NAIDOC Week recognises the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

This year, NAIDOC Week will be celebrated from 4 to 11 July, with the highly topical theme of ‘Heal Country’. It calls for all of us to continue to seek greater protection for our lands, waters, sacred sites and our cultural heritage from exploitation, desecration and destruction.

The highlight of our NAIDOC Week celebrations at Northern Health is a virtual session with Nova Peris OAM. Over the past three decades, barely a year has passed where Nova has not displayed excellence in some area of her life. She has rarely stood still, always determined to educate and re-educate, in order to give herself the best possible opportunity to not only develop her own prospects in life, but, equally as importantly, those of her people throughout Australia and the Torres Strait Islands.

Nova was a trailblazer in her sporting pursuits, competing at Olympic level in two sports while juggling the demanding role of being a young mother. Then, post her sporting career, she smashed through another glass ceiling by becoming the first Aboriginal woman elected to Federal Parliament.

Since the mid-1990s, Nova has spoken regularly on the plights facing Aboriginal people and has visited hundreds of communities throughout Australia to gain as much of an insight as possible into the issues facing people from all walks of life.

Nova will join us from Darwin via MS Teams on Wednesday, 7 July at 12 pm – 1 pm.

Also as part of NAIDOC Week, Dr Angela Dos Santos and Dr Graham Gee will speak at a virtual Grand Round on Thursday, 1 July at 8 am – 9 am.

Dr Dos Santos is a Neurologist at Royal Melbourne Hospital and is a proud Gumbaynggirr and Kwiamble woman. After graduating from the Western Sydney University in 2011 and completing neurology training and her stroke fellowship at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Angela became the first and only Aboriginal neurologist.

She is also a stroke physician at the Royal Melbourne and Alfred hospitals and for the Victorian Stroke Telehealth Network. She teaches First Nations Health to medical students at the University of Melbourne and works at outreach neurology clinics in both Alice Springs and Darwin. Dr Dos Santos works as a Senior Clinical Research Fellow for the Australian Stroke Alliance and is currently completing her PhD at the University of Melbourne.

Dr Graham Gee is originally from Darwin. His Aboriginal-Chinese grandfather was born near Belyuen in Northern Territory, his grandmother is from the Barkly Tablelands in Queensland and the Northern Territory and his maternal heritage is Celtic.

He is a Clinical Psychologist and a Senior Research Fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. His research focuses on Aboriginal mental health, social and emotional wellbeing and healing and recovery from trauma. For 10 years up until 2018, Dr Gee was employed as a Psychologist and a Clinical Coordinator at the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service.

Continuing on the theme ‘Heal Country’, Narrun Wilip-Giin, Aboriginal Support Unit, has put together a quiz that will test your knowledge and reward you with exciting prizes.

Before that, we invite you to read up on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been caring for country for many thousands of years by clicking here.

To watch Nova’s broadcast on Wednesday, 7 July at 12 pm, please click here.

Click here for the Grand Round presentation featuring Dr Graham Gee and Dr Angela Dos Santos on Thursday, 1 July at 8 am. 

Click here for the NAIDOC Week quiz.

For more information, visit our NAIDOC Week intranet page.

Featured image (left to right): Nova Peris OAM, Dr Graham Gee and Dr Angela Dos Santos

Northern Health acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which Northern Health’s campuses are built, the Wurundjeri people, and pay our respects to Elders past and present.

Since December 2020, Northern Health has been working with Melbourne Polytechnic to improve understanding of our health system among students enrolled into the English As An Additional Language (EAL) program.

Morteza Fayyazi and Fatima Ait Bela Ouali are new migrants to Australia and EAL students, curious to learn more about the Australian health system and share the information with their communities. For Morteza, who holds a Bachelor of Nursing degree from Iran, interest in health systems comes natural.

“I started working as a health navigator two weeks ago. We talk about COVID-19 vaccination and safety, and we share information with the people we know – I sometimes go to Mill Park library or even just talk to people I know at the gym. I know people from various backgrounds, especially from the Iranian community,” he explained.

Fatima came to Australia four years ago from Morocco and got involved by attending a class on healthcare every Monday.

“I want to know more about the health system in Australia, especially because it is so different than the system at home. Those differences are the biggest challenges for migrants. Half of the health navigators who work with us are from the refugee backgrounds, while others are new migrants,” she said.

Students who have participated in the Health Navigator elective, a partnership program between Melbourne Polytechnic and Northern Health, will be employed to deliver information to multicultural communities in the City of Whittlesea.

Whittlesea Community Connections (WCC) supports the partnership between Melbourne Polytechnic and Northern Health and provides students and volunteers with CALD backgrounds with a local employment opportunity, funded by Department of Premier and Cabinet, as part of the 2020-21 Priority Response to Multicultural Communities during coronavirus (COVID-19) Phase 2.

“We’re excited to be working with the health navigators to connect with multicultural and faith communities in Whittlesea. Their training has provided a really valuable foundation,” said Emma Antonetti, WCC’s Manager, Equity and Impact.

The students recently co-presented with Associate Professor Craig Aboltins, Northern Health’s Head of Infectious Diseases, at an online COVID-19 vaccine information session with around 100 EAL students from Middle-Eastern, South American and Asian backgrounds.

“We were very proud to present with A/Prof Aboltins to our student community and to hear his answers to their many questions,” said Basant, one of the navigators.

The partnership is in its early stages, but is already showing potential for further growth, according to Carole Pondevie-Lay, Melbourne Polytechnic’s Community Liaison and Engagement Manager.

“Health is a key settlement issue and our teachers are constantly having to cover content about the very different system in Australia. Having health navigators in our student body is a great foundation for improving health literacy, and access to Northern Health experts has been invaluable,” she said.

It’s definitely a two-way street says Jason Cirone, Head of Northern Health’s Refugee and Asylum Seeker Working Group.

“We’ve certainly got the experts on hand but the students bi-cultural skills provide the other part of the equation. For some, this opportunity is coming just after their first year of settlement and it’s great to see them making such an important contribution,” he said.

Refugee Week 2021 is marked from Sunday 20 June, World Refugee Day, to Saturday 26 June. Northern Health is proud to have the opportunity to help facilitate programs that engage with our local migrant and refugee community.

Featured image: WCC Health Navigators, Fatima Ait Bela Ouali and Morteza Fayyazi presenting on COVID-19 vaccination in Arabic and Farsi to EAL students, Melbourne Polytechnic, Epping.

Andrew Gay, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), is new to the Northern Health Executive Team, and says there is never a typical day for those in a CFO position.

“You need to digest lots of information about the health service including activity, employees, financials, risks and opportunities. There are lots of meetings and discussions driven by whatever the hot issues are at the time,” Andrew said.

“You need to keep in touch with fellow team members to respond to questions or provide help. If time permits, you get out of the office and walk to the hospital floor to observe how the service is performing. A simple walk around can give you a better perspective on how we are performing than a long written report.”

Since starting at Northern Health, Andrew says he is enjoying the ease of access to performance information.

“Other places I’ve worked at often require multiple sources of information to get a clear picture of what is happening. Thanks to the ongoing efforts of the team at Northern Health, we have great visibility of how the service is performing,” Andrew said.

After being based in Canberra last year and only getting home to Melbourne three times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Andrew says it’s great to back in Melbourne with his family. Before his time at Northern Health, Andrew worked at GM Holden and was the Head of Product Execution, responsible for the launch of vehicles developed in Australia.

“One of those vehicles was turning our Holden Monaro into the Pontiac GTO for the USA market, which involved a cross country evaluation drive in America. I am very proud for taking a fleet of Australian built GTO’s on a test drive from San Francisco to Detroit,” Andrew said.

Featured image: Andrew Gay, Chief Financial Officer.

We spoke to Tracey Webster, Telehealth Project Officer, about the digital transformation journey Northern Health is on. Read on to find out how Northern Health is using digital transformation to give patients real choice in their modality of care.

What’s your coffee order?

I love English breakfast tea. There is not much that a cup of tea cannot sort out!

What are some of the milestones in your time here?

Working as part of a team to implement Telehealth at Northern Health has been an important milestone. Ensuring that we made it patient-centred and safe for patients was the priority. Northern Health has gained a really good reputation in Telehealth and our resources have been shared with other health services. We have involved consumers with the design of our Telehealth service and this has made a real difference to the success of the project.

We have made over 5,000 video calls in 12 months, which is a huge achievement compared to other health services in their first few years of implementing Telehealth.

Another important milestone was the implementation of Telehealth into areas such as ICU and ED. This has helped families in ICU to have family meetings when they cannot be physically present and still be involved in their loved ones care. The Virtual ED has been an amazing project and one that we are very proud of. Our community is embracing digital transformation and a recent survey demonstrates that they would like to be able to have choice in how they access services and not always attend face-to-face.

What are your plans for the future?

I have worked for public and private health services and for the largest provider of Telehealth and Virtual Care in the southern hemisphere, but right now I want to support Northern Health to continue its digital transformation to provide high quality accessible care for patients. I believe that Northern Health is an exciting health service to work for as it transforms digitally. Northern Health has been able to take the learnings about Telehealth from other health services and has been able to implement best practice. We have ensured that patients are at the centre but that we also really look after our clinicians as well with areas such as vocal health. We are leading the way with this and other health services are using our resources. Being part of the team to shape digital health is exciting and many others do not get that opportunity to work in a service that is starting on the journey. I want to be able to contribute to making a real difference to patients, staff and the community.

What do you enjoy most about working at Northern Health?

I really enjoy how patient-centred staff at Northern Health are and I enjoy working with amazing staff and patients. There are opportunities to grow and develop at Northern Health which is really good. I enjoy working in Telehealth with the different disciplines as well. It is good to see medical, nursing and allied health all offering their patients real choice with their modality of care.

It has been wonderful to hear from patients about how they are enjoying video calls and able to prioritise their health and wellbeing, even during lockdowns, by having high quality accessible care. There is a real culture of support for patients and families, and staff really do want to do their best.

What would people be most surprised to know about you?

I have started sewing lessons! I am not very good but am persevering. I hope to be able to wear an item of clothing to work one day!

If you could describe Northern Health in a sentence what would that be?

Northern Health is on a digital transformation journey to give patients real choice in their modality of care and it is exciting!

Featured image: Tracey Webster, Telehealth Project Officer

We are continuing our series on introducing the staff members who are bringing together expertise and a wealth of experience to the Northern Health EMR Project.

The EMR Project will be a fully integrated digital patient record that will provide clinicians help to support high quality care for patients.

Over the next two years, nearly 40 dedicated staff members, who all bring a wealth of experience to the team, will be involved in the design and implementation of EMR.

Kimberly Hoo is the EMR Solution Architect and has been involved in many EMR rollouts.

“Prior to joining the Northern Health team, I was a Senior Functional Analyst at Health Technology Solutions, supporting multiple Victorian health services, all using Cerner EMR,” she said.

“I have been involved in several hospital EMR rollouts as well as post go-live improvement projects. Prior to that, I was the EMR Medication Lead at Austin Health, whilst balancing my role as a Clinical Hospital Pharmacist.”

“My role is to provide the Northern Health EMR team with technical guidance around Cerner’s functionality and design, to ensure our solution is delivered to leverage best clinical practices and prioritising patient safety.”

Sarai Abel is our EMR Applications Manager and feels very privileged to be leading Northern Health’s Application Team.

“As a conductor on the EMR train, my aim is to ensure we are continuously delivering to our planned schedule and within the EMR project scope. I am also looking forward to meeting as many of our stakeholders across Northern Health, so say g’day if you see me around,” Sarai said.

Before Sarai joined our EMR team, she was the EMR Applications Manager at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

“My responsibilities extended to supporting the successful implementation of the Connecting Care EMR in Parkville. Before that, I worked in technology services at healthAlliance in New Zealand, managing a large portfolio for critical clinical applications to healthcare workers across the Auckland region. Before that, I had roles in FinTech and local government sectors.”

We look forward to Sarai and Kimberly’s contribution to improving patient care at Northern Health. Stay tuned for more EMR team profiles in the coming weeks!

Featured image left to right: Kimberly Hoo and Sarai Abel

In this week’s Q&A, we had a chat with Northern Health’s new Wellbeing Team Leader, Stephen Whittaker.

What’s your coffee order?

I’ve never had a sip of coffee in my life. I drink a lot of tea and, if I’m out at a café, a hot chocolate.

Tell us why you decided to go for this role at Northern Health?

I’m really passionate about the wellbeing of healthcare workers. I’m always amazed at the care provided and the dedication of healthcare workers to often put the wellbeing of others ahead of their own. Northern Health has received a Healthcare Worker Wellbeing Grant to enable us to raise the bar when it comes to how well we prioritise the wellbeing of our staff. My job is to deliver just that – both strategically and operationally – across Northern Health.

What does a typical day look like for you?

There is no typical day. My role is both responsive and proactive when it comes to ensuring the wellbeing of our staff is at the forefront of everything we do. From meeting with leaders or staff to discussing wellbeing concerns, through to chairing our Wellbeing Working Group or promoting our Employee Assistance Program – there’s always more we can do to support our people.

What was your career before Northern Health?

Prior to arriving at Northern Health, I spent the past 18 months at RMIT University, leading staff wellbeing there. It was a mammoth effort last year to support a workforce of 10,000 going through significant change when universities in Australia were hit hard financially by the pandemic. We had to ensure we put the wellbeing of our people front and centre as the university experienced job losses and major restructuring. Before that, I spent five years at Melbourne Health leading staff wellbeing there too. When I arrived at Melbourne Health, wellbeing was effectively about fruit bowls and an annual wellbeing expo. When I left, we’d embedded wellbeing into the fabric of the organisation and into every aspect of the employee experience, making it a great place to work and a great place to receive care.

What are you hoping to achieve in your role at Northern Health?

I’m hoping to build on already established health and wellbeing offerings here at Northern Health, and to focus on building a culture of care across Northern Health through new initiatives. The research is clear; every effort we put into caring for our staff – in every aspect of their work – enables better care that is provided to our patients. Our staff will also feel psychologically safe at work knowing that their wellbeing is a priority, that they have a voice to share their concerns and provide feedback, and that it is a focus for the organisation. I’d love to see conversations about mental health and wellbeing as being normal and a part of the everyday, meaning no one is left behind and everyone feels safe to speak up, respectfully, about their concerns.

How can our staff best live the values of safe, kind and together?

Our staff can best live the values by caring for themselves and each other in the best way they can. If every interaction with everyone – patient or colleague – in the course of your day had those values at the core, we’d be building a culture of care that ensured everyone felt safe, heard, appreciated, valued and well.

What does ‘wellbeing’ mean to you?

Big question! Wellbeing is everything. It is when we have optimum physical, mental and social health. Wellbeing is achieved when we are connected with others and have good relationships, when we keep physically healthy through good movement and fitness, when we are continually learning new things, when we focus on the simple things that give us joy and when we give to others through small or large acts of kindness. All of these ways of being put together will help us achieve good wellbeing. In an organisational sense, wellbeing is achieved when staff feel physically and psychologically safe at work; safe to speak up about concerns, safe from harm and safe in knowing that the organisation has their back. Everyone has a role to play in supporting each other and enabling great staff wellbeing which enables great patient care.

What would people be most surprised to know about you?

I’m a big home cook. I really enjoy cooking good food at home and hosting family and friends over to share a meal.

What do you like to do in your free time?

My wife and I do a lot of camping and off-roading in the Victorian high country and, when there are no border restrictions, throughout central outback Australia. It fuels our wellbeing to be relaxed around a campfire enjoying the peace and quiet of the Australian bush.

If you could describe Northern Health in one sentence, what would it be?

I haven’t been here that long but my first impression is that it is a warm and welcoming place. Everyone has been very kind when welcoming me and there seems to be a really good culture here.

This year, Northern Health is once again taking part in Dry July to raise vital funds to provide at-home care and comfort to more cancer patients in the north.

The service called NOAH@Home was launched last year and provides oncology and haematology patients the opportunity to receive certain chemotherapy or supportive treatments in the comfort of their own homes. Northern Health is once again taking part in Dry July, to raise money to purchase another car, so the program can be delivered to more local cancer patients, like Brooke Leguier.

Brooke’s cancer journey began early last year, after she found a lump under her arm. Brooke went for a check-up and was immediately referred to a breast care surgeon at Northern Hospital Epping. That’s when Brooke was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Brooke underwent chemotherapy, surgery to remove both breasts, and radiation, all while Victoria grappled with COVID-19.

“When I came here, I felt comfortable. I was coming in weekly,” Brooke said.

“The nurses were nice. The cancer was in the right breast and they said the chances of it coming to the other breast was high, so I had to remove the left breast too.”

When asked about who motivated her to stay strong during her journey, Brooke said her three daughters inspired her. But it was Brooke who inspired her daughters to show support for their mum.

Tabatha Andrade and one of her sisters, shaved their heads and, when their mum beat cancer, Tabatha decided to prepare comfort bags filled with goodies for our breast cancer patients.

“We were pretty grateful for all the support we could get from our family and friends,” Tabatha said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Northern Health wants to help more patients, like Brooke, receive care in the comfort of their own home through the NOAH@Home program. Brooke is extremely grateful for the program and, to show her thanks, both Brooke and Tabatha have joined the Northern Health Dry July team this year.

The Dry July team want to help raise $30,000 to purchase another vehicle to take the program to more patients in the north. We are delighted to announce that we are guaranteed to receive 100 per cent of the funds we raise in the form of a grant from the Dry July Foundation.

Melissa Gwynne, Nurse Unit Manager, Day Oncology, is thrilled that this year’s Dry July fundraising campaign is going towards purchasing a new car.

“We are in the process of expanding our successful program to deliver chemotherapy in the home. Another vehicle will enable us to expand our geographical parameters to include areas such as Kilmore, Wandong and Broadford,” Melissa said.

“We could accommodate treating another 30 to 35 patients per week. Please join us in the fundraising campaign and help us create care for our patients.”

Josie Verga, Fundraising and Engagement Manager, Northern Health Foundation, encouraged anyone to join the Northern Health Dry July team.

“As a team, together we can support each other through the challenges of giving up alcohol for the month, a small sacrifice to make. But at the same time, raising funds to support our cancer patients while on their treatment journey,” she said.

“Thanks to the support of Aware Super, Readings Cinema, Melbourne Markets and Quest Apartments, we have some amazing prizes and incentives for team members.”

Join our Dry July team and help us raise funds for cancer patients at Northern Health. Not only are there health benefits in giving up alcohol, but you can win some amazing prizes exclusive to Northern Health team members only.

The first 20 individuals to join our team will receive a Dry July bottle opener. Two complimentary Reading Cinemas tickets, kindly donated by Reading Cinemas Epping, will go to the first 10 team members to fundraise $250.

The first 10 team members to fundraise $500 will go in the draw to win a one night stay accommodation, generously donated by Quest Apartments Epping.

The team member with the most individual donations at the end of the campaign will win one air fryer, kindly donated by Aware Super. Finally, the top five fundraisers at the end of the campaign, will receive a fresh fruit hamper, kindly donated by Melbourne Markets.

To join the team, click here.

To donate to the Northern Health team, click here.

Featured image: Brooke Leguier; Cheryl Murray, Breast Care Nurse Consultant; Tabatha Andrade and Northern Health patient (seated)

Northern Health has reinstated a successful COVID-19 telephone monitoring service to support patients in the community who tested positive to coronavirus.

Through the service, nursing staff and allied health staff from community programs monitored Northern Health patients or patients that live in the northern suburbs, who have tested positive to COVID-19 and are recovering at home. The patients are assessed for signs of worsening illness and the service is also aimed to provide a timely identification of worsening symptoms and to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions.

The service went live in July 2020 during Victoria’s second wave of COVID-19, and was closely monitored by La Trobe University researchers Associate Professor Adam Semciw and Dr Rebecca Jessup who worked with Northern Health staff to evaluate the service. The service was suspended in November last year, but was restarted in May after the state’s recent coronavirus outbreak.

More than 950 patients, who had been notified of a positive COVID-19 result, were referred to the service. At the initial call, consent was gained for the patient to be monitored and a clinical assessment incorporating risk stratification and social and welfare needs assessment was undertaken.

Patients were also provided with education on how to isolate at home and how to identify symptoms of deterioration.

The patients were monitored during the acute phase of their illness, typically up to 14 days. During the service, a telephone call script was used, which included a checklist of risk factors and symptoms. The symptom checklist identified if patients symptoms were worsening and symptoms were categorised as stable or deteriorating. For patients with deteriorating symptoms, escalation of care involved consultation with a Northern Health medical officer, referral to the GP or Emergency Department or calling an ambulance. The service has found great benefit of using the Northern Health Virtual ED program.

High risk patients received daily monitoring calls and low risk patients received second-daily contact.

Patients were discharged from the service when cleared from isolation by the Department of Health. All patients received a post-discharge follow-up telephone call to check on their recovery and patients self-reported any ongoing symptoms and if they had returned to their usual daily activities.

In 2020, 36 per cent of patients were at risk of serious illness and those deemed at risk had two times greater odds of experiencing symptoms 30 days after diagnosis.

Sixteen per cent of patients reported a prolonged illness and of those, fatigue was the most common symptom, with 55 per cent of patients reporting this symptom in this initial 30 day period.

Andrea Clarke, Community Compliance Leader, is one of nine Northern Health staff and the two La Trobe University staff members to author an article on the service’s results in the Journal of Community Health. She said telephone monitoring by trained health professionals has a strong potential in the effective management of patients with a mild COVID-19 illness.

“The publication of this article is a great achievement of the work done by a team of Northern Health staff in supporting people with COVID-19 during Melbourne’s second wave last year. It is also a personal achievement for me as this is the first article that I have authored,” Andrea said.

“A key to the success of the program was leveraging off our existing systems, processes and expertise. We pulled together staff from different areas and they were able to generalise their skills to this service which was really successful.”

“A big learning from this service was the importance of communication. We had open lines of communication between the patients, front line staff and leadership team and this was vital to our success in standing up a service within 1 week at the peak of the second wave.”

Fiona Beadle , Clinical Nurse Consultant, said the service provided valuable support to the Northern Health community isolating at home with COVID-19.

“Some of these patients have been living alone and feeling the isolation that comes with physical separation from the community,” Fiona said.

“Overwhelmingly, patients have been very grateful for the support provided to them through the program. One patient who has recently been discharged from the program stated, “I will miss the regular phone calls”.

Johanna Hayes, Community Programs Director, said the program restarted this year immediately when the first case was identified.

“Northern Health Community Programs is proud to be involved in the important work of keeping people whom have a diagnosis of COVID-19 well at home. We ran a very successful program last year with over 950 people on the pathway and so far this year 30 people have benefited from the program,” Johanna said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Featured image: Andrea Clarke, Community Compliance Leader.