Monday (16 October) will be a momentous day for Caboolture Hospital – the multi-storey car park will open at 6am. Most of us have watched and waited for this day for the last few years and now it’s finally here!

Not only will this mean there is more parking on campus for staff, but it will also improve access for our patients and visitors. Providing accessible and affordable parking is a key part in ensuring our patients and the community can access safe and timely care.

I know the new car park opening is very exciting – I have even heard that some of you are so excited you’ll be lining up to be one of the first ones into the car park – but it’s important that we are all mindful of ensuring our patients and visitors can also access parks in the multi-storey car park.

From 16-29 October, during the two-week free parking period, all staff will be able to park in P5 (the current public car park – remember to enter from Bury Street).

I would encourage you all to park at the back of the hospital, ensuring our patients and visitors can access parking close to the main entry.

And don’t forget the other important changes happening:

• On Monday, the Main Entry to the hospital will relocate to the front of the hospital off McKean Street.
• Patient pick-up and drop-off will also relocate to the front of the hospital off McKean Street.
• At 6pm on Sunday the Temporary Staff Car Park will permanently close (you’ll still be able to exit after this time and any night shift staff can park in the after-hours car park or the current public car park).

Executive updates

Congratulations to David Thompson, who has been appointed Acting CKW Director Operations for the next few months. Many of you will already know David as CKW Director of Physiotherapy. Thank you to David who took on this opportunity at very short notice and I am sure will do a great job while he is in the role.

David has great clinical and leadership experience in Australia and overseas, including acting in the Allied Health Director position for both CKW and Redcliffe Hospital in the past few months.

We also bid farewell to Acting Deputy Executive Director Brett Bourke, who is heading back to Herston.

Thank you to Brett for all his great work over the past few months. Brett has been a valuable asset to the Executive Team and to CKW more broadly. He has assisted with many of the issues we had or rather could have had in moving into the Satellite Hospital and has certainly provided oversight and expertise in working with teams as we move towards the new CSB. Thank you, Brett, I know that you will be missed!

Finally, interviews started this week for the CKW Executive Director position. We’re still a little way from announcing the successful person. As soon as we have any update and a potential start date for the successful applicant, I will be sure to let everyone know. In the meantime, you are stuck with me!

Having said that, the last few months, while a bit of an initiation by fire (purely because CKW other than from a nursing and midwifery perspective) was largely unknown to me.

However, this time has been an absolute highlight of my career. I have loved being here at CKW and it has been my absolute pleasure to lead such a wonderful team of dedication health care professionals.

Thank you for your support and I will be sure that the new Executive Director is provided a robust handover to ensure service continuity and the wonderful trajectory we are on is maintained.

CKW Research Symposium program now available

The 2023 CKW Research Symposium will be held at the Caboolture Hospital Education and Skills Centre and online via Microsoft Teams on Tuesday (17 October) from 9am to 1pm.

The Symposium will include research and quality improvement presentations and posters from the current and previous year, culminating in a keynote address by A/Prof Dylan Flaws.

The symposium program is now available.

For symposium guidelines and further information please visit the RDU website.

What A Compliment!

Patients appreciate our compassionate care. Here’s a great compliment for the Caboolture Hospital Emergency Department team:

“I have heard bad things about Caboolture Hospital, but I can say I was extremely happy with my treatment.

“I did question why I was given a drip, but it was explained after I raised the question.

“They managed my pain and that is why I went there. They have given me paperwork to follow up on a probable surgery I will need. All in all, everyone was excellent.”

Well done, ED. Often busy emergency departments, as the front face of the hospital, have a difficult task of meeting patient and consumer expectations. Not usually for the clinical care that patients receive but waiting times sometimes are longer than hoped for.

Sometimes this is beyond the control of clinical staff but when there is opportunity to change the narrative, meet reasonable time frames and provide the expert care we are known for, we have positive and meaningful feedback from the people who attend for emergency care. Great job.

I would just like also to remind staff that we are often measured for wait times. Whether they be in the Emergency Department, awaiting surgical or procedural care or for appointments, these metrics are important.

At the end of every KPI deliverable is a patient and their family/loved ones. It is always important to remember that KPIs are not just numbers…they are reflective of great care and sometimes based on very sound clinical evidence.

Shatter the Stigma campaign launch

This week, Metro North launched the Shatter the Stigma campaign as part of Mental Health Week.

Shatter the Stigma raises awareness of the negative impact that stigma relating to mental illness and problematic alcohol and drug use has on individuals, their families, and their recovery.

Staff at Caboolture Hospital, Kilcoy Hospital and Caboolture Satellite Hospital were involved in raising awareness of the campaign at displays stands across the week. People were able to find out more about the campaign, write a pledge and enjoy a cupcake or stress ball.

Thank you to everyone involved in launching this important campaign. For more information see the Shatter the Stigma QHEPS page.

Caboolture Hospital 30th birthday celebrations are great fun!

What an amazingly creative and generous team we have here at Caboolture Hospital! Their talents were clearly on display today at the 30^th Birthday Cake-Off! 19 wonderful desserts were submitted and the judges had a very difficult time choosing winners. I hear it was a very delicious task!

I’m very pleased to share the winners of the cake-off were:

• Overall Winner – ‘30’ by Tracey Cooper, Switch
• Most creative – ‘Children’s Ward’ by Emily Cornish, Children’s Ward
• Best tasting – ‘Chocolate Cheesecake’ by Joshua Hollindale, Emergency Department
• Best looking – ‘Dr Who’ cake and cupcakes by Charity Mataruse, Social Work

Congratulations to the winners and thank you to everyone who got involved and shared your time and creations with your colleagues. You all truly make this a great place to work.

I am really enjoying reading the 30 stories for 30 years, which are an integral part of Caboolture Hospital’s 30^th birthday celebrations. They are emailed each day and available on the Extranet.

The stories of those staff who are the very fabric of Caboolture are wonderful and it has given me thoughts of my interactions with Caboolture.

Such a fun time to be at CKW! Interestingly, I have twin boys… who are 30 this month also! So, Caboolture shares a significant event at the same time that we as a family do.

Although, I am not a native Caboolturite (if that is a name?), I actually brought one of the boys to Caboolture hospital about 28 years ago for care. The care was exemplary then and I know that it is still amazing.  Well done, Caboolture. That convulsing two-year-old is now a 30-year old young professional and a Dad himself. Thank you for my exposure to Caboolture clinical care.

Pastoral Care Week

The Caboolture Hospital Chapel will host a service later this month for Pastoral Care Week. It will be held on Thursday October 26 from 10am.

The theme this year is Chaplaincy and Mental Health with Psychiatrist and Caboolture Hospital Head of Mental Health Research Critical Care Research Group Associate Professor Dylan Flaws (left) to speak at the event.

Everyone is welcome.

Finally,

If you haven’t already done so, don’t forget to vote in the referendum. You can cast a pre-poll vote at the Caboolture East shops in Rowe Street, opposite the satellite hospital, until 6pm tonight (13/10). Handy!

For more details including other voting locations, visit www.aec.gov.au.

Remember to look after YOU. This week has challenged me personally. My son’s beautiful six-year-old Border Collie George passed away totally unexpectedly after an awful accident. Pets are such wonderful members of a family and we are all devastated by his loss. He was such an intelligent and beautiful animal and we are all so sad.

In addition, a very close friend lost her elder brother quite unexpectedly this week and it has made me realise my own mortality. He was my age, very fit and seemingly healthy. I am so sad.

Remember, there are times in all of our lives when things don’t go quite to plan and it is important that we do what we can to look after ourselves. Life is short and work is an important part of our lives, but it is only one part.

Hug those that you love, care for yourself and your families and stay safe.

Alanna.