It’s the first day of spring – which means it’s just 16 weeks until Christmas. There’s still plenty of 2023 left though, and here are some of the events we’ve got to look forward to this spring:

• Redcliffe Hospital Research Symposium – Thursday 14 September
• RUOkay Day – Thursday 14 September
• Listening Post with the CE and COO – 12:30pm, Wednesday 27 September
• Redcliffe Hospital Auxiliary AGM – 10am, Friday 6 October
• #IamRedcliffe Staff BBQ – From 11am, Monday 9 October
• Redcliffe Hospital Giving Day – Thursday 12 October
• Allied Health Professionals Day – Saturday 14 October
• Nursing and Midwifery Spotlight – Thursday 9 November

Time away from work is important for everyone’s well-being. Spring is also the perfect time to look ahead to the end of the year and have a conversation with your line manager about your leave plan.

Leadership team changes

There are a couple of staff changes that everyone should be aware of.

We introduced our new Finance Director, Akhil Kapoor to our Managers Forum this week. Akhil is enjoying getting to know Redcliffe Hospital and Metro North Health, and we’re very pleased to welcome him to the hospital.

Paul Simpson will be our acting Director for Safety & Quality for the next few weeks while Melanie Voight is on leave. Paula Herczegh is filling in for Paul as the lead for Infection Prevention and Control.

Redcliffe Hospital Facebook posts

In case you missed it, our Facebook page this week featured two great posts about Redcliffe Hospital staff and facilities.

One post featured the Redcliffe Hospital Rehabilitation Unit, with a short interview with acting NUM Amelia Hadley, and another helped promote recruitment for a clinical midwife consultant position with maternity. That post featured an interview with Georgina Caldwell.

Make sure you’re following us on Facebook by clicking here.

Redcliffe Hosptial Expansion update

Thank you to everyone involved in the first stage of our Redcliffe Hospital Expansion user groups. Over the last few weeks, we’ve had all 25 user
groups meet to focus on a different aspect of the hospital expansion and clinical service delivery.

Most of those user groups have also had consumer participation, meeting our commitment to consumer co-design. The next round of user
groups will start in October, with a final round to be completed before Christmas. The user groups inform the schematic design of the hospital
expansion, which is why it’s so important we have strong staff and consumer engagement.

There’s now also a QHEPS page to help keep everyone up to date with the Redcliffe Hospital Expansion.  Click here to find out more.

Making Redcliffe Hospital greener

The hospital has become a little greener recently with the rollout of bin-free desks and recycling stations in break and tea rooms.

The recycling stations are part of a partnership with Containers for Change, with the container refunds helping to fund and support the Redcliffe Hospital Auxiliary.

Read the change on the Metro North Facebook page, here.

Introducing CALD Assist

Metro North Health is encouraging clinical staff to get to know CALD Assist as part of this year’s Multicultural Queensland Month.

It’s a free app developed by the CSIRO with health professionals, interpreters and patients. The app supports clinicians and health workers in communicating with patients with limited English language proficiency and asking simple questions in low-risk clinical situations.

The app is not designed to replace the use of an interpreter but does use 250 phrases commonly used during basic health care interactions translated and recorded in 10 common languages, including Arabic, Cantonese, Croatian, Greek, Italian, Macedonian, Mandarin, Serbian, Spanish, Vietnamese and English.

Please download the app today and become familiar with what it offers. For more information on CALD Assist, click here.

Staff Forum reminder

Lastly this week, a reminder about our Staff Forum next Thursday afternoon on Teams. The appointment should be in your Outlook calendar.  Our Staff Forums are open for all staff to attend, and they’re a good opportunity to ask questions about anything you need to know more about.

I look forward to talking to everyone more next Thursday!

Geoff.