As the old song goes, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go, of which I’m very much in favour!

I really enjoyed attending Christmas parties at Kilcoy, Woodford and our Riverside office this week, with more to come.

Please continue to get your CKW Christmas decorations competition entries in. It’s great to see them taking shape. As a judge, I can’t give too much away but I think the Caboolture Hospital Wellness Centre looks great!

Here’s Pam Hudson, Sam Anderson and I at Kilcoy Hospital Christmas event earlier this week.

Congratulations Benita and Belinda!

Congratulations to Caboolture Hospital Pharmacist Benita Suckling who won the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) Early Career Pharmacist Award for 2022!

This prestigious national award recognises Benita’s wonderful work investigating persistent opioid use following hospital discharge.

Benita has taken initiative to improve opioid prescribing, resulting in several practice changes and demonstrating the importance of model patient-centered care. She is now co-investigator on a project to assess and address medication resources available for consumers who identify as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin or who are otherwise Culturally and Linguistically Diverse.

The judges recognised Benita’s work to drive innovation and being a source of inspiration and mentorship for other early career pharmacists.

From left to right at the 1980s-theme SHPA gala dinner in Brisbane last weekend are Pharmacist Melinda James (now Redcliffe), Clinical Educator Pharmacist Amy Le, Senior Pharmacist Belinda Chappell, Director of Pharmacy Tim Dunn, Medicines Safety Pharmacist Benita Suckling, Pharmacist Zoe Robinson and Acting Pharmacist Advanced Jess Eglington (now STARS).

My congratulations also to Caboolture Hospital Senior Pharmacist Belinda Chappell, who won a poster of the day award at the Medicines Management Conference. Belinda’s study investigated the variance in reporting time for vancomycin concentrations by availability of on-site therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM).

Prior to commencement on-site TDM at Caboolture Hospital in June, the median reporting time was 11.13 hours. After commencement, there was an almost 10-hour reduction in median reporting time to 1.33 hours, bringing our hospital in line with other sites within Metro North Health. This intervention has resulted in faster access to results and allowed for more timely reviewing of a high-risk antimicrobial, improving medication and patient safety.

Memorial planting

The team at Kilcoy Hospital gathered recently to plant a tree in memory of an operational staff team member who unfortunately passed away 12 months ago on her way home from work.

A combination of Kilcoy Hospital staff including allied health, administration, operational and nursing staff braved the wet and windy conditions to plant the tree in front of the Old Nursing Quarters building.Trailblazers Network Forum

The last Trailblazers Network Forum for 2022 is on Tuesday (13 December). These forums have enabled CKW to start planning for our move to the Clinical Services Building and many of you have even been recruited as Change Champions and Move Coordinators.

The forum is open to all staff. I would really like to encourage as many of you as possible to attend. In addition to hearing about what’s head for us next year, this is a great opportunity to ask any questions you may have about the move process, service readiness or even just the redevelopment project in general.

Put it in your diary now – Tuesday 13 December from 11am to 12.15pm in the Education Centre Lecture Theatre or Microsoft Teams.

New CKW Cultural Capability Officer

On Monday, CKW will welcome Janita Adams as our new Cultural Capability Officer.

Janita comes with a wealth of experience and knowledge in building Cultural Capability to support systems and processes to create access to healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, having worked with the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service for more than 10 years.

Acting CKW Director of Operations

Louise O’Riordan is taking a well-deserved break in Ireland to see her family. She will return to the CKW Director of Operations role from Monday 23 January 2023. A big thank you to Allied Health Director Anne Padayachee, who is filling this important role during December and January.

What a compliment!

Here’s a great compliment about care received recently at Kilcoy Hospital Emergency Department:

“(I received) very prompt and friendly service. I had an injury I was brushing off and they encouraged me to take it seriously and get it checked properly.

“After an X-ray showed nothing was broken, I was able to relax knowing it would heal soon and wasn’t anything more serious.

“They made me feel like it was important to be checked by the doctor which I was avoiding as I know hospitals are so busy.”

Director Service Readiness role now advertised

We’re looking for a new Director Service Readiness to ensure we are ready to deliver the new Clinical Services Building and Multi-Storey Car Park next year.  It’s a senior role that will also look after refurbishment of the main hospital building into 2024.

Applications close on Friday 21 December. It is available on Smart Jobs here.

Finally,

My final ‘Brief The Boss’ event this year will be on Tuesday (13 December) from 12.30pm to 1.30pm at the Caboolture Hospital Central Courtyard. Please feel free to come along and have a chat!

Take Care,

Angie.