September 2018
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Ready for the finals?
It’s the AFL Grand Final weekend, and our staff are ready for the game! On Wednesday, for the 14th year in a row, the Allied Health team at Broadmeadows Hospital ran an event day for clients and staff to celebrate the AFL Grand Final. Clients enjoyed a variety of activities including a handball target, kicking for goal, quoits, basketball, ten pin bowling, croquet and a bean bag throw. Winning clients are awarded with medals for being the top scorers. Craig Whitbourne, Senior Clinician Exercise Physiologist, said that staff competition was again very fierce this year. Up to ten different teams were…
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Chief Executive Message
We are heading into our first “Northern Celebrates” – a month of celebrations and awards throughout October that recognises what we have achieved, in caring for our patients, every day. The month includes our Northern Health Annual Dinner, Staff Length of Service Awards, Research Week and our Annual Meeting and Open Board Meeting. I hope that you become involved in as many of these activities as you can. As a team, we have a lot to be proud of. Our Annual Report has just been tabled in parliament, showing strong growth and performance improvement we can be proud of. A…
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The Mediterranean Diet by Dr Anthony Mariani
Congratulations to our Gastroenterology Consultant, Dr Anthony Mariani on the release of his follow up book, The Mediterranean Diet: Recipes from Mediterranean Kitchens. In his book, Dr Mariani highlights the principles of a Mediterranean diet and its major elements, as well as providing practical ways for incorporating them into your lifestyle. He discusses the benefits associated with adopting a traditional Mediterranean diet, including “simplicity of recipes, nutritional balance and great taste”. More than 100 authentic recipes from various countries are included, many of them handed down through generations and sourced from families of Mediterranean background. Dr Mariani’s first edition of…
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Nominate Now: Staff Recognition Awards
Can you think of a colleague who has gone above and beyond at Northern Health? Do you know of a team who has made a significant achievement in improving the patient experience? It’s their time to shine – through your nominations to recognise their efforts. Quarterly Staff Recognition Awards are an opportunity to reward teams and individuals in a wide range of areas, who have demonstrated commitment to high quality outcomes. Northern Health’s Executive Director People and Culture, Michelle Fenwick, encourages everyone to nominate. “The Awards are a way that you can highlight your colleagues’ achievements,” she said. “Categories will…
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Health literacy in multicultural environments is a two-way street
Attaching health literacy to the National Health Survey makes Australia the first country in the world to fully and comprehensively get a baseline of our country’s health literacy, using a tool that was actually developed in Melbourne. A keen supporter of Northern in our efforts to improve quality of care, Professor of Public Health, Richard Osborne from Deakin University, and the director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Health Literacy, held a research seminar on health literacy in multicultural environments at NCHER recently. Richard describes health literacy as a person’s ability to understand access, use and retrieve information, and organise themselves…
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#letsdance: Annual Dinner staff rate extended
Northern Health’s Annual Dinner Staff Rate has just been extended! On October 6, we are getting together for the biggest event at Northern – our Annual Dinner. We have extended the special staff rate, with tickets available at $99 per person or $990 for a table for 10. And there’s more good news! Our sponsors, Quest Epping have secured an accommodation special rate for everyone attending the dinner. If your dancing shoes start feeling too heavy after a big night or you just don’t feel like driving late, discounted accommodation options are available at Quest. All you have to do…
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The new Code Surge: Everyone’s responsibility
Code Surge, developed in June this year, is Northern Health’s process for solving periods of peak demand in our Emergency Department. Overcapacity in the emergency department can be a safety and quality issue and impacts both the patients waiting for a bed and those in the waiting room waiting to be seen. To address this, Northern Health developed a new code called Code Surge. According to Debra Bourne, Divisional Director, this new initiative is unique to Northern Health. “Having too many people in the ED impacts both patients and staff. It increases the waiting times, the length of stay and research has shown that…
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Teddy Bear Hospital: Today’s the day…
It’s Teddy Bear Hospital today at Northern, with our youngest community members and patients, together with Melbourne University medical students, checking up on their teddy bears. The Teddy Bear Hospital is a unique educational program established and actively run by volunteer medical, nursing, physiotherapy, optometry and dentistry students of the University of Melbourne. Northern Hospital hosts the Teddy Bear Hospital four times a year, with plan to expand next year with events at the Epping Plaza and the Aboriginal community in Thomastown. Associate Professor Wei Qi Fan, Head of Neonatal Unit at Northern Hospital says that children often come stressed to hospital…