It’s official! Community and Oral Health has been fully accredited for the next 12 months by the Australian Council of Health Care Standards.

The directorate has met every action listed in all of the standards. Well done team COH!

This outcome was the result of a lot of hard work across every service line, and supported by the  guidance of our safety and quality team.

For those that we missed!

Not everyone could attend our COH Staff Excellence Awards ceremonies which were held at Brighton, Stafford, Caboolture, Chermside, Herston, North Lakes, Cooinda House and the Oral Health Centre recently.

However, Lainie White, Manager Corporate Services took the time to personally thank and recognise Amanda Philp at their facility meeting late last week.

Amanda, was a very popular and deserving dual winner of the Excellence in Performance category and here is why:

“Amanda provided incredible support and planning to facilitate the move of the Caboolture Dental Clinic to the Satellite Hospital.

“No task was to difficult nor request too small for this turbo-charged achiever. Amanda enabled the Caboolture leadership team to make a seamless transition to enable the provision of clinical services on opening day.

“Amanda’s project management expertise enabled her to ensure the leadership team could continue providing service delivery confident in the knowledge that she had their back to support them on the relocation journey.

“Amanda, we could not have done such a fine job without your encouragement, communication, organisation and determination.”

Compliment – Rapid Access to Community Care Service Since its inception late last year, the Rapid Access to Community Care Service (RACC) has been making a wonderful difference to our patients, and ensuring that many elderly people in the community have better access to community care and support at home. Please find following a great compliment about the service: “Thank you to the RACC service for sending Alyse the occupational therapist to help my husband. “Alyse was so helpful and showed a lot of respect, compassion and kindness, and resolved my husband’s problem, which he will be eternally grateful for. “The RACC service is a great benefit to the whole community and I hope it will continue. Thank you.”

Farewell to John

Many of you will fondly know John Axam the Facility Manager for Nundah Community Health Centre and Halwyn Centre who recently announced his retirement.

John will be retiring from Queensland Health, taking leave from 3/12/2023, with an official retirement date of 3/02/2024.

John commenced in Public Works in 1988 and began work with Queensland Health in Corporate Office in 1999. He has dedicated his service in our business for nearly 24 years.

His current role is Facility Manager (a post he has held for half of his career), currently at Nundah Community Health Centre and Halwyn Centre.

John’s passion for building assets and maintenance is what’s made him a key contact within the Administration cohort.

He has contributed to the facility teams through his stability, hard work and dedication ensuring the very best for his staff and facilities.

John has been an invaluable member of the facility team and will leave a lasting impact. Please join our facility teams and broader COH, in wishing John all the very best upon his retirement.

Understanding gifts and sponsorships Lots of great work has been done this year to build partnerships with our community. Partnerships and collaborations are important, but as public sector employees, we’re also bound by rules around gifts and sponsorships. With Christmas nearly here, it’s time to remind ourselves of those rules about which gifts can be accepted, what needs to be declared, and what should be declined. If your team is planning an event, education or training session that involves a company or organisation providing “free” catering or donations, this maybe a sponsorship that needs approval at the Metro North level. More information about how sponsorships work is available on QHEPS or by talking to Metro North Communications.

DV Safe Phone Fundraiser Walk

Please join Michelle Kane and Lainie White,  and Community and Oral Health staff for a wellness walk that will raise funds for a great cause – DV Safe Phones.

Date: Thursday 7 December
Where: Brighton Waterfront
Time: 6:30 am – Meet at the cafe

Mobile phones are something many of us take for granted. Many of us have old phones at home stored away. But did you know your old phone could save a life?

DV Safe Phone focuses on collecting and repurposing old mobile phones to victims of domestic violence. These ‘Safe Phones’ provide a lifeline to call for help, when it’s needed the most.

A final shout out

With 23-years’ experience as a Food Services Officer at Brighton Health Campus, Tanya knows her way around the kitchen and has also gained a great deal of knowledge about nutrition.

Tanya is currently acting as an assistant nutritionist and loves being part of the service line for breakfast, lunch and tea, and delivering meals to patients and residents across the campus.

Read more …

Mary Wheeldon
A/Executive Director
Community and Oral Health