Tami Photinos, Acting Chief Operating Officer, Metro North Health

This week we’ve seen excellent examples of staff working together across the whole HHS to manage capacity and demand. Thank you for your work.

The executive team are working behind the scenes to support you however we can, and working closely with our colleagues in Queensland Ambulance Service who are also feeling the surge.

We are already seeing high numbers of confirmed influenza, with current modelling predicting a likely peak early July and a long tail into August. As part of our acute respiratory illness plan we are providing more resources to support the response. While we will continue to be busy, after the past two years of pandemic, we are all expert at managing surges and using every resource and alternative care pathway available.

Many of you will have recently seen Metro North’s Virtual ED feature in Queensland Health’s Innovation Spotlight. The spotlight video features the Virtual ED’s Clinical Director, Dr Kim Hansen, and other clinicians explaining how our Virtual ED is helping patients to receive the emergency care they need, in ways that don’t require them to physically visit a busy hospital emergency department.

Our Virtual ED began as part of our COVID-19 response, but it continues now as an important alternate patient pathway available to a much wider variety of patients who would otherwise need to present to an Emergency Department.

The Virtual ED is an innovation that is making care easier for patients to access and helping us to reduce wait times in our Emergency Departments this winter, and beyond.

Over the next few weeks we will be holding two vidcasts a week to focus on what we’re doing and how we’re managing the anticipated high winter demand. These will be on Mondays and Thursdays. 

“Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.” Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People 

Have a good weekend.

Regards,