Redcliffe Hospital is now on tier one of our Acute Respiratory Illness response plan.

This change came into effect on Tuesday and reflected the increase in respiratory illnesses like flu, RSV, and COVID circulating in the community and the hospital.

In practical terms, the change means hospital staff are strongly recommended to wear a surgical mask. N95 masks and protective eyewear are now required whenever staff are caring for a patient with a suspected acute respiratory illness. Staff caring for patients with a confirmed respiratory illness will need to apply the appropriate PPE and transmission-based precautions relevant to the patient’s condition.

There are no changes to visitor access to the hospital, planned care, volunteers, or training and meetings.

It’s essential that everyone continues to play their part in caring for themselves and each other with things like:

• strong attention to hand hygiene
• staying home when you’re unwell
• keeping your fit test certification up to date
• checking your infection prevention mandatory training is current
• COVID-19 and flu vaccinations.

If you have any questions about any of these, please talk to your line manager.

National Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week began last Friday and was marked at Redcliffe Hospital by a Yarning Circle for National Sorry Day. Thank you to everyone who came along, including Metro North’s Chief Executive Jackie Hanson, to yarn about our commitment to Health Equity and our journey toward reconciliation.

On Tuesday, our events for National Reconciliation Week continued, with our Raising of the Flags outside the Emergency Department.

We concluded Reconciliation Week this morning with another Yarning Circle, talking about the significance of Mabo Day.

Thank you again to our Acting Cultural Capability Officer Mellissa Maley, for leading our
Yarning Circles and our Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group for their support of
these events.

Making it count – tip of the week

Our campaign to make all our clinical work count continues this week with another tip from Health Information Services.

Cellulitis with abscess and patient commenced on antibiotics?
Please document if being treated for both cellulitis and abscess.

To find out more about why accurate records as essential – talk to Health Information Services on 3883 7295.

Short notice accreditation update

Last week, Metro North’s Chief Executive Jackie Hanson announced a change to the way short-notice accreditation will be rolled out. Instead of all Metro North hospitals and directorates being assessed together, accreditation will occur directorate by directorate.

This doesn’t change the fact that Redcliffe still needs to be ready for accreditation assessment any time from 1 July this year.

To help everyone prepare for short notice accreditation assessment, Metro North has a series of vidcasts focussing on each of the national standards. The latest of these vidcasts was broadcast yesterday, focussing on comprehensive care.

There are three more vidcasts to come, including:

• Preventing and controlling infections – 10am Monday, 12 June
• Blood management – 1pm Wednesday, 28 June
• Communicating for safety – 11am Friday, 30 June

If you’ve missed any of these vidcasts, they’ve all been recorded and are available on QHEPS.

A reminder about the staff survey

Lastly this week, a reminder about the Have Your Say Staff Survey.

So far, more than 6,200 Metro North staff have had their say, providing their candid feedback, ideas for change, and suggestions on how we can all make our teams, hospitals, and health services better.

The survey closes next Friday. Please don’t miss this opportunity to have your say. Take the survey.

Louise.