Message from the Acting Executive Director

Staff Excellence Awards nominations open

Nominations for the Metro North Staff Excellence Awards are now open. If you would like to nominate an individual or a team, send in your nomination before Monday 13 November. The ceremony will be held on Friday 15 December. The categories include:

• Excellence in Integrated Care
• Excellence in Performance
• Excellence in Training and Education
• First Nations Staff
• Improving First Nations Health
• Innovation
• Leadership
• People Focus
• Values in Action

Occupational Violence Prevention forum

Safety at the hospital is everyone’s responsibility. Metro North is calling for staff members from all areas to attend the Metro North Occupational Violence Prevention Forum on Thursday 9 November, 12-4pm at Eatons Hill Hotel. The forum will discuss the renewed approach to occupational violence prevention across our health service and provide a deeper understanding of how we can better support our colleagues. The forum will also be an opportunity to workshop new ideas to prevent future occupational violence. To participate, nominate below.

STARS Cupcake Competition and Bake Sale

Last week, we held our Cupcake Competition and Bake Sale. There were some amazing, creative and delicious entries from our very talented staff. The winners of the Best Decorated competition were Alison Pickering (1st), Roxanne Edwards-McGuire (2nd) and Abrianna Edmans (3rd). The winners of the Best Tasting competition were Apala Seeto (1st), Roxanne Edwards McGuire (2nd) and Kirsten Braun (3rd).

The Bake Sale was a huge success with over $500 raised for the RBWH Foundation. Thank you to staff who baked cupcakes and made a purchase on the day, to our judges, Tamsin Mahoney, Ben Hackwood, Steph Miller and Simone Garske and to the RBWH Foundation and the STARS Staff Council for providing the competition prizes.

Left and middle -Alison Pickering’s winning entries for Best Decorated
Right – Apala Seeto’s winning entry for Best Tasting.

Hand Hygiene Quarterly Awards

A big congratulations to the winners of our recent Hand Hygiene awards. The clinical area winner this quarter goes to 4A, sitting close to 95% compliance.

Our auditors do a great job every single quarter. Thank you for all your hard work!  Our winner for auditor of the quarter is Rhea Majaducon, 4A with highly commended going to Maritess Alberto, 6B and Lynette Grubwinkler, Theatre.

International Infection Prevention Week (IIPW) 2023

Thank you to all the members of PACI who were able to come on down to participate and support IIPW this week at the stand on Level 3. We had a fantastic participation in the games, “Match the swab stick to the disease”, “What disease am I?” and word jumble. All participants went in the draw to win a $30.00 movie voucher. A big congratulations to Dr Sarah Anderson (who sits on our committee) and Adrianne Makatu, Procedural outpatients.

Have your Say Manager’s support

Managers who are looking for additional support with their Have Your Say survey results and action plans can attend one of the upcoming Manager Support Sessions, hosted by the Culture, Engagement and Wellbeing Team. Before attending these sessions
participants are advised to ensure they have

• Received and read their report – come to the session being able to discuss their ‘first impressions’
• Completed HYS Accreditation TMS – Two parts. Preparing for the HYS Survey and What Does the Data Mean?

Tuesday 14 November 2023
2.00-3.00pm
Microsoft Teams meeting

Thursday 16 November 2023
2.00-3.00pm
Microsoft Teams meeting 

Occupational Therapy Week (23-29 October)

Happy Occupational Therapy Week to all the OTs at STARS. Our OTs play an important role at STARS, helping patients resume activities that ‘occupy’ a person’s daily life, which encompasses ‘rehabbing’ the whole person. The week was celebrated with a number of fun activities at STARS and also a Metro North-wide staff lunch with OTs from Caboolture, TPCH, STARS, RBWH and COH.

Operational Services BBQ sessions

Last Friday, two BBQ sessions were organised to celebrate Operational Services Month at STARS, including members of our Patient Food Services, Patient Support Services, Security Services, Waste Management, and Imprest Services. A big thanks to Kiran Paul and Bibin Kurian for coordinating, and also to numerous Operational and Clinical team members for supporting such a great event.

Visit from Shenzhen delegates

On Tuesday, STARS hosted a visit from 23 health delegates from Shenzhen, China, facilitated by Associated Professor Clair Sullivan, Director Queensland Digital Health Centre (UQ). The visit was part of an international outreach program to foster clinical connections and education opportunities. The delegates were very impressed by the architecture and features of the STARS facility and the level of patient care provided, particularly in the rehabilitation space. One of the delegates said that it would be his dream to work in such a facility! Hosting the Shenzhen delegates was a wonderful reminder of what an amazing place STARS is to work. Thank you to everyone who helped facilitate this visit.

Acting Executive Director role

I will be taking leave from today, returning on Monday 4 December. During this time Geoff Grima will be in the Acting Executive Director role. Please make him feel welcome.

Christmas decorating comp

Christmas is just around the corner and so is our annual Christmas Decorating Competition. The 2023 theme is “Tropical”, as chosen by last year’s winner, Day Surgery. We can’t wait to see everyone’s interpretations of the theme. Look out for more details in a future staff bulletin.

Kind regards,

Dale.