August 2019
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Alison Bannan: Wound clinic war on waste
At our Quarterly Staff Recognition Awards held in May, Alison Bannan won the Innovation Award for the ‘Wound Clinic War on Waste’ campaign she started in 2018. She was nominated by Eryn Mcnamara, who explained that once the audit of clinical waste started, it was determined that a lot of rubbish being put in these bins was not clinical waste. “With the help of her colleagues, Alison has campaigned for new clinical waste bins and has provided signage and education to staff about what belongs in what bins,” Eryn said. Alison has been working at Northern Hospital for 10 years.…
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Successful Cath Lab in-situ simulation
Recently, the HRO Transformation Team organised and delivered another successful in-situ simulation, this time held in the Cath Lab and supported by our multi-disciplinary staff. Brooke Williams, Project Support Officer, said Northern Health is holding simulations for quality and safety purposes, and not for education purposes, which is what is usually done in hospitals. “We are targeting reoccurring adverse events and simulating with a multi-disciplinary focus. For example, for the code blue in the Cath Lab, there will be anaesthetics, ED, cardiology and ICU attending for that code. What we’re trying to look at is how all the teams interact…
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Short Stay Unit Turns 10
This week marks 10 years since the Short Stay Unit (SSU) was established at Northern Hospital. Officially opened by the Minister for Health at the time, Daniel Andrews, SSU started out small, with only 10 beds. Now, it has grown to 23 beds with over 50 admissions per day. Director of Emergency, Megan Robb, recounts her SSU journey, first becoming involved with the unit in 2013 as a new consultant. “When SSU first opened, it was simply a place I sent patients to with no real understanding of its purpose and function,” Megan says. “Today, the purpose and function of…
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Speech Pathology Week: Communicating with Confidence
There are 1.2 million Australians with communication disability. Speech pathologists like Stephanie Bennetts from Northern Health, work with these Australians to help them ‘communicate with confidence’ – which is this year’s Speech Pathology Week theme. Speech Pathology Week runs from 25 – 31 August and is celebrated nationally. Speech Pathology Week is designed to help raise awareness about speech pathology services in the hospital and community. It also provides an opportunity to advocate for people experiencing communication or swallowing difficulties. “This year the theme is about educating everyone that there’s lots of little things you can do that make a…
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Innovation Challenge with Amazon and Swinburne
Northern Health has partnered with Swinburne University of Technology and Amazon Web Services on an innovation challenge to assist people with diabetes. This collaboration was highlighted last Friday when Northern Health joined the launch of Swinburne University’s Data for Social Good Cloud Innovation Centre. The Centre is one of seven worldwide, and the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. It aims to help solve challenges faced by society – powered by cloud technology. Northern Health is a collaborative partner with the Centre, working on an innovation challenge to help people living with type 2 diabetes to self-manage, through…
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Patient, Shaun Carey, on his Northern Health journey
A fifty-nine year old Doreen resident, Shaun Carey, knows Northern Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) all too well, having been in the unit four times in the last twelve months. Shaun was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2014 after doctors found a tumour present. Shaun underwent surgery to have the tumour removed, followed by chemotherapy for six weeks. Over the next twelve months, Shaun made regular visits and doctors discovered the tumour had grown back. Once again, the tumour was removed and he underwent another round of chemotherapy. This time, he was not so lucky – the chemotherapy didn’t work…
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New HITH Chemotherapy Service
Kilmore resident Michael Dunn is one of the first Northern Health patients to use our new Hospital in the Home (HITH) chemotherapy service. Patients receiving chemotherapy for colorectal cancer require a specific regime that includes an infusor filled with chemotherapy to be attached for 46 hours. Until recently, patients would return home once the infusor is attached and return to the day oncology unit for disconnection of the infusor on their third day of treatment. Day Oncology Nurse Unit Manager, Melissa Gwynne, said, “This causes some anxiety for some patients who have issues with transport. Benchmarking across multiple health services,…
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OPAL Clinic empowering women in pregnancy
The Obesity, Pregnancy and Lifestyle (OPAL) clinic at Northern Hospital is a specialised clinic that provides antenatal care to pregnant women with an elevated body mass index (BMI>40) and/or women who have had previous bariatric surgery such as gastric band, gastric sleeve and gastric bypass surgeries. Midwife, Nicole Kuehlich-Zippel, said the clinic offers continuity of care in which women and their families see the same midwife, obstetrician and dietitian throughout their antenatal care. This provides an opportunity for women to know their healthcare provider and feel more comfortable. “Weight stigma is commonly experienced by people in larger bodies. Some women…