I really enjoy sharing some of the great work that is going on across our directorate and taking the time to visit our facilities and talking to our staff as much as possible.

This week I spent some time with staff at our oral health and community services at Caboolture, Brighton Brain Injury Service, Gannet House and North Lakes.

Our popular executive roadshows will continue this month with the next facility visit planned for Brighton Health Campus on Tuesday 21 March with a staff afternoon tea at 2.00 pm under the blue sails.

This will include the announcement of our winners of the March Shining Star Award for Brighton. So, please take some time to nominate your peers for the March Shining Star Award.

Nominations can be sent to COH-Communications@health.qld.gov.au by Wednesday 15 March.

Metro North Oral Health Service takes the lead

Our Metro North Oral Health Services is taking the lead on behalf of Queensland Health in the first comprehensive oral health study in more than a decade.

More than 5,500 school students are expected to be a part of the University of Queensland project, which is being delivered in collaboration with Queensland Health and Queensland Department of Education at randomly selected state, independent and Catholic schools.

The study would gather valuable information on childhood rates of dental decay and disease, and behaviours and attitudes to oral health. Shorncliffe State School was the first school to participate in this study.

The study is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and supported by Clinical Excellence Queensland.

Sharing some great milestones

Here are just a few highlights from across Community and Oral Health.

• All of our teams need a good pat on the back as we continue to do exceptionally well managing our budget and meeting performance targets.
• Our Rapid Access to Community Services reached an important milestone by supporting the 100^th patient this week, and this is significant given the level of multidisciplinary support required for each complex case.
• Our general dental care teams should be congratulated for their exceptional work behind the scenes maintaining our wait lists over the past 12 months.
• Our SPACE team are doing wonderfully well by helping patients pass away peacefully in their homes, and this is supporting the patient, families and hospitals.
• The Metro North Oral Health Child and Adolescent Service has commenced the Fluoride Varnish Program.
• Interim care over the past year has seen a steady increase in bed capacity from 32 up to 42 beds and now is maintaining occupancy at around 100 per cent. Again, yet another example of how we are supporting hospitals, patients and families.

Our Rehabilitation Unit has joined numerous hospitals who are participating in the pilot of the statewide Sepsis Project, with the aim of educating and upskilling our workforce to improve patient outcomes.

Queensland Adult Specialist Immunisation Service

Many of you would have heard of Metro North’s Queensland Adult Specialist Immunisation Service (QASIS) during COVID-19, where the specialist team assisted hundreds of Queenslanders with complex medical conditions to receive their COVID-19 vaccinations.

Recently, the service has expanded their scope of practice to provide vaccination advice on a broad range of vaccinations, with a particular focus on those in the National Immunisation Program.

The service is available to people across Queensland aged 16 and over who have previously had an adverse event following immunisation or are at risk of a significant adverse event, have an underlying complex medical condition and are unable to be vaccinated in a primary healthcare setting, and require post immunisation supervision in a hospital setting.

If you have a patient who could benefit from the service, I encourage you to get in touch with the team. You can find out more on the QASIS website.

Get Involved! Get Engaged!

Community and Oral Health are inviting interest in joining our COH Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Working Group for 2023.

If you are interested in reconciliation and developing stronger relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians this is an opportunity to be a positive force for changing the culture, work practices and core business of COH.

Please email your interest ASAP to Vaughan Travers (Administration Support Officer) vaughan.travers@health.qld.gov.au

In addition, we are still seeking your view on the draft Community and Oral Health Workforce Plan 2023-25.

To make it easier we have developed a COH Workforce Plan on a Page document that details our three key priorities as aligned to the Queensland Health Workforce Strategy 2032.

Please, can all staff initially review the Workforce document which outlines our priorities and actions, and then provide feedback via the COH Workforce Plan Feedback Form.

Glynis.