October 2018
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Emergo: Critical Incident Management
This week, Northern Health hosted an Emergo exercise. Emergo is a mass casualty simulation exercise facilitated by the Department of Health and Human Services and Ambulance Victoria to evaluate an organisation’s incident management systems, disaster preparedness and resilience. The simulated ‘code brown’ disaster was a train crash on the Epping line, including a fire and suspected terrorist involvement. Over the duration of the exercise, Northern Health received 121 casualties into the emergency department, with some managed in emergency, others referred to ICU and theatre, and some being transferred to other health services. The simulation included complexities involving resources, such as running out…
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First Staff Recognition Awards
This week Northern Health held the inaugural Staff Recognition Awards, acknowledging teams and individuals in a wide range of areas who have demonstrated commitment to high quality outcomes. The six categories and their winners were presented by our Chief Executive Siva Sivarajah, who said that staff recognised at these Awards are exemplars in a positive culture of respect, integrity and care for our patients and each other. “We know that our staff are key to Northern Health providing excellent care for our patients. Every day, I see examples of how our staff strive to improve care and the experience of…
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Briana Baass: Staying Well
On a recent humid Darwin day, I sat in a room full of people passionate about health service management, waiting for the final speaker of the Australasian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM) Congress. It had been a huge week, jam-packed with inspirational presentations, sharing of ideas and the forming of new connections. The closing keynote was to be delivered by iconic journalist and TV personality, Ray Martin, whose status may have been lost somewhat on the international delegates and those too young to remember his dominance in lounge rooms across Australia. From the minute Ray commenced talking, he drew…
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Annual Dinner: Wrap up
What an enjoyable night it was at Northern Health’s Annual Dinner. It was a night filled with great entertainment, laughter, good food and numerous prizes, as well as support from everyone involved. Yvonne Amos, Northern Health Foundation Director, expressed her gratitude to all that attended. “Thank you to our sponsors, supporters, volunteers and Northern Health staff for getting behind our 2018 Annual Dinner in support of the Children’s Ward at Northern Hospital Epping,” she said. By joining forces, the Northern Health Annual Dinner raised just over $80,000 to support the purchase of medical equipment and upgrading of our Children’s Ward…
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Week Without Violence
One in three Australian women over the age of 15 has experienced physical or sexual violence and/or emotional abuse by an intimate partner. One in four women has experienced emotional abuse by a current or former partner. One in five women has experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. On average, one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner. Family violence is a crime that is overwhelmingly perpetrated by men against women and children. It is both a cause and consequence of gender inequality. It is serious, prevalent and preventable. Northern Health recognises that family…
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Our researchers part of the LaunchVic’s funded Actuator
The Melbourne-based ‘Actuator’ is one of Australia’s premier MedTech commercialisation initiatives. The Actuator has partnered with hospitals across Victoria to drive clinically-led innovations and provide a pathway for hospital entrepreneurs and startups to access the Actuator accelerator and MedTech’s Got Talent programs. Northern Health Research Lead Peter Brooks, said this will be a very exciting program for NH Researchers. “Our researchers will be able to learn ‘worlds best practice’ in innovation, entrepreneurship, commercialisation and be able to be involved in educational and start up funding programs offered by Actuator over the next 2 years,” he said. The project consists of…
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Responding to Family Violence
Last night at the 2018 Victorian Public Healthcare Awards, Northern Health won the award for ‘Whole-of-hospital model for responding to family violence’ for the initiative, ‘Partnering with the north: evaluating and building capacities for strong families’. Northern Health partnered with Kilmore District Hospital to tackle family violence in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, including the local government areas of Hume, Whittlesea and Mitchell, which experience significantly higher rates of family violence than the state’s average. The project involved supporting staff through a major cross-organisation cultural change process, as well as policies of zero tolerance to family violence, and upskilling of managers to…
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Dr Stephen Duckett: Safer care saves money
Northern Health Research Week was proud to host Dr Stephen Duckett, as the morning session speaker on the topic Safer care saves money. In front of the full lecture theatre, Dr Duckett emphasized how important it is to measure all complications that occur in hospitals and tracking them over time. According to Dr Duckett, Australia could save $1.5 billion a year on health spending by improving the safety of patient care in hospitals. “Safety is not just an issue for doctors – it’s a hospital and a system issue,” he said. Dr Duckett also touched on the accreditation system, as…