I hope everyone coped with the hot weather during the last couple of days – it certainly reminds us we live in the sunshine state!

Just a reminder that The Café for The Common Good is open until 8pm tonight, and will have these extended trading hours in place from Monday to Friday until the end of February.

Please continue to read the daily messages from the Metro North Incident Controller which contain the latest information and updates about Metro North’s pandemic response as well as broader State directions. I appreciate there is a large volume of information being shared each day, some repeated, however this is to ensure that the majority of staff can readily access the latest updates. If you are unable to access any of the daily updates for a particular reason, please speak to your line manager.

Today’s spotlight

COVID-19 Patient Transport Service

​The changing COVID-19 situation has seen the introduction of new services and initiatives at TPCH. Last month, TPCH commenced a COVID-19 Patient Transport Service to transport COVID-19 positive but clinically well patients from wards to isolation in private homes/residence, and hotels.

With TPCH seeing an increasing number of COVID-19 admissions in recent weeks, the availability of such a service has been an important strategy in creating extra bed capacity and improving patient flow.

The service operates from 6am to 10pm daily, with the patient transport vehicle driven my members of Metro North’s Occupational Violence Prevention Team on a rotational basis, who have been redeployed to support the service. When not driving, team members are working on concierge to support the safe entry of patients and visitors to the hospital.

Feedback about the Patient Transport Service to date has been positive, with patients expressing their appreciation for having the service available to them. What a great patient-centred initiative!

Concierge Service

TPCH Concierge service was stood up in August 2020 to support the changing visitor restrictions during the course of the pandemic. This has been a dynamic service with the level of Concierge changing and adapting according to Metro North’s current Tier of response – sometimes with only a few hours notice!

Concierge service staff take great pride in their role, being the first point of contact for patients and visitors when they arrive at the hospital.

The team, consisting of 21 members, covers eight different entrances to the hospital where their role is to ensure that everyone is checked in via the QR Code and fully vaccinated. The service operates from 6am to 8pm, 7 days per week.

Due to the sensitivity of visitor restrictions, team members are often faced with challenging situations which must be handled with great respect and compassion. The team has displayed resilience, care and flexibility in their role, providing valuable support to our patients, staff and visitors to ensure everyone’s safety.

A big shout out to Security and the Occupational Violence Prevention team who have been a constant presence and support to the Concierge service staff. A great team effort!

Reminder – Vaccination Clinic relocating from Monday

From next Monday 7 February, TPCH COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic will relocate to the Infection Control Unit on Level 3, Clinical Sciences Building.

TPCH Pfizer Vaccine Clinic will operate from 1pm – 4pm, Mondays and Thursdays. This Clinic is for TPCH staff only and will require an appointment.  To book an appointment, please contact Infection Management on 3139 4894 and provide your name, mobile phone number and preferred appointment date and time. A vaccination nurse will contact you to confirm your appointment details.

Staff boosters

While the COVID-19 vaccination booster is not mandatory, it is strongly encouraged to protect yourself, your loved ones, your colleagues, and our patients.

If you have had your booster and would like to record it, you can do this via the COVID-19 Vaccination Hub (available only via a Queensland Health computer or external access to the QH website, using Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browsers.)

The process is similar to recording your first two doses:

• Download your COVID digital certificate from your myGov account
• Go to the COVID-19 Vaccination Hub
• Choose the +Booster Vaccination option
• Add your booster details
• Upload or drag and drop your certificate
• Save

For staff who do not usually have Queensland Health computer access, you can complete the form on the extranet, send to your line manager for verification, and then submit to MN-COVID-Staff-Vaccination-Forms-only@health.qld.gov.au for processing.

My quote for today

“When you hand good people possibility, they do great things” – Biz Stone

Tami Photinos
Executive Director