I am pleased and excited to acknowledge today is the internationally celebrated Allied Health Professions day (AHP Day).

Here at Metro North, we are committed to the importance of high quality research to enhance our patient care. The quantum and quality of this year’s Metro North Research Excellence Award nominees is a testament to the effectiveness of the Metro North Research Strategy 2017-2022. Well done all.

One of the great things about my role as Chief Allied Health Practitioner and Wellbeing Officer is I get to see all the Metro North Health Best Practice Australia survey results that you completed last year.

Metro North continues our commitment to staff wellbeing through many initiatives and resources.

Metro North continues our commitment to staff wellbeing through many initiatives and resources.

Yesterday was Allied Health Professional's Day which is celebrated annually on the 14th October. It is a relatively new international event that was started in 2018 by two clinicians in the UK to celebrate who allied health professionals are, what they do and why they are valuable.

It’s hard to avoid seeing or hearing about the huge impact that news reporting surrounding COVID-19 and other world issues is having on ourselves and on those around us. R U OK’s national day of action reminds us that every day is the day to ask our friends, families, and colleagues if they’re OK and to check in with our own well-being.

In the time before COVID I happened upon a very well-dressed woman, sitting on an upturned milk crate, sobbing in a byway at one of our hospitals. With this scene before me I didn’t need to ask, “R U OK?” but I was grateful for the ability and training to engage and support her.

I am more committed than ever to the importance of high quality research to enhance our patient care and outcomes. The AH32: A vision for Allied Health 2032 reflects this and challenges us to deliver strategies to build on the sustained research and work of many dedicated health practitioners.

You only need to notice the news reporting around COVID-19 to become aware of the huge impact being felt in our community in the psychological wellbeing space.

As well as my Allied Health leadership role, I enjoy looking after a range of staff supports. Having some executive sponsor roles fits perfectly and helps me expand my work motto, “Help those that help patients”. I use the motto both as a motivation and as a filter that I apply to how I prioritise my work, decide what work to do, and what to invest in.

I have found throughout my career that emotional and physical wellbeing go hand-in-hand and we can better support our patients, colleagues and those we love when we are well and have a good balanced life. At Metro North we want to support you to be able to look after your entire wellbeing by making accessing gyms and facilities easy, convenient and affordable for you. Cue Fitness Passport.

Dear colleagues, I’m excited to be taking the lead on Values in Action for Metro North including staff wellbeing. We have done a lot of work in the past few years to establish and expand our Values in Action programs, with a particular focus [...]

Dear Colleagues, I would like to let all staff know that Metro North Health has renewed its subscription to UpToDate (an online repository of the world’s most contemporary research on any health condition or pathology). Please click Features | UpToDate for details of all [...]

Dear colleagues, One of the great elements of been Chief Allied Health Practitioner is the opportunity to look after various portfolios. For the last five years I have enjoyed leading the National Disability Insurance Scheme implementation portfolio. We often hear of the challenges of the [...]