Adj Prof Jackie Hanson, Chief Executive
Caboolture Satellite Hospital
On Wednesday, I was thrilled to visit the Caboolture Satellite Hospital. The wonderful staff provided a tour of the facility, and it was fantastic to see many years of strategic planning coming to fruition. The first 21 days of the Caboolture Satellite Hospital have been an astounding success, providing care to more than 1,794 patients, with 913 of these presentations seen by the Minor Injuries Unit. There has been significant positive feedback from the community, with one family who had recently moved to the area commenting that they couldn’t believe their luck in having such a great facility so close to home. We are looking forward to the openings of the Kallangur and Bribie Island Satellite Hospitals so we can continue to improve the care we provide to our community.
The Hush Foundation
Metro North is committed to providing kind and compassionate care, and to ongoing improvement and connection with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. This week, myself, RBWH Executive Director Louise Oriti, Metro North Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Executive Director Sherry Holzapfel, Uncle Alan Parson and TPCH Cultural Capability Officer Elwyn Henaway participated in a Gathering of Kindness Yarning Circle with the Hush Foundation. The Hush Foundation is a national foundation aiming to transform the culture of healthcare through the arts by producing and licencing unique and original music and projects that improve core environments and outcomes for patients, families and staff. The yarning circle provided an opportunity for us to collaborate and share the initiatives we are undertaking to build cultures of kindness and respect in healthcare for our patients, families and staff, with a particular focus on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. There were many important learnings from the day which we will bring back to our respective areas. The Yarning Circle was filmed, and the footage will be used in the Hush Foundation’s annual conference in November and displayed on their website, helping showcase Metro North’s commitment to kindness and inclusivity to an international audience.
Metro North Research Excellence Awards
Nominations for the annual Metro North Research Excellence Awards will close at 5pm on Monday 28 August. I encourage anyone who has been thinking of submitting a nomination to do so before the deadline. The Research Excellence Awards are our opportunity to showcase and celebrate the high calibre research that is happening every day across Metro North in all clinical specialties and professions. It never ceases to amaze me how committed our staff are to improving the care we provide to our patients and the innovative ideas they develop to create positive, lasting change. The finalists will be invited to attend the awards ceremony on 2 November 2023, which is always a wonderful evening.
Working for Queensland Survey
The Working for Queensland survey is now open until 17 September 2023. This annual engagement survey explores Queensland Government employees’ day-to-day experiences of work, including things like support within your workgroup and from leaders within your organisation. To find out more, visit QHEPS.
Communicating effectively
One of Metro North Health’s Compassionate Care Principles relates to good navigation and knowledge sharing to ensure we communicate effectively with patients, families and carers about key information relating to their health journey. Ryan’s Rule, which is supported across Queensland Health, relates strongly to this principle. I receive information each time a Ryan’s Rule is called in Metro North, and find that the main reasons they are activated are:
- The patient’s condition is deteriorating or not improving as it should and no one is listening or;
- They don’t understand why the treating team are planning to discharge them.
It is vital that we consistently communicate with patients, families and carers and ensure they are an active participant in their health journey. As part of the National Safety and Quality Standards co-design and Patient Centred Goals of Care, communication is a fundamental expectation. I ask that you make communication a focus in your upcoming Safety and Quality huddles and shift handover to ensure we support each other and improve our communication where necessary. When we communicate well with our patients, we have the power to create positive care experiences like the Caboolture maternity patient who recently provided the following feedback:
I am writing to you directly because I wanted to provide comprehensive feedback and glowing reviews of the staff, care, facilities and experience I had as a maternity patient at Caboolture Hospital. While I had unavoidable complications, the care and support I received from the doctors and midwives remained the highlight of what should have been an awful experience that was so far from my original birth plan. I want to encourage you that your Caboolture Hospital team have a wonderful patient support culture and everyone we came across genuinely cared about us and our daughter. I am now an advocate for birthing at the hospital in future and will not forget how positive my experience was. I hope you’ll personally congratulate and commend this team, because they are phenomenal.
Message in a bottle
I wanted to take the opportunity to share two Messages in a Bottle I received through the Metro North Have Your Say Survey.
“I would like to congratulate Community and Oral Health Executive Director Glynis Shultz on being an energised , empathetic, knowledgeable, and fair leader. She is an inspiration to women in leadership in Metro North.”
Thank you for your leadership, Glynis.
“You need to be present on certain wards who are calling out for help. Our concerns are not being heard by management or executive and we feel like we are being ignored.”
Thank you for your honesty. I will be arranging a visit with facility and Metro North leadership to hold a Listening Forum in the coming weeks.
Kind regards,
Jackie.