Louise Oriti, Executive Director, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital
As we head towards the Easter long weekend, I would like to say a special thank you to all RBWH staff who are working during this time. I appreciate your commitment to our patients and hope you still manage to enjoy some Easter chocolate. For those who have some time off, please take this opportunity to relax with your friends and families.
Compassionate Care Principles
As part of Metro North’s commitment to the Compassionate Care Principles, it is important for RBWH to ensure flexible visiting hours are available for all patients and their families. Consumers have identified that the current system of restricting visiting hours is not patient centred and at times has resulted in traumatic experiences for both the patient and their family/carer. This has also been highlighted as a gap for us in the recent peer review in preparation for Short Notice Accreditation. Please remove any signage in your wards that references specific visiting hours and work with your teams to ensure flexible visiting hours are fully implemented.
Odyssey
In 2022, patient flow was identified as one of the top three priorities for RBWH to improve patient safety and care. The hospital undertook a facility-wide diagnostic to identify current processes, better understand what patients are waiting for and find out where the roadblocks are. Now, we are launching Odyssey, a reform program aimed at reducing the long patient journey from one place to another. Over the next 12 months, the Odyssey team will be supporting all areas of the hospital to implementing a range of initiatives and processes aimed at improving the patient flow experience for both patients and staff. The program is not just about efficiency, but about providing better care for our patients. Please stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.
Have Your Say
From May 19, Metro North will once again be undertaking the Have Your Say Staff Survey. This is your opportunity to provide feedback on your experiences in the workplace and suggest improvements that could be integrated to improve the way we work together. The results from this year’s survey will be compared to the previous two Have Your Say Surveys to see how we are tracking as a health service and as individual facilities. As a result of the past surveys, RBWH has implemented a range of new initiatives including improved staff orientation, a multicultural health network, better communication and more professional and personal development opportunities. For more information, visit the Have Your Say QHEPS page.
Research
It is inspiring to see such an excellent culture of research at RBWH and I was recently made aware of RBWH’s involvement in the Every Week Counts – National Preterm Birth Collaborative. The aim of the initiative is to reduce early births by 20 per cent by March 2024, with more than 50 hospitals across Australia and New Zealand partaking in this world first collaborative. I look forward to working with our talented researchers to continue to evolve and strengthen our research culture.
On a personal note, I am off to Townsville for Easter to spend time with my son and three grandchildren. There will be ambling walks, games on the swings and of course, the obligatory Easter egg hunt. This is my favourite time of the year!
Thank you for the work you do in serving our community.
Kind regards,
Louise.