Over the last week, we’ve heard a lot in the public arena about the current challenges facing our health care system. As health workers, hearing about these challenges strikes a chord with many of us, as we are aware of the diverse and complex issues associated with working in a large busy hospital like TPCH. We know what it takes to continually provide safe and timely high-quality care to the patients who come through our doors in a very demanding environment. It can be tough!

We need to acknowledge that while the health care system has its pressure points, it equally has many strengths which are evident through the great work we do for our patients at TPCH. Each week, when I have the opportunity to walk through the hospital, I notice there is a common ‘vibe’ so to speak. No matter what team or department I visit or talk to, there is a shared enthusiasm and commitment to providing excellent care to our patients. And that’s what makes TPCH really great

With this in mind, I would like to encourage staff to help recognise this excellence by nominating someone for our TPCH Staff Excellence Awards. These Awards are an opportunity to acknowledge those staff and teams who achieve excellence in their particular area or specialty, and who demonstrate our organisational values in their everyday work.

The categories for this year’s TPCH’s Staff Excellence Awards are:

1. Outstanding Performance
2. Innovation
3. Clinical Excellence
4. Excellence in Clinical Teaching and Education
5. Cultural Diversity
6. Consumer Engagement
7. Values in Action
8. Rising Star of Research
9. Research Support
10. Researcher of the Year

Nominations close on Friday 21 October so there is plenty of time to nominate. More information about the awards, including criteria and the nomination process can be found on TPCH Staff Excellence Awards page.

Executive update

This week, I had the opportunity with Director of Nursing, Cherie Franks, and Nursing Director Patient Flow and Access, Louise Perkins to visit our Duty Nurse Managers office and Transit Lounge where we spoke with staff about their current activities. These busy areas play an important role in achieving effective patient flow throughout the hospital, supporting our patients to receive timely care and discharge. Keep up the great work!

I also caught up Dr Graham Steele, who finished up with us this week after a few months of helping out the Medical Services team. We thank Graham for his assistance.

This week, we also welcomed the attendance of Metro North’s Chief Operating Officer, Jane Hancock at our monthly performance meeting. Jane commended TPCH on its detailed recovery plans in heading out of the pandemic period, as well as our great work in the safety and quality space relating to clinical incident management. She also congratulated us on having one of the lowest number of open occupational health and safety incidents across the health service which has recently been acknowledged at the Metro North Board level. Our high mandatory training completion rates compared with other Metro North facilities were also noted. Well done!

With regard to mandatory training, now is a timely reminder for staff to review their mandatory training course requirements on TMS which includes Cyber Security Essentials. This area of training is particularly important in light of the recent Optus data breach which I know some staff have been impacted by.

FAST FACTS

This week, we will share some fast facts about Clinical Assistants at TPCH.

Did you know?

• TPCH has Clinical Assistants (CAs) working across many areas of the hospital supporting health professionals to deliver effective and efficient care to our patients
• There are 65 Clinical Assistants working across TPCH
• CAs, also known as Allied Health Assistants, are part of the core Allied Health disciplines such as Speech Pathology, Nutrition and Dietetics, Physiotherapy, Social Work and Occupational Therapy
• Clinical Assistants provide essential assistance to Pharmacy, Radiography and Food Services as well as supporting innovative models of care such as the ‘Eat Walk Engage’ program.

Indigenous Cadets and Deadly Start students also provide a valuable contribution to our Clinical Assistant workforce via these pathways which can lead to ongoing employment in our health services.

Staff profile

This week we will profile Clinical Assistant, Euggene Victorio. Euggene is a Physiotherapy and Eat Walk and Engage Assistant at TPCH, supporting patients to keep physically and mentally active during their hospital stay.

Having previously worked as an Assistant in Nursing in a nursing home for several years, Euggene is very familiar with the challenges faced by older patients in hospital. In his role, Euggene assists physiotherapists with clinical tasks, monitors and maintains a safe work environment, and helps patients with activities of daily living.

He enjoys helping keep patients moving and remaining happy and positive in their lives. As someone who places a strong emphasis on family, Euggene understands the value of being person-centred in health care, getting to know his patients, and supporting their individual needs so they feel special and well cared for.

Outside of work, Euggene enjoys spending time with family, watching sports, cooking, going out and being social.

Older Person’s Week

Next week, 4 to 7 October, TPCH’s FRAIL team is celebrating Older Persons Week with a range of staff activities and events to acknowledge our ‘Ageing Superheroes’. Here’s what’s on:

Tuesday 4 October

• 10am – Yarning Circle with local Indigenous elders. TPCH Healing Garden
• Ward Awareness Questionnaire

Thursday 6 October

• 12.15pm – Grand Rounds – Anticipating the Ageing Trajectories of Superheroes in the Marvel cinematic universe. Education Centre

Friday 7 October (Ageism Awareness Day)

• 10am – Ageism Snakes and Ladders. Outdoor area of Common Good Café
• 12 – 1pm  Ageism talk by Kevin Clark, Nursing Director, IMS.  Education Centre

All week

• Information display. Common Good Café

Next week is also Operational Services Recognition Week and I will getting out and about visiting and celebrating the great work of our operational services teams. So get ready for some more photos in next week’s update!

Car parking update

At the end of next month, Metro North will take over ownership of the existing multi-storey car park at TPCH which is currently owned privately by IPG. This marks the first step towards preparing for the construction of a new 1,504 bay multi-storey car park adjacent to this existing car park which is scheduled to begin in 2023.

While Metro North will become the new owner of the car park, the car park will continue to be run by its current operator, Point Parking, so there will be no changes to physical parking arrangements.

The transition of car park ownership to Metro North from 31 October 2022, will however, result in a reduction of current parking fees for all car park users from this date.

Revised parking rates can be viewed here.

We are pleased to be able to provide more affordable parking for our patients and visitors, to help ensure greater equity of access to our services.  Please note that current parking rates, set by IPG, were recently increased independently of TPCH, but will be reduced when the transition of ownership occurs.

Current rates can be viewed here.

There is a lot of planning currently underway to prepare for the new multi-storey car parking facility on our campus, and you can read more about this on our TPCH Car Parking QHEPS site.

For any queries about car parking at TPCH please email: TPCH_CorporateServices @health.qld.gov.au

Shout out

This week’s shout goes to the various teams and staff across TPCH who helped respond to an unexpected emergency situation that occurred earlier this week. A big thanks to Security, Switchboard, the After Hours Duty Nurse Manager, and Executive on call at the time for activating such a well organised and prompt response which allowed the hospital to de-escalate the situation quickly and effectively. Well done everyone! Another great example of excellent teamwork in action at TPCH!

Today’s quote

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tami Photinos
Executive Director