Adj Assoc Prof Jackie Hanson, Chief Executive

Today we celebrate International Nurses Day, which recognises the critical role nurses play in delivering high quality compassionate care every day. Nurses make up nearly half of our workforce and are embedded at all levels of Metro North, including many of our leadership roles. While I’ve been off the wards for a few years now, my own nursing career was extremely rewarding, and I have continued to draw on the experience and knowledge gained in that time for my executive roles. Thank you to all nurses across Metro North. You are truly appreciated.

UROC

I started the week with a visit to the Urban Indigenous Respiratory Outreach Clinic (UROC) at Morayfield which provides specialist respiratory clinics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people closer to home. The UROC team is headed by Professor Peter Hopkins in partnership with the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health and is one of the projects funded through Queensland Health’s Connected Community Pathway program. It was good to meet with the team and some of the patients including Narelle (pictured).

Have Your Say survey

Next Friday we will commence the third Have Your Say staff survey. The survey is confidential and gives all staff the opportunity to give us your feedback on your experience of working in Metro North. The survey is confidential and you will also have the opportunity to send me a ‘message in a bottle’. Last time there were around 5000 individual messages sent to me or executive directors which provided valuable feedback and comments.

The 2019 and 2021 survey feedback led to changes such as leadership training for middle managers, the EOI portal for internal vacancies, the role out of peer responders and more staff wellbeing support, values-based recruitment, refurbished staff areas, and more opportunities for staff to communicate directly with leaders.  You can read more about the 2021 survey on QHEPS.

On Friday you’ll receive an email with a link to the survey which takes about 20 minutes. The survey will be open until 9 June. The results of the Have your Say survey are benchmarked against similar organisations of our size and provide insight into what we’re doing well and where we need to improve. To encourage participation, we will be offering a $300 team building activity to one randomly selected team in each directorate with a 100 per cent survey completion rate.

This is the third time we’ve done this survey and in the first year we had some feedback that people were concerned about having to submit your payroll ID. This is required so the third party provider can ensure people only complete the survey once and your payroll ID doesn’t come through with the results Metro North receives. We are confident that any information you provide remains anonymous and confidential. Please do the survey and share your thoughts.

Health Forum

On Wednesday I attended the Metro North Health Forum, organised by The Health Alliance, our partnership with the Brisbane North PHN. This year’s forum focussed on progress through partnerships, and highlighted the benefits of a national health perspective, the current focus on unleashing system potential across Queensland Health, and spotlights on some partnerships in response to systemic challenges.

National Volunteers Week

Next week is National Volunteers Week. Across Metro North there are volunteers supporting us to deliver patient care in a range of ways. Volunteers support patients directly by helping people find their way around our facilities, sharing their lived experiences, and assisting with a range of activities. They also support fundraising activities and provide Justice of the Peace services. There are volunteer appreciation events happening across Metro North over the next few weeks but I encourage you to take a moment to thank a volunteer for giving the valuable gift of their time.

Health Equity

Yesterday we received this beautiful plaque from Haylene Grogan, Queensland’s Chief First Nations Health Officer, in recognition of our first Health Equity Strategy. The plaque reads:

“In recognition of the deadly commitment of
Metro North Hospital and Health Service
in co-developing your inaugural
Our Journey Towards Health Equity
Metro North Health Equity Strategy 2022-2025
with First Nations people – a historic achievement in creating a strong foundation for future generations in Queensland.

Making Tracks together to achieve health equity by having our voices in the health system; our people working
across the health system; and embedding culturally safe and coordinated care across the health system.”

Well done

This week we received some lovely feedback from our colleagues at Queensland Ambulance Service about their interactions with TPCH Emergency Department Patient Flow Clinical Nurse Consultants Petra, Hollie and Rachael.

“I know there is a whole team of people who contribute to the functioning of ED but I find a few of the ANUMS incredibly approachable, helpful and friendly. More often than not when these ANUMS are on we have minimal flow issues and if we are having ramping they always have plans in place. These ANUMS demonstrate a broad understanding of how health functions as a region within Metro North and are always happy to assist with load sharing when they are in a position to do so. I have even had these guys assist in getting crews off the ramp for their finish times. It’s a refreshing change from most of the interactions we have with hospitals of late, especially given the pressure in healthcare.”

Have a good weekend.

Kind regards,

Jackie.