles.

Quotes to consider

Relevant to our commitment to Health Equity, the following view should be a mayor driver for our actions:

“If a child in its first thousand days – from conception to two years old – does not have adequate nutrition, the damage is irreversible.”  Josette Sheeran (b1954-) American not-for-profit executive and ambassador)

And the future:

“There is nothing like a dream to create the future.” Victor Hugo (1802-1885) (French poet, novelist, and playwright)

Regards,

Jim.