{"id":19131,"date":"2024-02-02T13:51:15","date_gmt":"2024-02-02T03:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/?p=19131"},"modified":"2024-05-23T12:47:30","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T02:47:30","slug":"ed-ckw-20240202","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/facility-messages\/ed-ckw-20240202","title":{"rendered":"Message from the Executive Director"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Karlene

Karlene Willcocks, Executive Director<\/p><\/div>\n

Well, it certainly has been a busy and challenging week which peaked with the terrible Tuesday weather and surrounding flooding. As a result, we engaged a Code Brown which most of you know, meant that ambulances were redirected to other sites (unless patients were critically ill or would be detrimentally affected by an extended transit), we also limited some services such as the Satellite Hospital which closed early. This helped us manage our services safely while many staff and patients struggled to travel to us due to local and surrounding road closures and flooding.<\/h4>\n

I really want to thank all our staff who leant in and did extra hours, shifts and showed care for both our staff and patients who were impacted by the weather.<\/p>\n

Having been personally affected by flooding in 2022, I am always mindful that for many of us life returns quickly to normal like it did on\u00a0Wednesday with beautiful blue skies and the return to normal business.\u00a0\u00a0What a difference a day makes, however I appreciate that for some staff\u00a0the impacts are often much longer lasting.\u00a0 I want to send my thoughts and strength to all our staff who were (and continue to be) impacted by this event. Kia Kaha (or stay strong) it will improve. I know I was still living with the effects some 14-months later and it certainly felt challenging and lonely!\u00a0 Please check in on your colleagues, you seldom know what is truly going on for them.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div>

\"CABH<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Visit to Kilcoy<\/h3>\n

\"The<\/b>This week I had the pleasure of visiting Kilcoy, where I met one of our newest staff members new graduate Nurse Kobie Roberts, and one of our longest serving staff members Audrey Colby (who has worked at Kilcoy for 23 years and also lives just down the road). I also met fellow Kiwi, Clinical Nurse Paula Rowe.

They all spoke about the great supportive team at Kilcoy and what a wonderful place it is to work at.<\/p>\n

As well as the\u00a0benefits<\/b>, they also spoke about some of the\u00a0challenges<\/b>\u00a0of working at Kilcoy. It is important for us to think about the realities for each other when we consider patient placement at Kilcoy. At Kilcoy the staff on the ward also manage the Emergency Care Centre (ECC) and at night this means that if an unwell patient comes in, \u00a0staff go across to the ECC to help which leaves minimal staff on the ward.\u00a0 Additionally, it is very hard to get extra staff to manage patients with delirium or needing special support.\u00a0

We get amazing feedback from patients who are cared for at Kilcoy, many of whom do not live nearby, however if we transfer patients who can\u2019t be managed safely at Kilcoy and are required to be transferred back to Caboolture, it can be distressing, disruptive and confusing for the patient and their families.\u00a0 This is not a positive expeMetro North\u00a0Clinical Assistant Leadership Award<\/b>rience for our patients and families; nor is it good use of our services such as Patient Transport.<\/p>\n

\"PatientPlease can I ask that anyone included in the process of\u00a0transferring patients<\/i>\u00a0does two things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Ensure the site you are transferring to has the facilities and capability to effectively manage the patient\u2019s needs.<\/li>\n
  2. Ensure that the handover provided is comprehensive and accurate.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    These two things ensure the safety and quality of care of our patients and enhances their healthcare experience which positively impacts their recovery. Furthermore, this is an important consideration for patient flow and highlights everyone\u2019s responsibility in the process.<\/p>\n

    New Common Good caf\u00e9 open for business<\/h3>\n

    This week we also celebrated the opening of the new Common Good caf\u00e9 at Caboolture. I was a little disappointed as I missed the celebratory cake but the bonus was that the coffee was great and the staff are really happy in their new space.\u00a0 It has certainly made our entrance area \u2018hum\u2019 which is wonderful. I do note some feedback reported from our reception area and volunteers, and we will work through this over the next few weeks.<\/p>\n

    Tour of the CSB<\/h3>\n

    <\/b>Yesterday some of you may have seen us showing Federal Member for Longman Terry Young MP around the CSB. Terry was keen to see our new facility and talk to staff about how the new building is going.\u00a0 He thanked us for welcoming him so warmly and wanted to let staff know how impressed he was.\u00a0 Thank you to everyone – it was great to hear your reflections about the move.<\/p>\n

    Professional development opportunities<\/h3>\n

    <\/b>I want to draw your attention to the following professional\/ personal development opportunities. I am very passionate about ongoing personal and professional development, and support investing in staff and supporting them to achieve their goals. Please refer to the links below:<\/p>\n

    1: Professional development workshops<\/h3>\n

    These are virtual workshops which are varying in duration from 2 to 8 hours and address a diverse spectrum of topics:<\/p>\n