Dear colleagues,
With so much activity surrounding the pandemic response, it’s easy to overlook some of the other achievements happening across the organisation.
Recently we’ve celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Queensland Lung Transplant Service at TPCH. Since the service began in 1996, it has given more than 530 people a second chance at life. QLTS’s patient outcomes exceed world standards and it has also pioneered important advancements in transplant care and research. I would like to commend all the staff of this flagship service for their dedication to delivering excellent care to our lung transplant community across Metro North and beyond. Congratulations to the team!
The Queensland Adult Specialist Immunisation Service (QASIS) at RBWH opened in July and is seeing impressive results. The service supports at-risk members of the community to safely receive the COVID-19 vaccination and is providing specialist care to people who have experienced an adverse event following immunisation. It also works with individuals to deliver supervised immunisations, allergy testing and reporting. Since it opened, more than 230 patients have safely received their COVID-19 vaccination in the specialist outpatient service. Information on how to refer a patient to QASIS is available on our website.
We have also been celebrating individual staff achievements through directorate staff excellence awards in the lead up to Metro North’s awards in December. Community and Oral Health has announced more than 30 finalists for next week’s event, and 92 nominations have been received for The Prince Charles Hospital awards. Redcliffe Hospital staff were thanked for their efforts with a special staff lunch this week supported by QSuper.
Today marks the start of Safe Work Month. We’re continuing to see an increase in demand for services, and when we’re tired we can increase our risk of a work related injury. When patient handling, remember ‘ME’ – minimal exertion. The principles are that we take the time to stop, plan, prepare, do and review each and every activity and that we use the least amount of force required to perform patient and manual handling activities in the safest possible way. It’s important to thin about your own safety when caring for patients. Think about whether you’re using the appropriate technique and be aware of your own limits.
Looking after yourself at work also includes your psychological and emotional health. We offer a range of staff wellbeing support as well. There are peer responders available across the health service for an informal chat, and our staff psychologists can provide confidential clinical support. The employee assistance service is also available 24 hours a day on 1300 360 364.
We received this message in a bottle as part of the Have your Say staff survey:
I understand that there will always be a hierarchy in the hospital setting but I wish we could all just work together for the common goal of improving our patients’ lives and health. There is too much tension between teams, between professions, between hospitals, between services and I just wish we could get on with it and see that everyone brings ‘something’ to be valued by everyone, no matter who or what it is. We are all trying our best so let’s stop with the angst, get on with it and see the bigger picture.
This sums up our Metro North values of teamwork and respect. Rather than thinking about why you can’t do something, think about what you could do that would streamline the process of getting the best outcome for your patient or for your colleagues. We all bring individual perspectives and a rich variety of experiences with us to the workplace that contribute to the overall successes of the organisation.
I hope those who’ve had time off during school holidays have been able to relax and recharge with family and friends.
Enjoy the long weekend. Thank you all for your work.
Regards,
Jackie