Jim McGowan AM, Board Chair

What a weekend!

Two great games spoilt by the results!!

Safety and Quality

The Metro North Hospital and Health Board met at the Nundah Community Health Centre on Tuesday 26 September 2023. The Metro North Clinical Governance Framework was endorsed. The framework’s objective is to ensure that the highest standards of patient care and safety are maintained across Metro North. On behalf of the Board, I thank all those who have been involved
in the development of the Clinical Governance Framework.

In a similar vein, I would like to acknowledge all those who attended the Clinical Governance Visioning Workshop on Wednesday 6 September. The workshop involved over 140 people from all facilities and divisions. The overwhelming impression from the workshop was the enthusiasm of those who attended and reinforced the commitment to patient safety and the quality of our engagement with patients and consumers.

Patient safety and the commitment to the highest quality of patient care must be what defines Metro North.

Everyone at Metro North Health, including frontline clinicians, managers and the Board, is accountable for their contribution to the safety and quality of care delivered to patients and consumers.

Workforce Reform

The Board also considered the draft of the Metro North Workforce Reform Roadmap. We all know that the major challenge is the ever-widening gap between workforce supply and demand and that traditional approaches to bridge the gap are doomed to fail.

Future changes will not be linear or incremental. We see the impact of the disruptive economy every day. Success in the future will be measured differently. The future will belong to those who are agile and can readily adapt to and embrace the new and different opportunities.

We marvel at the rapid advances in medical treatment and technology. However, the future will see even more dramatic advances.

Health Equity

Metro North has been at the forefront of actions to improve the health outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The co-design of these actions with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples has been fundamental to the Health Equity Strategy. Listening to the lived experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples has its parallels with the National Referendum on the “Voice to Parliament”. Consider this when you cast your vote on 14 October.

A couple of quotes to consider

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” (Barack Obama, born 1961, Hawaii 44th US president)

“The time is always right to do what is right.” (Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929-1968, Baptist Minister and Civil Rights activist)

Regards,

Jim.