Dear colleagues,

This week we launched a Business Case for Significant Change which proposes decentralising the Clinical Support Services directorate and returning governance of these functions to the facility/ clinical directorates they’re located in. Consultation on the business case is open until 17 December. If you would like to see the proposal and comment, the details are available online.

Our Staff Excellence Awards gala dinner on 3 December is selling well. If you haven’t booked your table or tickets yet, there is only one week left to secure your spot before sales close. The night includes four hours of dinner and drinks, 6-piece band and live show throughout the evening, dancefloor, and the awards. This is a staff only event, so get your colleagues together for a fun night.

The 2021 Premiers Awards for Excellence finalists were announced this week and Metro North has two finalists in the mix. Congratulations to the Better Together Medication Access program which is a finalist in the Healthy and Safe Communities category, and the Surgical, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS) which is a finalist in the Infrastructure and Manufacturing category. The winners will be announced later this month.

Congratulations to Professor Dan Chambers (transplantation), Professor David Paterson (communicable diseases), and Professor Will Parsonage (clinical laboratory science) who were named as Australia’s top researchers in their fields in The Australian.

I’d also like to congratulate our Executive Director Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health on being named the USQ Alumni of the Year – Health and Wellbeing.

Nominations are now open for the 2022 Queensland Reconciliation Awards which recognises businesses, community organisations, educational institutions and government for their commitment to reconciliation, and honour the innovative and practical ways they are working to close the gap in Queensland. Government departments and agencies are eligible to nominate for partnerships with councils, businesses, educational institutions or community organisation. Winners will be announced during National Reconciliation Week in 2022. Nominations close Friday 3 December (you can submit before you come to the Staff Excellence Awards!).

Last week Queensland passed the 80% first dose target for COVID vaccination. This is an important milestone, but in our catchment that still means about 200,000 people are not yet vaccinated. Please maintain your social distancing and hand hygiene, and get tested and isolate if you have any symptoms, even if you’re fully vaccinated.

This week I held a vidcast with Incident Controller Louise O’Riordan about Metro North’s COVID planning. If you missed the vidcast, you can find the recording of all our COVID vidcasts on QHEPS.

Regards,

Jackie