Adj Assoc Prof Jackie Hanson, Chief Executive, MN Health

TDOV

Today is International Transgender Day of Visibility. This is an annual day dedicated to celebrating the achievements of transgender and gender-expansive people and taking a stand against the discrimination and violence they experience. Across Queensland Health, around 11,000 employees may identify as LGBTIQ+ (although they may not choose to identify openly with everyone they know). As the largest HHS with 23,000 staff and a community across Metro North of over 1million people, it’s important that we all do our part to ensure that all staff, patients and visitors feel safe to bring their whole selves to work and into our spaces.

You might remember some time ago Queensland Health launched the LGBTIQ+ terminology, language and communications guide which provides information about why it’s to important educate yourself, why respecting people’s pronouns matters, preferred language, and terms and questions to avoid. For more information and resources, visit the Queensland Health Diversity and Inclusion page. Last year Metro North also updated our standard email signature to allow people to share their pronouns if they choose.

Metro North Health Forum

As part of our alliance with the Metro North PHN, we are holding the Metro North Health Forum on 10 May. This year’s theme is progress through partnerships and there will be presentations from:

• Luke Baxby, AU National Healthcare Leader, Deloitte Australia – Healthcare reimagined
• Michelle Costello, Accredited Partnership Broker, Brisbane North PHN – Working effectively together to solve complex issues
• Paul Martin, Executive Manager | Commissioned Services, Brisbane North PHN and Kathryn Turner, Executive Director, Metro North Mental Health – Commissioning collaborative: a new way of commissioning mental health, alcohol and other drugs and suicide prevention services.
• Megan Kreis, Senior Director, Queensland Health and Damien Searle, Executive Director, Reform Office, Queensland Health – Key partnerships for reform

The program will be released in April. Early bird registration is now open.

Tele Cardiac Investigations

We have seen some great results from the Tele Cardiac Investigations service out of RBWH. The service has been expanding since the first pilot program in 2016 and now provides care closer to home across 24 sites throughout Queensland. The RBWH team collaborates with teams in North West HHS, Central West HHS, Mackay HHS and Central Queensland HHS, as well as Kilcoy Hospital. The service allows patients to undergo Holter monitoring, exercise stress testing, and now tele-ECG and 24-hour blood pressure monitoring at their local hospital or healthcare centre with support from clinicians and technicians at RBWH.

Safewards

Metro North Mental Health has been busy embedding Safewards in the inpatient wards to improve communication between staff and consumers, reduce conflict and use least restrictive practices to support safety and wellbeing. Strategies include establishing clear mutual expectations, discharge messages, positive words, calm down methods, and mutual help meetings. Safewards is having significant impacts on both staff experience and consumer recovery. I would like to congratulate Mental Health Services for their commitment to improving the culture of safety, support and recovery in the inpatient units.

Research

It’s so good to see Metro North researchers participating in international trials and conferences to improve patient outcomes. In March, we have supported 10 researchers to travel overseas for clinical trial investigator meetings in Spain, Germany, Malaysia and Thailand, and attend conferences and scientific meetings in California and Arizona.

This week in Metro North

Metro North hosted Emergo disaster management training at CSDS with participants from across the country.

Jamieson Trauma Institute held a successful showcase highlighting some of their research, including one presenter who delivered her presentation in the form of a Dr Suess style poem!
Congratulations to the Metro North Virtual Emergency Department and Queensland Health Ambassador Program which are finalists in the Premier’s Awards for Excellence. The winners will be announced next week.

If you’re heading off on school holiday, enjoy your break.

Kind regards,

Jackie.