This week Metro North moved to Tier 1 in our Acute Respiratory Illness (ARI) response plan due to an increase in people presenting to emergency departments or being admitted to Metro North facilities.

There are a number of things that you can do to keep our patients, our colleagues and the broader community safer at this time:

• Stay home if you are sick – let us know as soon as possible through MyHR
• Practice good hand and respiratory hygiene
• Ensure your flu and COVID vaccinations are up to date and annual fit testing is completed

For more information, please access the Metro North Acute Respiratory Illness Response Plan Tier 1.

Short notice accreditation preparedness

In preparation for short notice accreditation at STARS, this week I would like to focus on Standards 3 and 4, Preventing and Controlling Infections, and Medication Safety.

The Preventing and Controlling Infections Standard aims to reduce the risk of acquiring preventable infections and effectively manage infections, if they occur. It also includes appropriate prescribing and use of antimicrobials to prevent and contain antimicrobial resistance.

The Medication Safety Standard aims to ensure that clinicians safely prescribe, dispense and administer appropriate medicines and that consumers are informed about medicines, and understand their own medicine needs and risks.

Some practical steps that staff can take to prepare for these Standards are:

• having excellent hand hygiene (the five moments)
• being bare below the elbow
• wearing PPE correctly and as per transmission-based and standard precautions
• cleaning the WOW between patients
• using antibiotics wisely and as per protocol
• asking patients about their medication history
• correctly using the ieMR and scanner for medicine administration
• ensuring allergies are documented and reviewed.

For more information on the National and Safety Quality Standards, including tips and vidcasts, see the QHEPS page.

PDP compliance

Metro North Health is committed to putting people first with a focus on our people’s career development and supporting them to understand what’s expected of them in their roles. Performance Development Plans (PDPs) are a crucial component in this process.

Please ensure you prioritise completing PDP meetings with your team members and updating the PDP completion status in TMS.

If you would like more information on PDPs, see the QHEPS page.

Safe Work Month activities and competition winners

Last month, STARS celebrated National Safe Work Month, a time to reflect and reinvigorate
our commitment to the safety and wellbeing of our dedicated workforce. A number of fun activities and competitions were held across Metro North facilities, including STARS.

Congratulations to the STARS competition winners:

Spot the Hazard – Jaime-Elise Rodda

Lolly Jar Challenge – Troy Peters

Let us keep our focus on safety, not only for the month of October, but on an ongoing basis!

Staff Excellence Awards

Tickets to the Metro North Staff Excellence Awards have now  gone on sale. The event will once again be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, on Friday 15 December. The awards celebrate staff who make a significant contribution and demonstrate a strong commitment to our Metro North values.

More information and to reserve your tickets.

Staff Forums

Thank you to staff who attended the weekly Staff Forum. This week, we discussed the move to Tier 1 in our ARI, short notice accreditation and heard presentations from Peter Slattery on the amazing work of the Rehabilitation Engineering Centre and from our new A / Safety Advisor, Kiralee Groom. Don’t forget, if you would like to suggest a topic for a future Staff Forum, you can now submit it via this link or QR code below.

Take care,

Geoff.