Louise Oriti, Executive Director
Remembrance Day
This Saturday is Remembrance Day, marking the anniversary of the end of World War I. We recognise and pay our respects to all those who have lost their lives serving in wars. At 11am on 11 November we remain silent for two minutes. Here at RBWH, the Last Post will sound throughout the hospital, except for in wards that require silence.
Presently, there are still many wars being fought around the world and lives being lost to conflict. Remembrance Day is also a reminder of how fortunate we are to live in Australia, where we are able to carry out our work and care for our patients in safety.
I would like to give thanks to everyone who has served, including the many Australian Defence Force Reservists who work at RBWH. Thank you for your significant service.
Service Line re-alignment
The Emergency and Trauma Centre (ETC) is moving from under the Service Line of Critical Care & Clinical Support Services (CC&CSS), to Internal Medicine Services (IMS). This has been part of the RBWH Business Case for Change, implemented over several years. Patients who are seen in the ETC, who are then admitted, often become inpatients of a ward in IMS. By incorporating the ETC into IMS, this Service Line will be more reflective of the patient journey. With this move, IMS will soon be changing its name to include reference to the ETC.
I wish to acknowledge and thank the CC&CSS, IMS and ETC leadership for their collaboration.
Radiographers and radiation therapists
National Radiographers and Radiation Therapists Week
Radiographers and radiation therapists play a vital role in health care and delivering care to patients. This group of highly skilled allied health professionals work closely with a range of teams throughout the hospital. RBWH is among a small number of tertiary hospitals in Queensland that offers radiation therapy, and it is thanks to our dedicated team here at RBWH that we can deliver this complex multidisciplinary service. Thank you to all the radiographer and radiation therapists at RBWH.
2024 Australian of the Year nominee
Director of Cardiac Science, Adjunct Professor Adam Scott, was recently a Queensland nominee for the 2024 Australian of the Year awards. Adam’s highly esteemed work in creating the Cardiovascular Telemedicine Program in Rural Australia has seen patients in rural and remote communities receive responsive and timely cardiovascular care. Adam is a dedicated clinician who is always thinking outside the box in terms of delivering care to patients. He also founded the White Cloud Foundation in 2011 to help people access treatment for anxiety and depression. Thank
you Adam for your exemplary work.
Welcome to the Director of Performance and Clinical Service Planning
With over 20 years of experience in Queensland Health, working with Hospital and Health Services in Brisbane’s north, Anne-Maree Bouwman has joined RBWH. The newly created role will work with Service Lines and clinical and non-clinical teams to help plan, improve and monitor health services at RBWH. Anne-Maree comes with extensive experience in data analytics, Safety & Quality, planning and performance. She is poised to help us identify opportunities and plan for the future, and is also excited to be working at a tertiary facility with exceptional services and models of care. Welcome Anne-Maree.
Have Your Say staff forums
On Monday, I will be joined by the RBWH Professional Leads to host the first of three staff forums where we will present RBWH’s results of the Have Your Say survey. I encourage you all to attend if you can. It will be a great opportunity to hear directly from you about how we can improve life at RBWH. See you at the Education Centre on Monday, 13 November at 3-4pm. You can also attend online via Teams.
This Sunday is Diwali, the festival of lights, a celebration of great significance for many Hindus, Sikhs and Jains. The celebration is a time for giving thanks and offering prayers for good health and prosperity. For those staff who are joining in the festivities this weekend, I hope you enjoy the celebrations.
Thank you to you all for your work in caring for our community.
Kind regards,
Louise.