Louise Oriti, Executive Director
It appears we are seeing the impact of winter on the demand for our services. Your teamwork and high levels of multidisciplinary cooperation are evident throughout the organisation. Your work is appreciated.
NAIDOC Week
Today is the second last day of National NAIDOC Week, which runs from 2-9 July. It has been great to be part of the RBWH celebrations alongside our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues and community. The theme of this year is ‘For Our Elders’, who paved the pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, taught them knowledge and history and passed down art, stories and wisdom. As part of RBWH’s NAIDOC Week celebrations, yesterday we hosted a special presentation from “The Domo Boys”, three Aboriginal Elders who were part of The Stolen Generation. This was an exceptionally moving story about a period in our history and the three Elders left us with an important question that we must each answer, “What will you do to improve the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our care?”.
Research at RBWH
We are placing a renewed focus on research at RBWH and RBWH Director, Research and Implementation Michael O’Sullivan is developing a roadmap for our future research goals. The roadmap will commence with a gap analysis to ascertain where we need to be placing our efforts, followed by extensive consultation. Michael has many ideas to help bring research to new heights such as embedding research in clinical services, increasing the Research and Implementation Service’s physical presence, and enhanced leveraging of partnerships and external funding. Please stay tuned for further details in the coming months.
Consumers – our partners
Last week in our Executive Leadership meeting we discussed how to better support patients with their meals. One of our Consumer Representatives Anja Christoffersen shared her experience of being in hospital and how difficult it was for some patients to reach and open their meals. She expressed that the simple act of a passing staff member helping push a meal tray closer to the patient or opening a packet would make a positive difference to a patient’s meal experience. In Anja’s words, ‘whoever sees it, addresses it’, highlighting that all staff can help, irrespective of their role. This sentiment is applicable to many aspects of our work here at RBWH, and I encourage you to apply this as you move throughout the hospital each day. It is up to all of us to showcase integrity and do the right thing, even when no one is watching.
On a personal note
NAIDOC Week has been inspiring and thought-provoking and has further highlighted the importance of health equity to me. On a different note, I recently visited the Gastroenterology service. I appreciated the way the team swiftly escalated an important infrastructure matter, got the right people involved, sought advice, and took rapid action. Patient care was always at the centre of their decision-making.
Thank you for the work you do in serving our community.
Kind regards,
Louise.