Louise Oriti, Executive Director

With the wet weather earlier this week impacting our hospital and community, I would like to give a special thank you to the staff who went above and beyond.

Many staff members activated quickly to find solutions to the challenges we were facing, and others worked overtime to ensure we were able to continue to provide care. The combination of wet weather impacts and an already busy hospital meant we had to think outside the box and respond strategically, and I was proud to see our efforts resulting in positive outcomes for our patients and each other. Many thanks to you all.

SET Staff Forum

Yesterday, the Metro North Senior Executive Team held a staff forum for all RBWH staff in the Education Centre. It was good to hear from Metro North’s senior leaders about their portfolios and priorities for the year. There was also an opportunity for staff to ask questions, raise concerns and provide suggestions to improve RBWH. One RBWH nursing staff member bravely spoke up about their concerns around burnout and lack of innovation in their clinical area of expertise. Myself, alongside the Metro North Senior Executive Team, have now committed to working with this staff member and their team to advance their ideas for patients and the workplace. Please remember there are many opportunities for you to raise ideas and concerns with your line managers, myself and other senior leaders, such as my weekly Brief the Boss session.

RBWH 14-Day Self-Care Challenge

As we set our sights on our goals for 2024, it’s important to remember that caring for ourselves is the first step in being able to give our best to our work, patients and colleagues. RBWH Staff Wellbeing Consultant Liz Crowe will be launching the annual RBWH 14-Day Self-Care Challenge on Monday 12 February, where she is encouraging all RBWH staff to spend 14 days committing to themselves with a range of activities which can be done either individually or with your teams. I strongly encourage you all to consider taking part in the challenge and to see what positive new habits you can implement into your daily life. I personally look forward to taking part. Mark the date in your calendar and keep an eye out in your email inbox for further details.

To get yourself into a self-care frame of mind, I encourage you to listen to the Five Things RBWH Nursing Podcast, hosted by Liz Crowe and Jesse Spurr. The podcast has just reached 51,000 downloads from across the world. Let’s make it 100,000!

Positive feedback

I’d like to share some positive feedback we’ve recently received for the 8A South team, who frequently care for patients with complex conditions and injuries.

My husband was recently a patient in ward 8A South. I would like to extend my absolute gratitude and admiration for all the nursing staff during this time. I was there every day for over seven hours and every single nurse who cared for him was so kind, patient and the epitome of professionalism that I was inspired to send this email. This is a very challenging ward with patients suffering the most extreme injuries and yet all the staff exhibited nursing skills that were excellent. The support staff such as physiotherapy, dieticians and occupational therapists were also exceptional. I intend to send a thank you card personally, but wanted to officially acknowledge the excellent quality of care in this ward.

On a personal note

I have been in a range of complex family, patient feedback meetings over the past few months. In these meetings, I have heard the variations in how our community sees us, our systems and our communication with them and each other. As a collective, we must continue to listen to the consumers of our care and focus on what they are trying to tell us.

Whilst it can be tough for us to hear some feedback from consumers, I must commend the staff I have attended these meetings with. They are open, constructive, and genuinely want to improve the care we deliver. Our communication with patients and their loved ones is a major focus for improvement at RBWH.

Thank you to all staff for your ongoing commitment to our patients.

Kind regards,

Louise.