Adj Prof Jackie Hanson

Our workforce is made up of more than 22,000 people who have diverse experience and skills. As a large health service, we need a wide variety of roles to ensure we can meet the needs of our patients, through clinical service delivery and support functions. This week we are celebrating both Administration Professionals Day today and International Day of the Midwife yesterday.  

Yesterday our Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Alanna Geary started her fundraising challenge to raise money for nursing education and research through The Common Good and RBWH Foundation. Alanna walked 34 kilometres on a treadmill in the RBWH main entrance yesterday on International Day of the Midwife. The challenge runs throughout next week including International Nurses Day on Thursday, which marks the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth.

Across Metro North we have a wealth of knowledge and innovative ideas. We have an opportunity to pitch ideas to Queensland Health as part of the reform agenda to showcase the amazing innovative ways of working we’ve identified over the past two years. We are calling for genuine innovation ideas to improve patient flow and experiences and staff wellbeing, or new ways of doing things. Submit your ideas to #innov8. The portal will be open for the next four weeks.  

Congratulations to RBWH clinicians who conducted Australia’s first robotic bronchoscopy this week which allows diagnosis of lung cancer earlier than ever. Before the introduction of this technology, it was very difficult for thoracic medicine specialists to sample nodules less than 10cm in size. The work is part of an ongoing prospective study.   

The Queensland Aphasia Research Centre has officially opened as part of the STARS Education and Research Alliance with The University of Queensland. QARC brings together researchers and clinicians in aphasia rehabilitation to develop innovative treatments and support. This is an exciting milestone in the STARS journey which highlights the value of our partnership with UQ to improve patient outcomes and experiences. 

We had a great response to our health equity vidcast yesterday with Auntie Denise Proud (pictured with Aunty Maroochy and Sherry Holzapfel). Thank you everyone who tuned in to listen and ask questions about health equity and our commitment to closing the gap in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

If you weren’t able to tune in, the recordings of our health equity vidcast series are available on QHEPS. We will host monthly vidcasts on health equity as we finalise and implement our strategy. 

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Jackie