Louise Oriti, Executive Director, Redcliffe Hospital

I’ve had the opportunity to really consider what constitutes good care and great care over the past few weeks.

You may know that my father has had dementia. Caring for him took a huge collaborative effort from my mother, carers, my three brothers, and other family members. After several falls and increasing care demands, residential care became inevitable. He was in there around ten days before passing.

During the palliative care phase, we all formed the view that good care meant the GP who had looked after Dad for 25+ years guiding his palliative plan. Good care meant aged care staff making a challenging situation okay by listening, acting on what they said they would do, having a sense of humour, and being super kind to my father.

Great care has several components. It requires clinical competence, pleasantness, and all parties listening and understanding each other. The X-factor of great care is a genuine connection that makes “it” all come together in a way that just works for everyone.

Another example of what great care looks like happened here at Redcliffe Hospital late last Thursday afternoon and into Friday morning. Our social work, ICU, security, and food services teams all came together to help provide a patient and their family with the dignity, compassion, and cultural understanding that made the difference between good care and great care. Through their combined efforts, more than 100 of the patient’s family and community members (both here at the hospital and abroad) were able to say goodbye and share in a culturally appropriate farewell to someone they loved and cared for.

Fiona English, who coordinated this most important interaction, also wanted to acknowledge Geoff Grima for his technological skills to make this possible, as well as Grant Carey-Ide and Sally Ware for their rapid supportive response.

January Team of the Month

Our #IamRedcliffe Agreed Behaviours are all about supporting and celebrating those who make that great care possible. Congratulations to our first #IamRedcliffe Team of the Month for 2022, Justin Gafney from Medical Imaging. Justin was nominated for the way he always puts patients at the centre of his decisions. Well done also to our other nominees for January: Leah Ebert, Sarah Jensen, Jeanette Olive, and our supply team.

There are plenty of people at Redcliffe Hospital that provide great care. Along with a Team of the Month nomination, you can say thank you to show our appreciation by sending an #IamRedcliffe Thank You – click here to find out how.

More changes this week

Where we are stepping back our COVID-19 response, we are doing this based on evidence and not optimism. Nothing has changed that should divert us from strict adherence to correct use of PPE, hand hygiene, and physical distancing. We remain on a Tier Three level response, and our situation still mandates a high standard of vigilance from us all.

Last Friday, the Day Procedure Unit stood down as an ICU expansion space. The DPU is now preparing to return to endoscopy work.

We’ve consolidated our two COVID-19 wards into a single unit and, after a deep clean, the Palliative Care Unit has returned home.

In line with the rest of Metro North Health, this week we’ve welcomed back to the hospital those staff who had been approved to work from home.

Our COVID-19 updates have also been scaled back to only once a week, on Thursdays at 2:30pm. You’ll find those details in your Outlook calendar.

What’s not changing

One thing that won’t change is the importance of COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters. There was another pop-up vaccination booster clinic for staff yesterday in the library. If you’re due for your booster, can get it at any Metro North vaccination clinic.

Likewise, the importance for all hospital staff to be fit tested has not changed either. Bookings for fit testing can be made by clicking here. If you’re still yet to be fit tested for two masks, please let your line manager know right away. If you have any concerns about fit testing, you can submit them via the fit testing feedback portal.

After a challenging start to the year, we’re now seeing things change for the better, both in our hospital and in the community. Please continue to bring your A-game, and provide our patients and community with more of that great care.

Louise Oriti
Executive Director
Redcliffe Hospital