I would like to start by acknowledging our TPCH finalists in this year’s Metro North Staff Excellence Awards. I am proud that TPCH has many finalists across several categories which highlights our leadership and commitment to improving health outcomes and experiences for our patients.

Congratulations to the following finalists:

• CAM Charlies Village – Innovation
• Hand Therapy Rapid Access Service – Innovation
• Pulmonary and Cardiac Telerehabilitation (PaCT) – Excellence in Integrated Care and Innovation
• Precious GEMS – Excellence in Performance
• Quantifying Rheumatic Heart Disease Awareness as a Tool for Primary Prevention of the disease – Improving First Nations Health
• RADAR and OPEN Pharmacists – Values in Action
• Tara Denaro – Improving First Nations Health
• The Living Heart Project – Innovation
• Urban Indigenous Respiratory Outreach Clinic (UROC) – Excellence in Integrated Care

The winners will be announced at the Metro North Staff Excellence Awards gala dinner on Friday 15 December. Tickets are now available.

Executive update

Kallangur Satellite Hospital
Last Friday, I attended the official opening of the new Kallangur Satellite Hospital (KSH). KSH begins accepting patients next Monday which is an achievement for all staff involved.

Moreton Bay is one of the South East’s fastest growing communities, and the satellite hospitals will help to take the pressure off our health system by providing patients with services like the Minor Injuries and Illness Clinics which offer another choice for urgent care.

Since opening in September this year, over 4,500 patients have presented at Caboolture Satellite Hospital’s Minor Injury and Illness Clinic and we expect similar numbers at Kallangur.

The teams are all largely in place, and we expect that patients will enjoy visiting the facility as much as our staff enjoy working there.

Health Equity Showcase

This week I also attended the Metro North Health’s journey to Health Equity – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Showcase to acknowledge the exceptional services delivered to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities as part of the Metro North Health Equity Strategy. It was a great opportunity to listen the excellent work happening across the health service in this priority area.

Melita Smith and Mark Budd from TPCH’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Service team highlighted the Connecting to Country program which includes the Indigenous Cardiac and Respiratory Outreach Clinics supported by TPCH. We had the opportunity to watch some wonderful videos which emphasise the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people being able to access these vital health services close to home. I invite you to watch these videos.

Videos – Thursday Island and TPCH

TPCH Foundation Board thank you event

Members of the Executive team attended TPCH Foundation Board’s end of year event. It was a great opportunity to chat with staff and researchers who support and undertake vital medical research on our hospital campus and show our appreciation. We value the ongoing commitment of TPCH Foundation which supports this important research work through various initiatives such as Giving Day, Ekka strawberry sundae ice creams, Tour De Brisbane and other appeals throughout the year – all of which contribute to better outcomes for our patients and community. A big thanks to Steve Francia and his hardworking team for their support.

Cardiology visits

Acting Director of Operations, Heart and Lung Cherie Franks and I also met with some consumers from our heart transplant service to discuss recent events in the service. It was good to discuss and gain feedback on how current issues within the service are affecting patients, what we are doing well, and how we can improve our processes.

Manager Finance, Darren Ransom, Cherie Franks and I stopped into the Cardiac Investigations Unit (CIU) where we met with CIU NUM Deborah Bick, Infection Control CNC Janice Geary and Nursing Director Safety and Quality Maryanne Humphries to discuss and review ways to help streamline the unit’s stock and storage processes.

Executive appointment

I am pleased to announce that Kieran Costigan has been appointed as the new Manager Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health following an extensive recruitment process. Kieran is a proud Bundjalung man from the Logan and Beaudesert area. He will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the team having held various senior level roles such as the Acting Executive Director Aboriginal Health, St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney as well as most recently the Manager for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Clinical Network for Clinical Excellence Queensland. Kieran will commence with TPCH on 8 January 2024.

TPCH Expansion update – Decanting of Building 14

TPCH Expansion Project is preparing the construction site for the new Acute Services Building (ASB). The ASB construction zone will require Building 14 to be demolished which requires the building to be decanted and all staff currently sitting in Building 14 to be relocated to new office accommodation.

The project team is about to commence decant planning for Building 14, which includes ensuring all impacted staff are supported to relocate to their temporary office location while the new Acute Services Building is under construction.

Members of the project team will be onsite from next week to start scoping decant activities, including undertaking an audit of all office furniture (e.g. desks, chairs, dect phones etc.) and ICT requirements. The team will then work closely with all impacted departments to carefully plan the decant and ensure a smooth transition to the new office accommodation.

Although staff sitting in Building 14 won’t relocate until the end March/early April 2024, we encourage staff to start preparing and getting organised for the move, including archiving, decluttering, cleaning-out and organising appropriate disposal of old and end of life furniture and equipment.

If you have any questions or concerns about the decant, please talk to your line manager or email the project team.

Staff Profile

Today we will profile Critical Care Research Group (CCRG) Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dr Nchafatso Obonyo. Pursuing a research focus on cardiac critical care and sepsis, Nchafatso is involved with running studies in the preclinical lab, writing up manuscripts, sharing research findings and supervising and mentoring students within the CCRG.

Nchafatso enjoys the diverse research culture of CCRG which is well renowned for its multi-disciplinary approach to research, with collaborations spanning more than 60 countries. He values the impact of the work done by CCRG as a global team which extends well beyond the walls of its research labs and hospitals in Queensland.

Nchafatso is passionate about supporting students and young researchers in the same way he was when first starting in research. He feels fortunate to have received good support and mentorship throughout his career from the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Program in Kenya, CCRG and The Common Good. Nchafatso was recently awarded the 2023 African Australian Professional of the Year for outstanding excellence to his profession and service to his community.

Outside of work, Nchafatso is an Arsenal fan and enjoys outdoor activities with friends including soccer, cycling, hiking, marathons and camping.

FAST FACTS

This week we will profile the Physiotherapy Department.

Did you know?:

• Physiotherapy is a team that consists of over 100 physiotherapy and clinical assistant staff.
• Physiotherapy services are available in TPCH inpatient areas of medical, emergency, thoracic, ICU, orthopaedic, rehabilitation and surgical areas.
• In 2022-23, physiotherapists saw 21,742 outpatients.
• Physiotherapists deliver musculo-skeletal, rehabilitation, neurology, vestibular, continence, lymphoedema, oncology and ante-natal outpatient services.
• Rapid access clinics are available for vestibular patients
• Emergency Physiotherapy Practitioners work at TPCH Emergency Department and will also work at Kallangur Satellite Minor Injury Clinic when it opens on 11 December.
• We provide a number of pulmonary rehabilitation programs face-to-face and via telehealth for chronic lung disease and transplant patients.

The team is integral to the state-wide Cystic Fibrosis service and attends outreach services to Townsville and Cairns twice yearly.

TPCH Christmas Decoration Competition

All TPCH wards, areas and departments are invited to help spread some festive cheer by entering this year’s annual TPCH Christmas Decoration Competition.

Available categories:

• Traditional (including White Christmas)
• Aussie Christmas
• Most Unique

To enter, please complete the Christmas Decoration Nomination Form and email to:
MetroNorth-TPCH-Communications@health.qld.gov.au by Friday 15 December.

Reminder –  As we get ready to celebrate the festive season and the fabulous work we have done this year, a gentle reminder that the Code of Conduct applies while at work, and also at work related social events such as work Christmas parties. Let’s keep any festivities, merry, inclusive, appropriate and respectful, and ensure we are always demonstrating the Metro North values we uphold in the workplace on a daily basis.

Shout out

This week’s shout out goes to Allied Health staff, Kelly Costa, Leanne O’Brien, Jenna Stonestreet and Maureen Godfrey who were nominated as finalists at this year’s 2023 AH-TRIP Showcase at the Translational Research Institute. All nominations and presentations were of an exceptionally high standard, which is testament to how TPCH’s Allied Health program embraces the value of research translation and evidence-based practice. Special congratulations to Kelly Costa whose nomination for Vestibular Rapid Access Service was selected as this year’s winner! Well done everyone!

Today’s quote

“Excellence is the unlimited ability to improve the quality of what you have to offer.” – Rick Pitino

Tami.