Tami Photinos, Executive Director The Prince Charles Hospital

Thank you to everyone for your continued efforts and hard work in supporting our current Tier 4 COVID-19 response. It has certainly been another huge week and everyone has stepped up again to ensure we can meet the demands on our services. So well done!

A few updates today:

COVID-19 Patient Transport Service

Today, TPCH commenced a COVID-19 Patient Transport Service. This Service will be utilised to transport COVID-19 positive but clinically well patients from wards to:

• Isolation in private homes/residence
• Isolation in hotels

The Service will operate from 6am to 10pm daily, and can be booked via the Duty Nurse Manager. Outside  of these hours, alternative transport arrangements will be available and areas will be advised of these.

The commencement of this Service will help create additional bed capacity at TPCH and improve patient flow.

Fit Testing

Priority staff – TPCH Fit Testers are continuing to work though high priority staff which are:

• new starters and staff who have not been fit tested
• staff entering clinical areas
• staff who have been fit tested to a single mask that may be in short supply.

Please wear the mask you have been fit tested for, and if that mask is not available, please escalate to your line manager.

Hours of operation – To support as many TPCH staff as possible to get fit tested, TPCH’s fit testing service will run:
Monday to Friday – 7.45am to 8pm (booking service)
Saturday and Sunday – 7.45am to 4pm (walk-in service at Education Centre, Room 13)

How to book your fit test – Staff can continue to use the online booking if they are not identified as priority as per the above criteria. Staff who meet the above criteria are advised to discuss with their line manager, who will then email their details to Bradley.Maunder@health.qld.gov.au

Details should include: employee name, availability and contact details so a convenient time can be coordinated.

More Fit Testers needed – Staff interested in becoming a fit tester should email Darren.Stead@health.qld.gov.au. Clinical and non-clinical staff are invited to express their interest.

For any queries about fit testing, please email: Bradley.Maunder@health.qld.gov.au

Returning COVID-19 impacted staff to work

We still have a large number of TPCH staff who are furloughed due to being COVID-19 positive or a close contact. To allow us to support these impacted staff to return to the workplace in the required timeframes, we ask that staff and/or line managers email the name and contact number of the relevant staff member/s to: TPCHContactTracing@health.qld.gov.au.

Important points:

• Staff should wait to be contacted by TPCH’s Contact Tracing Team to receive formal advice on their return to work.
• If a staff member is a close contact and is asymptomatic, they must escalate their request to return to work through their line manager, who will then escalate to TPCH’s Incident Controller for approval. Staff must not return to the workplace until approval from the Incident Controller has been granted.

My quote for today

“The most effective way to do it, is to do it” – Amelia Earhart

Keep up the great work.

Tami Photinos
Executive Director