Firstly, I wanted to say thank you. We have have been operating at Tier 3 for the majority of this week so, thank you for all the hard work happening behind the scenes to provide care to all our patients.

It has certainly been busy, and it has been evident that everyone has really joined together to look after the patients who are attending our hospitals needing care.  It has really shown what we can do as a team, we are very lucky to have all the services and sites we have in the CKW clinical directorate but also to be part of the broader Metro North Health services.

Obviously working together is an important part of achieving the best for our patients and also to support each other.

Options of Care

Following on from last week’s message where I discussed the importance of and focus on efficient ambulance offload and elimination of long-stays in ED (24hrs), I want to highlight alternative care options we should consider for our patients.

Virtual ED

Virtual ED is an alternative to attending our on-site emergency department for care. Clinicians are on telehealth equipment including video, audio and internet to assess patients and provide treatment, or advice to GPs and partner with QAS to assess patients. Exclusions are for chest pain, breathing problems, decreased consciousness, severe accidents and stroke symptoms such as sudden facial droop, movement or speech affects.

Virtual Ward

Initially developed as an innovative way to manage during the COVID-19 pandemic, the virtual ward has continued to care for patients who require ongoing acute care and monitoring, support and access to specialist health care in their residence rather than the hospital.

Hospital in the Home (HITH)

HITH is an alternative pathway to inpatients for patients for a broad range of conditions and includes a MDT approach to care with nurses, doctors and allied health clinicians within the service.

We are so fortunate to be able to offer these options to our patients. Not only does it expand our ability to care for our community, but allows us to provide patients the best care in their own homes.  We all know that hospitals are not the best environment when the care can be provided in a place the patient can feel comfortable and be in peace or with their family, pets, friends … it begs to question what a therapeutic environment really is doesn’t it?  Especially as we know long stays can be detrimental for the patient, increasing the chance of hospital-related complications.

Welcome to our 2024 Medical Interns

It was my pleasure to attend the medical intern orientation on Monday and meet the newest faces of our growing team. On day 23 of my time here at Caboolture, this was my first orientation! Following a minor IT failure on my part, it was a great morning engaging with this new cohort. Our local member of parliament, Ali King, also came out to meet the cohort on Tuesday. Our interns are as excited to begin their career here at Caboolture as we are to have them.

To our new interns, while you are here to learn and to grow as doctors, I believe there is so much we can also learn from you. I encourage you to come and chat to me if you see me walking around, email me or reach out in anyway. Just maybe not for directions, I’m still figuring that part out myself!

Community respect

Unfortunately, there have been a number of recent complaints from local residents and businesses about CKW staff parking illegally obstructing driveways and making it difficult for locals to navigate their streets and businesses to operate.

Please show respect for our local community, I know none of us would be happy if this was occurring and causing us disruption at home, nor do we want to create a catastrophe for any of our community.

In regards to other carparks of business blocks around our community, while we offer services in other parts of our community, please be aware we do not have any parking contracts with other sites, and therefore our staff should not be parking in these carparks unless they are accessing the services as a consumer.

When illegally parking on the streets surrounding our sites, or in businesses, you are risking fines or towing as I have been made aware that complaints have been made to the council and other authorities.

I acknowledge that parking costs can be challenging, but please be advised, parking inappropriately around our community is not acceptable. This is our local community and in order to gain their respect and trust, we equally need to demonstrate respect.  Your actions reflect on our services.

Please refer to the Metro North Health website regarding parking locations.

Health and Safety Activity Calendar 2024

Health and Safety is everybody’s business, it is the crux of making CKW a safe and fun place to work.  Each and every one of you has a role in this and it is really important for you and to me as the ED that you all take ownership of this in your workplace.  Our Health and Safety team have created a calendar for 2024.

Continual communication and consultation are key to the success of these initiatives that keep our staff and patients safe and build trust within our network. I encourage you all to be an active participant in this space, review the calendar and provide feedback via your local health and safety representative.

HESTA Nursing Awards

There are just two weeks left to nominate for the HESTA Nursing and Midwifery Awards 2024. We have some amazing nurses who form part of our wonderful team at CKW. It would be a privilege to see some of these staff recognised at a national level. I encourage you to put in a nomination and recognise our nurses, midwives, nurse educators and researchers.

Grant Opportunities

As we begin the year there are a number research grants I am excited to note are only available to CKW staff.

Continued research helps our hospital grow and respond to different needs emerging throughout our community and more broadly. Please consider the grants below:

2024 CKW Health Research Grants (CLOSE 8 March 2024)

These grants are focused on enabling research that address clinical needs across CKW region/sites.

They focus on three (3) priority areas:

• Multicultural Research
• First Nations
• Healthy Ageing

There are two grants:

• Novice Researcher Grants valued up to $10,000
• Experienced Researcher Grants valued up to $20,000

2024 University of Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Collaborative Grants (CLOSE 8 March 2024)

These Grants are designed to encourage research collaboration across CKW and UniSC. Projects are expected to comprise a standalone study that can seed future competitive grant applications.

Three priority areas will be highly regarded, though other topics are eligible:

• Multicultural Research
• First Nations
• Healthy Ageing

Maximum collaborative grant valued up to $40,000

Refer to Researcher Hub for further information, Advice to Applicant documents, and TPCHF Smarty Grants portal to apply.

Values Charter

At Metro North, our values are Respect, Integrity, Teamwork, High Performance and Compassion and over the past few months, we have been talking with you about how we make sure our values are more than words. I want to thank everyone who gave their time and valuable feedback as we defined what these values mean to us and what we want our organisation to be over the coming years. The Caring Together: Living our Values Project was an iterative process, with the charter growing and changing based on feedback from you. I’m excited to announce that the Caring Together: Living Our Values Charter will be launched next week on Wednesday 24 January 1pm-3pm in the Lecture Theatre. You are all invited to pop in for afternoon tea and to learn about the charter, what it means for you, and how you can use it in your teams. This charter is a strong foundation for us to build on to continue making CKW a great place to work and a safe place for our community. If you have any questions, please email ckw-engage@health.qld.gov.au. I look forward to seeing you all at the launch next week.

Staff Shout Out

Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit a Staff Shout Out. It’s a great way to recognise some of the wonderful work that happens across CKW each and every day. Over the next few weeks I plan to get out and meet some of you who have received shout outs. This week I had the pleasure of meeting the Allied Health Admin team and congratulating them on their shout out.

“Thank you to the Allied Health Admin team for all of the amazing work they do within the department and their incredible focus on patient care.”

In December, we had 29 individual team members and five teams highlighted for their efforts. It was fabulous to see 23 staff nominated by nursing students for their efforts preceptoring students – that is amazing as we bring our new generations of health professional in and showcase our sites as a great place to work.

Reflection of the week

My reflection on the week has really been on the collaboration and respect I have seen as we have worked to manage a hospital at capacity all week.  The need to consider others points of view, and support each others needs to achieve the best and great outcomes.

I have spoken to a number of staff this week about the challenges of ensuring our patients move to the best place for care at the best time.  It is so evident that when it is so busy this can lead to frustrations and challenging interactions and feelings. Empathy is so important in all your role providing care. This empathy allows us to consider other perspectives and realities, and allows us to better act and react in these high stress situations.

I really implore you all, as we work through this busy time, to be kind and take time to consider other perspectives and challenges. In the words of the well know idiom:

“Before you judge anyone, walk a mile in their shoes.”

Regards,

Karlene.