![\"Message](\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/03\/exec-e-banners-COVID-19-Shaun-Drummond.jpg\" "\\"Message")
<\/span><\/div>09 April 2020 \u2013 COVID-19 (coronavirus)<\/strong><\/p>\n Dear Colleagues,<\/p>\n Firstly, I hope you are all well and coping through the current COVID-19 climate. As always, Metro North continues to mature to meet the ever-changing environment of the pandemic response. While this challenge is one we are more than prepared for, your wellbeing is front of mind for me which is why today, I am proud to launch our strategy for staff wellbeing through COVID-19.<\/p>\n Staff wellbeing strategy during COVID-19<\/strong><\/p>\n Day to day wellbeing is something we all need to do for ourselves but it\u2019s also important that we are providing essential wellbeing support for you during this period of increased anxiety and change.<\/p>\n We have appointed wellbeing expert Bruce Sullivan as our temporary Chief Wellbeing Officer to oversee implementation of our wellbeing strategy to support staff during COVID-19. Bruce is a developmental speaker with extensive experience in wellbeing and has provided support to other complex organisations.<\/p>\n Our wellbeing strategy<\/a> to support staff during COVID-19 builds on our existing resources and tools including free confidential support for all staff through Benestar and our online wellbeing hub.<\/p>\n One of the important new components is a network of staff Peer Responders skilled in psychological first aid who will be available to support your wellbeing. They will listen and link you with appropriate support services or resources and will become integral to how we take care of ourselves. Caboolture Hospital has had a peer responder program for a while, so we\u2019ve seen how successful the model is in providing care and support for colleagues. If you\u2019re interested in volunteering or know someone who would make a great Peer Responder, please visit our wellbeing site for the expression of interest information.<\/p>\n Another vital pillar is creating a network for collegiate support. Staying connected is incredibly important in a challenging time. We\u2019re offering staff training through RUOK? To give you the confidence to ask your colleagues if they\u2019re ok and to know how to appropriately respond if they are not. Initial training will be through the Learning Management System and will take about 90 minutes. There will be a regular refresher and support for our RUOKers.<\/p>\n We are also building a special program called PPE4URMIND which will offer tailored onsite counselling for any staff whose emotional and mental wellbeing is at risk due to their work in response to COVID-19. This program will start in May. We are currently recruiting temporary staff psychologists to deliver this care.<\/p>\n Happy Easter!<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to believe we have already reached the Easter long weekend! I would like to make a point of reminding everyone that though it is Easter, we still need to be staying at home to support Queensland\u2019s effort to flatten to curve and decrease the spread of COVID-19. I hope that we are all able to have some downtime to spend with our immediate family. For those required to be at work over the long weekend, enjoy Easter with your colleagues and thank you for your commitment.<\/p>\n PPE Updates<\/strong><\/p>\n Our call out to the community has been a great success, having reached our target of printing 3000 face shields in 3 weeks. Can you believe we achieved this in a week! The public are still hard at work printing and we are still accepting the face shields. If you know someone in the community who has taken up our 3D printing challenge, please thank them on behalf of Metro North for their contribution to our response.<\/p>\n While we are talking PPE, we have developed a Metro North Procedure on PPE use during COVID-19<\/a>. I encourage staff to familiarise themselves with this guideline to ensure appropriate levels of PPE are being used correctly.<\/p>\n Virtual Care Update<\/strong><\/p>\n Our virtual care initiatives are evolving rapidly and every day I am impressed by what we are achieving in this space. I\u2019d like to acknowledge the huge amount of work that has gone into this initiative that ensures we are able to continue care for our outpatients, care in the home of mild COVID-19 patients and ensuring our inpatients are able to keep contact with their families who are not able to visit with our visitor restrictions in place. More information on our virtual care can be found on the Metro North Virtual Care page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Communicating with you<\/strong><\/p>\n This week has seen another 3 successful Vidcasts with a fourth going ahead this afternoon with Col Smyth from HR at 2:30pm. Thank you to Jackie Hanson (who joined me on Monday), Catherine Watson (Infection Control Nurse), Paul Chapman (Infectious Diseases Specialist) and Col Smyth (HR Manager) for taking time to answer COVID-19 questions from hundreds of staff this week. Remember, if you\u2019re unable to join the sessions live you can watch the recordings online<\/a> at any time.<\/p>\n Below is the communications schedule for the upcoming week:<\/p>\n Good Friday<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n Easter Monday<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n\n\n
\n Friday April 10<\/strong><\/p>\n \n \n
\n Saturday April 11<\/strong><\/td>\n \n \n
\n Sunday April 12<\/strong><\/td>\n \n \n
\n Monday April 13<\/strong><\/p>\n \n \n
\n Tuesday April 14<\/strong><\/td>\n \n \n
\n Wednesday April 15<\/strong><\/td>\n \n \n
\n Thursday April 16<\/strong><\/td>\n \n \n
\n Friday April 17<\/strong><\/td>\n \n \n
\n Saturday April 18<\/strong><\/td>\n \n \n
\n Sunday April 19<\/strong><\/td>\n \n \n