Deadly start for Stella at Oral Health
This month we welcomed Estella Bligh-Espinall as a Deadly Start trainee at the Sandgate Dental Clinic.
Stella, who goes to Sandgate State High, has a dream to become a Dental Assistant and the Deadly Start program has given her a great opportunity to fulfill that dream.
The school-based traineeship involves 375 hours of practical learning over a 12 to 18 month period, while students complete a Certificate III across a range of health support service qualifications.
Stella is one of 30 school students completing their Deadly Start school-based traineeship in Metro North Health.
The program’s culturally responsive approach connects students with staff, fostering a community to guide them in their health careers and delivering increased cultural capabilities across the board.
Compliment of the month – Virtual Ward
We couldn’t pass up this compliment of the month from an elderly couple who wanted to thank our COVID-19 Virtual Ward team.
“We felt so overwhelmed by the care and attention received from the whole team. The doctors and nurses where wonderful, understanding and very caring.
“The medication was delivered by a very kind man, who was very careful with his social distancing and ensuring the medication was safely delivered.
“We felt supported both mentally and physically throughout our isolation and have been enthusiastically praising the ward to all of our friends and family.
“Thank you to all the staff, we are very grateful.”
Governor extends hand to health support workers
Community and Oral Health staff were recognised as part of a broader statewide group at a special function at Government House.
Senior pharmacist Anne-Marie Parisi and BEMs gardener Ronald Aquilina joined Her Excellency The Governor The Honourable Dr Jeannette Young at a gathering to recognised the outstanding work of all of our health workers.
Being accreditation ready – Each and every day
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has completed its reaccreditation assessment of Gannet House. They passed with flying colours – with no recommendations required.
The assessment team were very complimentary in their summation, articulating that it was clear that governance processes were well embedded.
Well done to Belinda Sawtell and all of the Gannet House team who have maintained accreditation readiness.
Extension of the COH Excellence Awards
Thank you to the 40 staff who have so far taken the time to nominate teams and individuals for the Community and Oral Health Staff Excellence Awards for 2022.
I know that everyone is busy and given the current pressures we have decided to extend the nomination process by an extra month until COB Tuesday 16 August so that we may find ourselves in a more settled period.
Please, submit a nomination for your peers or teams who deserve recognition for their work, kindness, resilience, agility, people focus, compassion and commitment over the last 12 months.
BPA upgrades and activity
The Building, Engineering and Maintenance (BEMs) team has been kicking goals at the end of the financial year.
In 2021/22, we committed to a number of outcomes following the BPA Staff Survey, to upgrade staff amenities, breakout areas and some clinical areas across the directorate.
This work has now been completed and includes upgrades and refreshment of the:
- Stafford Dental Clinic surgeries (11 and 12)
- Gannet House reception
- Brighton Multi-Faith Space – Auditorium
- Dolphin House staff lunchroom, outdoor screens and breezeway
- Brighton Brain Injury Service therapy kitchen, sensory room and staff kitchen
- Aspley kitchen and shade sails
- Brighton Auditorium green room conversation to offices
- Zillmere Transition Care Program break out area
North Lakes Health Precinct balcony, kitchen and Indigenous garden.
Shout outs reveal some hidden gems
Every day we hear stories of individuals who are putting the Metro North Values of respect, compassion, teamwork, high performance and integrity into action.
Through the toughest of times our staff are getting on with the job. Their actions are building a culture of resilience, support and wellbeing which reflects positively on our colleagues, our organisation and the consumers in our care.
Congratulations to our recent shout out champions across COH:
- Graeme Anderson, Brighton Health Campus
- Jamie Taylor, Brighton Health Campus
- Andrew Markula, Cooinda House
- Peter Kemp, Oral Health
- Belinda Aindow, CBRT
- Wendy Bryett, Halwyn Centre
- Debbie Berber, PACS – Caboolture
- Michael Elliott, North Lakes Health Precinct.
Read more shout outs on QHEPS at the Staff Shout Out page.
Sneak peak – Kallangur, Caboolture and Bribie Island satellite hospitals
There has been much planning and discussion around the Kallangur, Caboolture and Bribie Island satellite hospitals and it was good to see the recent funding announcement from the Chief Executive.
This is a very exciting development for all our service lines, as it is anticipated that our directorate will be playing a significant role in the management and service delivery at these satellite hospitals.
The following image provides a sneak peak of an artist impression of what the buildings will look inside.
Congratulations to Ella and Roseanne
Community and Oral Health had a School-based Trainee of the Year finalist in the Queensland Training Awards for the Metropolitan region.
Congratulations to Ella Learman, who is completing a Certificate III in Health Services Assistance, and undergoing her placement at Gannet House, Brighton Health Campus.
In addition, Occupational Therapist Roseanne Holliday from the Halwyn Centre was acknowledged for her paper “Neurodiverse Affirming Occupational Therapy Practice Framework … starting the conversation” at the Occupational Therapy Australia OTExchange2022.
FAST FACTS
Each year around 70,000 appointments for oral health care were provided by University of Queensland students and Metro North Health staff at the Oral Health Centre.