Clinical Council Chair Kerry Feilding

Even with all the challenges of the last twelve months, our Clinical Council has been heartened to see Community and Oral Health staff working together to put people first, whether they be staff, patients or residents.

Over the past year or so, we’ve seen the roll out of some great staff support initiatives, including:

• The Work Buddies Program – linking new starters to a buddy to provide additional support through the orientation period.
• The Peer Responder Program – part of the wider Metro North program to support our staff and promote help seeking behaviours.  Community and Oral Health now has 16 trained Peer Responders, with more in the pipeline.

These programs give staff additional support in their workplace and help facilitate linkages with individualised resources.

COH has also adopted the Great Place to Work Plan 2020-23 and welcomed new Values in Action Champions who have been involved in RUOK morning teas, Mental Health Week activities and the Work Buddy program.

We look forward to seeing what great VIA initiatives will be driven by this group of dedicated and enthusiastic staff this year.

The Council itself has seen a lot of change in its membership with a small number of members moving on, and some fresh faces joining us after a recent round of recruitment.

Our newest members include Janey Sinclair, Amanda Barnett, Rick Harden and Nicole Mitchell.

Our membership will continue to change in the new year as our remaining foundational members come to the end of their three-year term.  This opens an exciting opportunity for staff to be involved in the Clinical Council and their goal to support the staff of Community and Oral Health in putting people first and embodying the Metro North Values in Action.