Adj Assoc Prof Jackie Hanson, Chief Executive, MN Health
Last Friday the Board Chair Jim McGowan, Deputy Chair Dr Kim Forrester, myself and ED Clinical Governance, Safety, Quality and Risk Michele Gardner visited Caboolture to provide the follow up surgical services review. First, allow me to congratulate the Caboolture Hospital staff and leadership team and all of those across Metro North who have worked so hard to continue to improve service delivery, compassion, and communication at Caboolture and beyond. Our strength is really in our great people.
This week I have attended a number of Clinical and Staff Council meetings and again the focus on wellbeing, health equity, safety and quality is profound. The Council members’ commitment further demonstrates our Metro North values. Community and Oral Health Staff Council and leadership team have committed to visiting every COH site through “Connecting COH”.
This week we have also been delivering our Health Equity Commitment Statements to Metro North directorates so keep an eye out for them.
White Ribbon Accreditation
Today is White Ribbon Day and I’m pleased to let you know that Metro North has now been accredited as a White Ribbon Workplace. This endorsement of being an organisation with zero tolerance against violence, follows our successful completion of the White Ribbon Workplace Accreditation Program which commenced back in 2019.
A big thanks to the Metro North White Ribbon Workplace Accreditation Working Group for their work supporting Metro North’s accreditation.
Being a White Ribbon Workplace means we actively strive for an inclusive and safe working environment for staff at all levels of the organisation. It also means we have a shared responsibility to oppose attitudes and behaviours that go against our values, promote a respectful workplace, and support those whose lives are affected by domestic and family violence (DFV). DFV is a very real issue for many of our frontline health care workers involved in the delivery of care to patients affected by this violence.
I would like to share the experience of a victim survivor of domestic and family violence, Simone O’Brien who was admitted to one of our Metro North facilities following a significant DFV incident. Simone generously agreed to partner with Metro North to provide a presentation on her lived experience to increase awareness of domestic and family violence. You can see Simone’s story on the Metro North domestic and family violence training site (please note, this does include Simone’s description of her assault and photos from her time in hospital).
Metro North has dedicated DFV workforce specialists who can provide training and professional development to all Metro North staff relating to various topics relevant to domestic and family violence. For more information about training opportunities please visit the Metro North Health domestic and family violence training site on QHEPS.
MN32
Don’t forget that our MN32 refresh is underway, which will look at what we’ve already achieved and any new priorities. The refresh is your chance to help shape Metro North’s ambitious vision including your thoughts on how our long term priorities have changed in the past two years and how those changes are impacting or shaping our long term goals for the next decade. Jump onto the MN32 QHEPS page to see how you can contribute.
Green Metro North
There has been a lot of work behind the scenes by our Green Metro North team including preparing a draft Energy Implementation Plan to support the rollout of energy reduction initiatives over the next few years. This follows the endorsement of our Transport and Waste Implementation Plans under the Green Metro North – Sustainability Strategy 2021-2026.
Metro North’s Sustainability Design Guidelines are being considered by Queensland Health and some thought is being undertaken to roll them out as best practice statewide.
Our Metro North green transport initiatives are well underway with 19 electric vehicles (EVs) now in the fleet, working towards the whole of government mandate to have a zero-emissions passenger fleet by 2026. We are also enhancing our EV infrastructure with 12 charging stations now installed at Redcliffe Hospital, and further stations planned across the health service.
Can I ask that you begin or continue conversations about waste and how to minimise our wastage. No idea is too small.
I received some positive feedback regarding the patient feedback I shared in last week’s message. My reflection was that even small things are important and motivate our staff. If you’d like to share some feedback about a colleague who’s doing good things, why not give them a Staff Shout Out.
Have a great weekend.
Kind regards,
Jackie