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The first global pandemic in almost 100 years, the largest flooding event since 2011 and the first South-East Queensland cyclone in almost 50 years are just a few events that Dr Liz Rushbrook has led Metro North through, always with style and grace.

As she steps away after 10 years in the job, our Chief Medical Officer Dr Liz reflects proudly on the way Metro North has embraced and matured in a disaster response space and is grateful to have supported many innovative services including the Virtual Ward and Virtual Emergency Care Service, the Patient Access Coordination Hub (PACH) and our Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) service.

However, Liz will not be too far away in retirement from her CMO role, as she will remain involved with Metro North in the medical administration space after some well-deserved travel plans.

"I would really like to remain connected to Metro North Health; I am hoping to stay connected through part-time work as a Senior Medical Officer in the specialty of Medical Administration. Perhaps through support to Disaster Response, Acute Capacity Management and Olympics preparedness," Liz said.

"There have been so many unique moments [in this role], from creating information for the first plane load of people quarantining after travel to Wuhan province, China to teaching people that `physical distancing` of 1.5m is the length of a pool noodle."

On behalf of Metro North Health, we congratulate Liz on a wonderful career and wish her all the best on her next journey! 🫶 ...

"I was a `sparky` until my leg had to be chopped off, now I`m just doing the best I can to keep as many limbs on me as possible. I had an injury on the side of my foot which became pretty bad and I had to have my leg amputated. I help care for a 97-year-old and a 72-year-old, doing the cooking, cleaning, their groceries, all of that. I`ve got a good crew here looking after me at the moment which is great."

💭 Monday Mantra, Steve, Redcliffe Hospital Ward 6 West patient ...

When control is taken from someone due to terminal illness, Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) can give someone back control over their life journey. 🤍

Staff Specialist Dr Michael and Clinical Nurse Consultant Lisa have been with the Metro North VAD team since it launched in 2023 and say that education for the general public and open discussions about VAD will continue to clear up some of the misinformation and misconceptions around the process.

"We aren`t an emergency service and that is a misconception of VAD, it is a legal medical procedure that terminally ill patients who are suffering can request, which involves an assessment process with our doctors," Lisa said.

"Often people will say that they`ll choose VAD to beat their cancer, because they get to choose when they die, not the cancer. The option to choose is so important, they will not suffer or be in pain, it is a dignified and peaceful process and patients have nothing to be afraid of."

"Euthanasia is not a term we use anymore, there is different terminology in different countries but everywhere in Australia uses VAD. We really want to move away from terms like euthanasia or physician assisted suicide as that is not what it is," Dr Michael added.

"We have received just under 1300 referrals since 2023 and 99% of those people were also linked in with palliative care. VAD should be seen as complementary to palliative care as an end-of-life option for people who are suffering," he said. ...