Working in effective teams improves clinical outcomes, increases professional satisfaction and provides crucial peer support (James, 2021).

This week I saw, beyond our usual examples, a wonderful example of teamwork.

As some of you would know, this week we had our Prevocational Medical Accreditation Queensland (PMAQ) Intern training accreditation. The commitment that I witnessed from many teams across our organisation to the success of this program is a credit to you all and is another demonstration of our strength as an organisation.

I can’t tell you how much I valued seeing the commitment from some of our most senior medical staff, education and workforce teams, administration teams, Registrars and, of course, our wonderful Interns.

As we look towards our future and work towards achieving our ambitions, the positive outcome from this assessment will be foundational to our success.

Building on this strength of teamwork, I would challenge you all to start thinking about the concept that Ted James puts forward:

“Teamwork requires more than just communication skills, coordination or even mutual goals.

“As a guiding principle, effective teamwork requires a collaborative mindset that recognizes the inherent value of the team model and a commitment to building effective relationships.

“Adopting a collaborative mindset leads to greater respect for our co-workers and their unique contributions to patient care.

“In addition, this mindset causes us to become more aware of how our actions affect those of our teammates and ultimately influences clinical outcomes.”

How can your team start to move consistently towards this mindset? How can you engender a collaborative mindset across the teams you work in? Imagine if this was our consistent, normal operating model – what we could achieve… integration…. innovation …. and quality improvement!

CKW EOC closing next month

The time has come. With COVID-19 quickly becoming part of our regular approach to patient care, the CKW Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) has started winding down and will close towards the end of next month (September).

Connie and the EOC team are gradually transitioning their workload to a BAU setting.

The EOC has been such an essential part of our response to COVID-19, influenza and natural disasters in recent years. Thank you to everyone involved – your commitment and contribution has been invaluable.

Second annual CKW Research Symposium coming soon

The second annual CKW Research Symposium will be held in the Caboolture Hospital Education and Skills Centre – and online via Microsoft Teams – on Thursday 13 October.

The Symposium will include research and quality improvement presentations and posters from the current and previous year, culminating in a keynote speaker.

Keep an eye out for the call for presentations from next week! More details are available on the RDU website.

What a compliment!

We receive many compliments about the surgical services team. Here’s one received recently:

“I came with abdominal pain and vomiting. A scan was done to confirm the diagnosis of appendicitis.

“Surgery was planned in no time l was in theatre for surgery. The wounds are healing perfectly, the surgeons did a perfect job.

“My theatre experience pre and post-surgery was very good. Post-surgery, the recovery and ward staff were really good. My pain was well controlled and my stay was very comfortable.”

Thank you!

With some of our leadership on leave over the past few weeks, I must thank Aleacha Hampson, Shannon Sheehan, Michelle Hutch, David Thompson, Paul Kemp and Sue Bullock, for stepping into leadership roles and supporting the organisation during this time, we have appreciated your diligent contribution.

Finally,

Have you downloaded the Hey You app on your mobile? We’ll soon all need to use it to order meals from The Common Good café at Caboolture Hospital. You can also access the Hey You website from your desktop PC.

To ensure we are ready to open the new Clinical Services Building next year, The Common Good Café servery will close temporarily for one week from 4.30pm Friday 2 September and re-open from 7am on Monday 12 September.

During the café temporary closure, the Common Good Coffee Caravan located on Education Lane (next to the Education Centre) will re-open to ensure staff, patients and visitors can continue to purchase meals and refreshments.

I downloaded the Hey You app this week and gave it a test run for a coffee. All very easy and no waiting!

Take Care,

Angie.