Dale Dally-Watkins, Acting Executive Director

Have your Say survey

Today is your last day to take part in the Have your Say survey. The response from STARS staff has been amazing with 66% of staff having their say so far. Thanks to all of you who have already taken the time to fill out the survey. If you haven’t had a chance, please find some time today to tells us what we are doing well and where we could improve. If your team has 100% participation rate you could win a social team building prize! The following teams at STARS are in the draw:

• Social work
• Nursing Case Managers
• Rehabilitation Engineering

Visit from the Health Minister

On Monday afternoon the Minister for Health, Mental Health and Ambulance Services and Minister for Women, Shannon Fentiman visited STARS as part of her tour of Queensland health services. The Minister was impressed by the wonderful facilities offered at STARS and the impressive work that we do here caring for the people of Queensland. She met with staff and patients in several areas of the hospital including level 5, day surgery, outpatients, and rehabilitation engineering. Thank you to all the staff that rearranged their schedules to make themselves available for the visit.

RBWH Foundation’s Giving Day

Thank you to staff who supported the RBWH Foundation’s Giving Day on Wednesday. The day was a huge success, raising over $560,000. Congratulations to all those involved in the day, including our staff who decorated their wards. The funds raised will be distributed through the RBWH Foundation grants program to advance patient experiences and research across RBWH, STARS and other Herston research institutes and centres. Fundraising from the 2022 Giving Day resulted in $520,000 being distributed through the Foundation’s inaugural Extraordinary Opportunities Grants. I will keep you informed of when this year’s grant round opens.

Short notice accreditation

We are getting close to July 1, the date from which short-notice accreditation assessment could occur. Our recent peer review identified a few areas for improvement, including mandatory training and Performance Development Plans (PDP). If you could please work towards having any mandatory training requirements up-to-date and if you haven’t done a PDP in the past 12 months, please talk to your line manager about scheduling one soon. PDPs give staff the chance to discuss development opportunities such as extra training and/or on-the-job development. If you have completed your PDP in the past year, please ensure it’s been recorded in TMS.

Respect in the workplace survey

You can help shape the future of our workplace by participating in the Queensland public sector ‘Respect in the workplace survey’. The survey has been developed to understand your experiences and gain information that will inform future policies and resources designed to stop, prevent and better manage sexual harassment within our workplaces. You can access the survey until Tuesday 20 June.

Annual leave and Acting Executive Director role

I will be going on annual leave from Friday June 16, returning on Monday July 17, 2023. During this time, Karlene Willcocks, Director of Operations EPIC from TPCH will take up the role of A/Executive Director at STARS. Karlene brings a broad range of skills and knowledge from her current and previous roles to share with us at STARS. I know you will all extend a warm welcome to Karlene when she starts in the role.

Kind regards,

Dale.