Today is the second anniversary of the World Health Organization officially declaring the COVID-19 pandemic. At that point there were 118,000 recorded cases across 114 countries and 4291 deaths.

We have achieved a lot in the past two years. We continue to see a slow decline in COVID numbers of inpatients but need to remain vigilant. We have started the debrief process and have a draft recovery plan which includes new ways of doing things.

Junior female medical mentorship program

This Tuesday was International Women’s Day. In Metro North, we have strong female representation (74%), with women as the majority in every profession except operational, dental and medical staff.

Our junior doctor workforce is generally equally male and female, but this drops to around 36% as our medical officers progress into senior roles.

We recognise that female junior doctors face additional career challenges in comparison to their male counterparts. To enable Metro North to continue to attract, develop, support and retain our female medical workforce, I have committed to establishing and chairing a working group to break down these challenges and develop formal and informal support networks and tools to complement existing initiatives.

The working group will comprise 10 thought provoking passionate individuals who are happy to challenge the norm from a range of clinical and non-clinical backgrounds to support visionary change.

If you would like to get involved, please submit an expression of interest with up to 300 words on what you believe are the biggest challenges for our female medical workforce, and what you would expect the committee to achieve in its first 12 months. If you have any questions, please email Vivienne Hassed or call 3647 9504.

People and Culture Services review

We are progressing our review of our people and culture services across Metro North. The Business Case for Change will be released for consultation next week.

The timeline for the review is:

17 March

• Business case for change: People & Culture Services released for consultation
• Copy of business case to be provided to affected employees on leave /secondment
• Meet with the relevant unions to present Business Case for Change
• Provide Business Case for Change to the Metro North Consultative Forum
• Consultation period for feedback on Business Case opens, including:
  • Affected employee information sessions
  • Dedicated email established for employees to provide feedback

15 April

Consultation period for feedback on Business Case closes

Health Equity

Last week we started rolling out workshops for middle managers on the five key performance areas in our health equity strategy. There are five separate workshops which are required for all managers in Metro North. Managers can register for the series of workshops in TMS.

The new health equity website also provides resources for staff and our community on what equity looks like and why we are each responsible for achieving it, regardless of our roles.

Executive update

Following an EOI process, Jane Hancock will be acting in the Chief Operating Officer role for three months.

Jane is currently the Queensland COVID Health System Response Lead. She has had an extensive career in senior healthcare and nursing roles including Chief Executive for Central West HHS and the Executive Director Operations for Gold Coast HHS.

Jane will be starting in the role on 21 March.

Have your Say

One of the things that came out of the Have your Say survey last year was the lack of a transparent process for both employees and managers around how to make and respond to workplace concerns.

We have developed a resource kit which includes a step by step process for employees wanting to raise a complaint, manager’s guide for resolving workplace concerns, and a guide for employees who receive a complaint.

The most important thing we can do to reduce workplace concerns is to demonstrate Metro North’s values in all aspects of our work and behaviour. This includes how we interact on social media with each other and when we are identifiable as Queensland Health employees.

Regards,

Jackie