Well, following a few days of leave, it has been another busy week as we started the week with the Paediatric Review team on site Monday to Wednesday.

This review was commissioned to identify opportunities for us to improve our care delivery across our paediatric services and enhance the care we provide to children and their families in our hospital and across CKW.

The team commented on how welcoming, open and friendly our teams were, which is certainly something I have felt in my short time here (Working Day 43) and something I am very proud of.

While the review team are no longer on-site, they are continuing to engage with consumers and staff to finalise their review.

This week, I also had the opportunity to meet with one of the senior executives from the City of Moreton Bay to look at opportunities to collaborate with our community. One of the things that he told me was that Caboolture was often referred to as the city that cares, this really resounded with me as we work for the clinical directorate that has a strategy about Caring Together.

Caboolture Palliative Care Education Day

What a great success! Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Consultant Jayne Henderson ran a full-day palliative care workshop earlier this week with 68 clinicians from across the region attending.

We welcomed several Queensland Health employees, as well as staff from local community services and residential care facilities.

Jayne had 11 presenters covering a diverse and comprehensive array of subjects – including pain and symptom management, Advance Care Planning and the importance of self-care.

All presenters were clinical experts with many years of specialist palliative experience.

The day was enthusiastically received with many participants remarking how enjoyable and informative they found the day. Well done, Jayne!

Executive updates

Director of Nursing and Midwifery

It’s with mixed emotions that I write to say Director of Nursing and Midwifery Ben Ballard will leave CKW next month to take up a new role as Director of Nursing at STARS. Ben will continue to work with us until the 23 March 2024.

During his three years at CKW, Ben has been a true cornerstone of nursing leadership, consistently exemplifying dedication and expertise. Please join me in extending our heartfelt congratulations to Ben for his great work at CKW and towards his exciting new chapter with STARS.

We will soon run a short-term Expression of Interest (EOI) process for someone to temporarily step into the role for a three-month period while a permanent recruitment process is underway.

Manager Planning and Performance

Also, I am delighted to announce that Nikia Goldsmith has been permanently appointed as CKW Manager of Planning and Performance. She has acted in the role since April last year.

Nikia brings a wealth of clinical knowledge and professional leadership. Her appointment underscores our commitment to nurturing internal talent and acknowledging individuals who exemplify exceptional leadership qualities.

Director Medical Services

A warm welcome also to Dr Donna O’Sullivan who will provide a few days of support in the Director of Medical Services (DMS) role while we continue the recruitment process for a permanent DMS.

Donna brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and skills. She will be well known to those of you who have been around Metro North and CKW as she has held roles across the network, including here.

While Donna retired from the DMS role at TPCH in December to focus on family and travel, she is happy to provide this support to CKW. Liz and I are certainly excited to have her at CKW for the time she is able to provide us. Welcome, Donna!

Dr Liz Rushbrook will also continue to provide cover for the DMS role until we have recruited.

Clinical Director Paediatrics

Finally, Paediatrics Director Dr Fred Nagel is on leave until mid-April. During this time Dr Manuel Bautista-Morales will be Acting Director during this time.

Finance Manager

From today Brett Parnell is also taking leave to travel Tasmania for three months, I have to say I am a little jealous! Katherine Carey – currently part of the Redcliffe finance team – has been successful in applying to cover the role.

Out and About!

This week, I have managed following my return from leave to get out and about in the organisation.

Noting I was limping a bit, I was lucky enough to meet Murray Smith, one of our amazing PSOs, who offered with a smile to get me a wheelchair and push me to my destination.

Murray has worked with Caboolture Hospital for a number of years and his enthusiasm and fun in doing a great job was so evident as we chatted.

Thanks Murray – you are a true champion in the CKW team.

I also have the please of meeting Wendy and Cortina who are two of our very experienced Nursing Staff on Ward 3B and Molly who was a student Nurse working with Wendy (right).

Molly told me she was having a great experience and learning a lot, she promised me she would say the same if Wendy was not there, and I truly believed here.

Wendy and Cortina both told me they had worked for Caboolture for a long time and enjoyed their jobs, although busy they all had great smiles, a welcoming approach and a true focus on the best patient care.

Additionally, I met Ava the Ward Administrator (Ava was not keen on the camera!). However, Ava was also friendly, and positive about her role and the ward.

While I was there, I stopped to chat to both patients and visitors who told me they were being well looked after and impressed with the care…

I also want to give a big shout out to Regi who celebrated her birthday on Wednesday. Regi is the cleaner in the administration and Allied Health area. When I started, I asked Regi what made her come to work for us, her answer to me was that she loved her job, she loved cleaning for others and making the place nice, tidy and clean for other. I was so impressed with this answer… but more so, I see this in Regi’s actions every day.

I have never seen Regi without a smile and a kind hello, I always know where she is as there is this beautiful citrus smell around her and she continuously strives to make all around her happy, checks in on their welfare, including letting me know if the team are working late around the place. Thankyou Regi and happy birthday week!

I also believe Regi once owned a coffee shop but never tried the coffee… don’t our staff have interesting stories.

Safety on site

As I have been out and about over the last few weeks, I have found a number of hazards around the place and just want to remind you all to check the safety of our workplace for you and our community.

Of particular note, I have found a number of cupboards that contain chemicals, cleaner’s rooms and other store cupboards, open and accessible. Please, can you ensure that these are closed and locked at all times unless you are in them.

If you walk past and see a door open that should not be, please close it. The staff using it should have the key on them or will be able to access through other procedures.

Additionally Anne, Nikia and I found this wonderful cleaning machine in a public accessible area with the keys attached … please, if you are dealing with special machinery (clinical or cleaning) or equipment that requires specialist skills, is expensive and could be some “fun” in the wrong hands, please could I ask that you ensure it is stored safely and in a way that our consumers (and staff) cannot access or potentially harm it or even worse themselves.

Staff Shout Outs!

I really want to celebrate those of you recognised in this month’s Staff Shout Outs!

• Lachlan Paterson – RMO
• Erica Tout and Kim Treglown – Food Services
• Aleesha Hampson – Acting Nursing Director MOPS
• Alex Lauer – Ward 2A
• Eden Po – Pharmacy
• Debbie Garthe – Kilcoy Antenatal Clinic
• Sharen Harrington – Ward 2A Administration
• Alana Hogan – Ward 2A
• Binod Shrestha – Ward 2A
• Marni Caddatz – Ward 2A
• Lily Hatt – Pharmacy
• Nikia Goldsmith – A/DONM
• Deborah Lasserre – Minor Incident and Illness Centre Caboolture

I am always excited to receive this list and see who in our staff have been recognised and for what.

Time is the most precious gift we give anyone and taking the time to provide a shout out truly shows a respect and appreciation for that staff member, colleague or associate.

This morning, I caught up with Aleesha, to both thank her for covering the Nurse Director, Medical and Older Persons Service (MOPS) while Marguerite was on leave and to congratulate her on receiving the Shout Out.

Aleesha was a joy to have in our leadership team and I have certainly heard from our team that they found Aleesha great to work with and that she provided strong support and clear direction while acting.

Aleesha is heading to The Prince Charles Hospital to act in the Assistant Nursing Director Internal Medicine Services role for a few weeks. We will miss her! She has promised she will be back and will share observations, learnings and opportunities on her return.

Have a great time Aleesha, I have a soft spot for Charlies but an even stronger commitment to CKW.

Please pay car parking arrears immediately

I was really concerned to hear that some Caboolture Hospital staff have car parking accounts with outstanding payments from last year still not paid.

I understand that Staff with parking arrears have been sent emails and been advised that failure to pay the outstanding amount within a specified timeframe may result in the blockage of their parking account, which is what the car park team has now had to do if the the overdue payments have not been addressed.

If you have a concern about your account please contact the carparking team on their email CabooltureCarPark@health.qld.gov.au

Staff who do not have parking accounts or have blocked accounts will still be able to access the car park. However, this would include taking a paper ticket on entry and paying the relevant public tariffing rate.

Local Government elections next month

The Electoral Commission Queensland (ECQ) is not intending to offer voting via mobile polling at Queensland hospitals or health care services next month for the local government elections.

Patients not able to vote on Saturday 16 March are eligible to use the telephone voting service.

This opens on Monday 4 March and closes at midday (for registration) and 6pm (for voting) on Saturday 16 March.

Registrations can be made by calling 1300 912 782 and choosing option 1. Voting is on the same number and choosing option 2.

Further information is available on the Commission’s website www.ecq.qld.gov.au

Kidi-fying the kids areas

Following on from my walk through paeds last week, I have been reflecting and while the tiles in the ceiling that I shared in my last message were awesome we also noted that the overall aesthetics in paediatrics are very “hospital” or “adult” so we are embarking on a project to Kidi-fy the area…

We have a mural in plan for the staff base but there are a lot of other very white walls…

We are going to work with the paediatric staff, The Common Good, consumers and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island team to do some fast work on making this a more children and family safe and inviting space.

If you have ideas or would like to be involved in some way, please let me know via the Ask Karlene link below.

Reflection of the week:

I have to say post a very quick trip to New Zealand, support crewing an UltraTrail event… which I must say is way more stressful and tiresome than actually competing… and now having had a very busy week back at CKW, I have to say I have been reminding myself about the need to relax.

Relaxing is not one of my strong points however it is something I truly try to listen to my body around and learn best from my boys who are experts!

Our jobs in health are so much more than a “job”, they come with an emotional, intellectual and physical component and, most of all, a huge amount of care and compassion that we pour into our daily activities here with our patients, consumers, community and colleagues.

I am ever so grateful as I meet more and more of you around our place to see and hear this in everyone’s conversation and behaviour, but I do want to take this time to remind you all to look after yourself and ensure you take the time to relax in whatever way revitalises you.

My little sunbasking snoozers.

Quote

“Rest is not the absence of activity but the presence of peace.” Jo Saxton