As many of you will have heard by now, I’ll be leaving Redcliffe Hospital later this month and starting a new role as the Executive Director of the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

As excited as I am about this new adventure, I am very sorry to be leaving Redcliffe and all of the people I’ve worked so closely with over the past nearly seven years.

It is a good time for this change. Our senior and clinical leadership are in a stable position, and the hospital is preparing for its next exciting chapter – the Redcliffe Hospital Expansion.

I am confident that the hospital will be in good hands as I start my new role at the RBWH on Wednesday, 22 February.

Acting Executive Director

Metro North’s Chief Operating Officer, Jane Hancock, announced earlier today that Louise O’Riordan would be the new Acting Executive Director for Redcliffe Hospital, starting Monday, 20 February.

Louise is well known for her leadership of Safety & Quality and our accreditation process in 2020. Since then, Louise has led Metro North’s response to COVID-19 at the HHS level and has been the Director of Operations at Caboolture Hospital.

Few people within Metro North know Redcliffe Hospital as well as Louise, and I’m sure everyone will welcome her back to Redcliffe in this new leadership role.

Redcliffe Hospital Expansion

As I leave the hospital, I’d like to thank our clinical leaders and Senior Leadership Team, in particular, for the way that they’ve engaged and contributed to the planning work around the Redcliffe Hospital Expansion. Anne-Maree Bouwman has been pivotal in driving and planning so much from a Redcliffe perspective.

The planning work on the Expansion is now focussed around providing the hospital with one new acute services building. The Acting Director General has advised us, too, that the expected clinical services that were in scope remain in scope under this single-building model.

I look forward to updating our clinical and senior leadership teams with all the latest on the Expansion at our meeting next Tuesday morning.

While talking about the Expansion, the Health Minister released some figures this week that show the Redcliffe Hospital Expansion will create 2,573 construction and related jobs by the time it’s complete in 2028.COVID and masks 

COVID continues to be present in our community and our hospital. Over the past week or so, we’ve seen a noted increase in cases among staff in a number of clinical areas.

There’s no change to our green response level or mandatory PPE requirements at this stage. However, we continue to strongly encourage all staff to wear a surgical or N95 mask, particularly in clinical areas, to reduce their personal risk.

Staff choosing to wear masks should not be questioned about it or asked to justify why they are wearing masks by their colleagues.

REDDY Fun & Fitness

Our first REDDY Fun & Fitness event of 2023 was a great success, with nine teams battling it out in a ping pong tournament.

There were strong and competitive performances from security, physiotherapy, paediatrics, admin, and nursing – but Bradley and Joshua from BEMS outclassed all competition to take out the trophy.

Our thanks again to REDDY Fun & Fitness and our Facility Services team for arranging the tournament and the BBQ lunch that followed.

Thanks also to the Rehabilitation Unit for the use of their ping pong table, which was generously donated to the hospital by the Redcliffe Hospital Auxiliary.

Making our PDPs easier

In August last year, only 60% of hospital staff had completed their PDP. Since then, there’s been a considerable improvement, with Redcliffe Hospital ahead of other Metro North facilities in PDP compliance.

Since August too, Amanda Brimson from People and Culture and Scott Trudgett from Learning and Development have been working on ways to make PDPs easier for all Redcliffe Hospital staff.

As part of this work, there’s now a QHEPS page dedicated to PDPs, with templates designed to support a range of professions and work areas. There’s also an “Update your PDP” icon on the front page of the Redcliffe Hospital QHEPS too.

Documentation is essential to every PDP – but the conversation between staff and their line managers is the most critical part of the PDP process. This new QHEPS page will help to get that balance right.

Level up campaign

Metro North Health have recently launched Level Up, our health service’s commitment to improving gender equality in the medical profession.

Level Up aims to provide junior doctors with the support and opportunities to reach senior positions over the course of their career, regardless of their gender. The program includes opportunities for mentoring, leadership development programs, and specific pathways for reporting discrimination, bullying and harassment.

Supporting medical professionals to excel in their careers is something we all have a role in, and I encourage everyone to become an ally to the cause.

On a personal note from me

A lot has happened in my nearly seven years at Redcliffe Hospital, and I think we’ve all come a long way together.

There’s been a massive amount of work done in updating and modernising the hospital’s clinical facilities and supporting infrastructure, including the new multi-storey car park. We’ve established Raise it for Redcliffe, our philanthropic partnership with the RBWH Foundation, with Giving Day last year raising $224,000 to support our hospital and patients; and #IamRedcliffe and our Agreed Behaviours have defined with it means to work at Redcliffe and continue to make the Hospital the kind of place we can all be proud of.

Perhaps most of all, I’m proud of the way we came together to respond to COVID-19 and worked to protect each other and our community.

I am so very proud of everything that we have achieved together here at Redcliffe over those years.

Louise Oriti
Executive Director
Redcliffe Hospital