Jane Hancock, Chief Operating Officer
Dear STARS Staff,
As part of Queensland Health’s commitment to providing safe, clinically appropriate patient centred care for spinal cord injuries, a review is underway of the current infrastructure, patient care and capacity of the Queensland Spinal Cord Injuries Service (QSCIS) at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. As part of this review, a potential temporary relocation of QSCIS from PAH to STARS was identified.
Over the past few weeks, evaluations of the current infrastructure at both facilities have taken place and you may have seen several small groups of visitors at STARS. Thank you to everyone who has accommodated these visits with minimal disruption to patients.
The next step in the process is a series of stakeholder engagement sessions to hear your views and to better understand the impacts of a temporary relocation of QSCIS to STARS, for patients and their families, staff, and other stakeholders.
Health Consumers Queensland and Queensland Disability Network will be facilitating the engagement sessions with patients and their families. The Department of Health is also engaging with system level stakeholders including past patients, Metro South staff, supporting agencies, referring Hospital and Health Services, and other interested parties.
At STARS there will be a series of engagement sessions for staff from next week. I encourage anyone who has feedback, concerns, or ideas to attend one of the engagement sessions. Thank you to those who have already expressed your interest in participating in these sessions:
- Tuesday 4 July, 1pm, Room 476
- Wednesday 5 July, 8am and 9am, Room 716
- Thursday 6 July, 10am and 11am, Room 476
- Monday 10 July, 10am, Room 476
- Tuesday 11 July, 12.30pm, Room 476
- Wednesday 12 July, 9.30am and 10.30am, Room 716
Note, you only need to attend one session to provide your feedback. If you are unable to make a session or have questions about the stakeholder engagement you can contact the project team any time by email at MNHSpinalImpactAnalysis@health.qld.gov.au.
I would like to emphasise that at this stage no decision has been made regarding the temporary relocation of QSCIS to STARS. The feedback received at the upcoming stakeholder sessions will be presented to the Director-General and will help inform any decision. A decision on whether the temporary relocation will proceed to co-design stage is expected before the end of August 2023.
I encourage staff who require additional support during this period of uncertainty to access Benestar or the Peer Responder Program at STARS.
Kind regards,
Jane.