The decision to move to the Metro North COVID-19 Tier 3 Response this week is primarily about preserving our acute staffing during this period of high staff leave.

The PPE level is set separately and remains high due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the community. This means an N95 mask and goggles must be worn when treating patients. Further PPE is required in other settings. Please check the table here and contact your line manager if you’re unsure or need more information.

The move to Tier 3 also requires us to cancel non-urgent meetings. Meetings that are deemed urgent must be held via Teams. Face-to-face training has also been postponed, with some critical training, such as fire wardens and OVP, able to continue.

If you have any questions about how these changes will impact you or your department, please talk to your line manager or NUM.

Within the CKW Directorate, we have more than 71 staff isolating because they are diagnosed with COVID-19 or are a close contact. This number is up from 30 last week. Metro North Health has more than 800 staff affected.

Please have a PCR or RAT if you develop any cold or flu symptoms and stay home until you are well. RATs are available from the CKW EOC, Hospital Coordinators and the Caboolture Hospital volunteer hut from 7.30am to 4pm daily. They are also available from NUMS at Woodford and Kilcoy.

Close contacts who are essential workers and asymptomatic may be able to return to work. More details here.

Finally, fully vaccinated visitors can attend our facilities and are required to wear a mask. This includes two visitors per patient in most instances.

However, there are specific requirements and restrictions for high-risk areas such as the emergency department, the special care nursery, maternity and antenatal care. Please speak with your line managers if you need any clarity and please act with compassion when making decisions regarding visitors.

Harmony Week

This week we celebrated Harmony Week. It’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the cultural diversity within our hospitals and spread the message that ‘everyone belongs’.

We truly do work with a diverse community here at CKW. Did you know:

• More than 13 per cent of our workforce is culturally and linguistically diverse
• Each year we care for people from 150 different countries who speak more than 50 languages
• We book up to 60 interpreters each month, with the top five languages being Thai, Tetum, Vietnamese, Mandarin and Auslan.

As part of our commitment to better support our multicultural community, we have joined the Metro North’s Multicultural Health, Language Badge program.

13 CKW staff have already volunteered to join the program, which involves wearing a badge that displays the language/s they speak and providing basic language and cultural support to patients and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

One of our CKW volunteers on the program is Krzys, a Caboolture Hospital Fitter working in the BEMs team.

Krzys is fluent in Polish and will help our Polish-speaking patients and visitors to understand where they need to go, basic care instructions and to also have a friendly chat. It truly means a lot to patients and visitors to be able to speak with someone in their own language, so thank you Krzys!

If you speak a language other than English and are interested in joining the Language Badge program, please email MetroNorth-CALD@health.qld.gov.au for more information.

What a compliment!

Here is some wonderful feedback we received via email last Friday. Well done team!

“My wife was admitted to Caboolture Public Hospital Emergency Department suffering symptoms of a heart attack. We were surprised, but grateful, that the receiving doctor, Luke, advanced her to the front of the queue, provided a bed for her quickly, and arranged for her to be seen by medical staff promptly.

“(My wife) was soon assessed by senior doctor Ellen and treated by nurse Jazmine. Emergency Doctor Joshua Power conducted a thorough and detailed assessment. We have been fully satisfied with the high quality of medical treatment given by each member of staff.

“We are also grateful for the sincere, diligent and pleasant manner of personal service by each member of staff. I was particularly impressed by the harmony and efficiency evident among all staff while working under high levels of pressure.”

Finally,

Nominations for the 2022 Metro North Research Excellence Awards are now open! More information can be found online here.

Take Care,

Angie.

Angie Dobbrick
Executive Director