To look after our staff the best possible way, Northern Health’s Occupational Health and Safety Department is delighted to announce the launch of the Staff Health Clinic – Physiotherapy. The clinic is a new service designed to look after the musculoskeletal health of Northern Health staff.

“We are ready to start taking patients from today. We had a trial run this week with a few test patients, which has gone well. We are running Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and we are happy to see staff come in,” explained Tom Cooper, Physiotherapist, who leads the clinic.

The clinic will be seeing Northern Health employees from all areas. It aims to provide high quality one on one physiotherapy care to staff who sustain injuries whilst at work, to help them have an optimal recovery and return to work safely and a timely manner. The clinic will also provide care to staff who have acute or acute-on-chronic musculoskeletal injuries or conditions not directly sustained at work, that limit their ability to do their job safely and comfortably.

“We will be seeing two streams of patients. One stream would be staff with a sustained injury at work, which is our main focus. However, we will also see people who have injuries or muscle pain issues that aren’t related to work, but cause a problem for them and make work difficult. This type of patients can refer themselves to the clinic via our Intranet page“.

“If you hurt your back trying to get a patient out of bed, or if you hurt your shoulder trying to move a box, or you’ve fallen over and hurt your ankle, we will see you. If you have injuries or pains in your normal life outside of work, like if you hurt your back in the garden or playing sport or even if you’ve had a flare up of an old injury, contact us. This is a short term service, as we are aiming to see people no more than six times,” Tom explained.

Tom has worked at Northern Health since 2017 across musculoskeletal outpatient clinics, community therapy services and the Emergency Department. He is passionate and committed to providing high quality care to patients and getting the best outcomes possible. Tom takes an active and evidence-based approach to his patients, focusing on getting patients moving well and understanding how to manage their condition to optimise recovery.

“If you have sustained an injury at work, be sure to submit an incident report through VHIMS to access the service through OHS,” he said.

Staff looking to refer themselves into the service for non-work injuries can do so by submitting the self-referral form found on the clinic Intranet page and sending an email to staffphysio@nh.org.au. The clinic runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday 8 am to 4.30 pm and is located in the Fit Testing Clinic (old People and Culture office).

Matthew Moore is excited to become a Patient Service Assistant (PSA).

PSAs are responsible for a variety of tasks including cleaning on the wards, cleaning beds when a patient is discharged and transportation throughout the hospital.

Matthew, who has autism, recently completed a Certificate III in Health Services Assistance at Victoria University. As part of the certificate, Matthew underwent placement training at Northern Hospital Epping.

“I decided to do the PSA course because I spent most of my younger years in the hospital, and I thought what better way than to give back,” Matthew said.

“I am looking forward to being able to get myself out there and start working.”

Matthew began his course in early 2020 and, with many things last year, his studies and ability to begin placement at Northern Health was impacted by COVID-19.

Steve Carnell, PSA Support Supervisor, said Matthew had to complete his theory work online.

“He didn’t have a lot of contact hours so placement was his chance to actually get his hands into it,” Steve said.

“If you do the course face-to-face, it’s maybe a three month course. Doing it online, it’s obviously a little bit different.”

“With COVID-19, the course extended out because institutions weren’t taking placements, so we had to shut down taking students in the hospital because of the potential risk.”

At Northern Hospital Epping, students are provided with the best possible experience when completing their placement.

“This hospital has a really good reputation amongst the schools,” Steve said.

“We are giving them lots of experience, lots of hands on work instead of just throwing them in a corner and asking them to wipe down a table again. We are getting them to do the actual work.”

“One of the teachers from Victoria University was saying that students were jealous of the ones that got to come here because of the access and the things they actually got to do and that is great for the hospital.”

Matthew has been offered a PSA position at Barwon Health. He said he was thankful for the experience and knowledge he gained at Northern Health.

“Steve was an awesome trainer, he’s passed on his knowledge. People have been really helpful and everyone has been nice to me. I will miss it a lot,” Matthew said.

Featured image: L-R Steve Carnell, PSA Support Supervisor, and Matthew Moore.

This week marks National Volunteer Week (17 May to 23 May). Our 340 volunteers play an important role at Northern Health across all our sites.

Prior to COVID-19, the volunteers would assist with a variety of roles including guiding, QFlow, tea and coffee services, administration, the Busy Fingers Gift Shop, the Rehab Supply Centre, offered spiritual and palliative care, visited patients on the wards and in nursing homes, helped with social groups, ran an Old Blokes Shed, cuddled babies in the Neonatal Unit and offered breast cancer support.

Henni Wade, Manager Volunteer Services, said the volunteers demonstrated amazing resilience and patience during the pandemic and lockdown. She said many volunteers carried out tasks from the safety of their own home and made cloth masks, knitted, assisted with fundraising activities and sent cards to aged care residents during what was a very difficult year.

“Our volunteers love volunteering at Northern Health because it is their local health service and volunteering enables them to give back to their community,” Henni said.

“Volunteering gives them great satisfaction that they are making a difference and it gives them a routine in their lives. We were so excited to welcome them back on site recently.”

For Angela Dolcetta, there is no better way to mark National Volunteer Week than to do what she loves doing best – volunteering.

“Volunteer Week is coming here and celebrating with the people here,” she said. “Volunteering is not a hard job. For me, it hasn’t been hard. It has been a pleasure for me to do this.”

Angela is commemorating 25 years of volunteering at our health service, and she says the time has flown by since she first stepped foot at Northern Health.

“When I started volunteering, I didn’t think I would stay very long. But I had beautiful people around me that made me feel so welcomed. The 25 years have gone in a flash. For me it’s been the happiest,” she said.

Angela has spent one day a week since 1996 helping out at Bundoora Centre and Ian Brand Nursing Home, bringing traditional Italian coffee and biscuits and providing companionship to many patients over the years.

“One man used to pop his head out and wait for me. It was something they looked forward to,” Angela said.

“There was a lot of Italians and we used to play cards. I would go into the hospital and I would talk to people. It was good because they liked to talk and tell their stories and you are just there to listen.”

“I belonged to a group of Sicilian singers and I used to come here twice, maybe three times a year, and we would perform and they loved it. We played old songs and they really enjoyed it.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Australia, Northern Health had to suspend volunteer activity across all the sites, and Angela hasn’t been able to volunteer for more than a year. We are slowly welcoming back volunteers across our sites and we are looking forward to seeing Angela and our other volunteers at Northern Health soon.

“I was waiting for Tuesday – that was my day to volunteer,” Angela said.

“Even when I was working, Tuesday was my day. I miss it a lot. At the beginning, I was really scared and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go back but I want to come back. I am waiting for the call.”

“I want to bring the coffee and the biscuits. All these little things make them happy and I’ve missed it.”

Featured image: Angela Dolcetta

This week, we caught up with  Dennis Gyomber, who recently took on the role of Divisional Director of Surgery. He talks about his passion for surgery and his love of comics.

What’s your coffee order?

It’s a small latte with an extra shot.

Tell us about your Northern Health journey.

The journey started for me as an intern at least 25 years ago. I started off in the Emergency Department doing some ward work, ICU rotation and anesthetic rotations. Then I entered in speciality training and I went to other facilities. I was trained as a urologist and I always knew that, when I finished, I wanted to come back here so I kept in contact. I got my job as the urologist here and continued on.

What does a typical day look like for the Divisional Director of Surgery?

It starts off with the early wake up and then checking emails for any issues overnight. It’s then looking at the patient flow aspect and how surgery can cope with the demand. Northern Health has the busiest Emergency Department in the state and so, with such a volume of people coming through, it’s making sure we can meet that demand. It’s balancing that and then balancing the unexpected that can pop up, from minor complaints to the significant ones that can turn up.  One day a week, I still go and practise as a urologist.

What is your greatest achievement or favourite memory since working at Northern Health?

When I started here, there was only two part-time urologists, so it was a very small unit with no accredited trainee. Since I have turned up, we now have six urologists. It’s about establishing a really vibrant unit that’s really attractive.

What do you enjoy most about working at Northern Health?

Everyone is really friendly. Here, we are a little bit more of a family. I do like operating – that’s still the main driver – and looking after patients. As the Divisional Director, projects take a long time, so what I am looking forward to is seeing some projects come to fruition. There is a certain bubbling optimism with the Main Ward Block opening. Coming out of COVID-19 lockdown and getting back to work is also quite exciting.

What are some exciting developments currently happening in surgery? 

Northern Health is trying to be very innovative and try things that will improve the efficiency of the patient’s journey. We want to be able to offer this high level of care that is efficient, streamlined and utilises available, new and emerging technologies. We are looking at getting a Cancer Care Coordinator which would strengthen the service that already exists. The main thing would be the new theatres coming online in the Main Ward Block.

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

I think we are on the cusp of a new dawn with the expansion. If we were a human, 10 years ago we were a child and I think we are now entering our most productive adult years where we can really take that next step. We are an inventive, adaptable and productive hospital and we are engaging with the community.

What would people be most surprised to know about you?

I like comics, the graphic novel genre. I’m probably a frustrated artist at the end of the day wanting to be a sculptor. Surgery is a bit of that, so I do admire the art.

Featured image: Dennis Gyomber, Divisional Director of Surgery. 

Today, Northern Health acknowledged IDAHOBIT – International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia – to celebrate the identities and achievements of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQA+) people and to stand with them against discrimination and all forms of violence.

Despite great community acceptance and understanding in recent years, Australia’s LGBTIQA+ community experiences depression at between three to five times the rate of the general population. At least 75 per cent of young LGBTIQA+ people experience some form of discrimination and 61 per cent experience verbal abuse.

Here at Northern Health, we want to make that zero per cent. This year’s theme for IDAHOBIT is Together: Resisting, Supporting, and was chosen due to the recent challenges the world has faced in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michelle Fenwick, Executive Director People and Culture and Equity Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee Chair, said the theme was a great way to bring everyone together to celebrate diversity and inclusiveness at Northern Health.

“I could not think of a better way to be able to show us being together. I for one am so proud to work for a service that my family and friends feel safe to attend, knowing that we have and will receive excellent clinical care,” she said.

Christine Nicolaidis and Electra Ulrich, Co-chairs of the LGBTIQA+ Working Group, highlighted the importance of the day.

“We know that both staff and consumers of our organisation identify as part of the LGBTIQA+ community and so it’s important, from both a workplace perspective and patient inclusive perspective, that we do create a place that cultural safety is paramount,” Christine said.

“IDAHOBIT Day acknowledges 17 May 1990, when the World Health Organization (WHO) removed homosexuality as a mental disorder. This was a huge step in recognition of the queer community and it really wasn’t that long ago. It’s so important to actively create safe spaces because for many people, this wasn’t, and for some still isn’t, a reality in their home, work or community,” Electra said.

Briana Baass, Chief Allied Health Officer and Executive Lead for Transcultural Services and Aboriginal Support Unit said, “I think it is critical we continue to work on not only diversity across all our staff, but how we are inclusive. I think this is another way that we can celebrate our differences and keep working towards more inclusiveness.”

As a member of the LGBTIQA+ community who has been the victim of homophobic slurs, Shiraz Lubke, Director Procurement and Supply, said she didn’t want anyone a part of the LGBTIQA+ community to deal with abuse.

“It is not OK to treat people poorly because of their sexuality or their gender identity,” Shiraz said.

Richard Laufer, Chief Legal Officer, said, “No matter how anyone identifies, IDAHOBIT is about increasing awareness of those in our community and colleagues’ experiences. It plays a role in creating an inclusive workplace, promoting inclusion and ending discrimination.”

Northern Health will be marching at Pride March for the second time on Sunday. The annual event acknowledges and celebrates the LGBTIQA+ community. Whether you identify as part of the LGBTIQA+ community or an ally, the visibility of our health care organisation is an important step in providing inclusive health care to our consumers, staff and community.

The march begins at 11 am on 23 May and will start at Ian Johnson Oval, St Kilda. To take part in the march email PrideInTheNorth@nh.org.au.

If you are interested in joining the LGBTIQA+ Working Group, please email LGBTIQA+Enquiries@nh.org.au

Featured image L-R: Andrew Williamson, Executive Director Public Affairs and Foundation; Michelle Fenwick, Executive Director People and Culture; Richard Laufer, Chief Legal Officer; Andrew Gay, Chief Finance Officer; Shiraz Lubke, Director Procurement and Supply and Debra Bourne, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer.

This week is National Health Information Management Awareness Week. Health Information is at the heart of the healthcare system and is maintained by Health Information Managers (HIMs).

Terri Fiorenza, Director Health Information Services, explained HIM’s professional responsibilities cover the collection, storage, analysis and distribution of healthcare information.

“HIMs contribute both to the healthcare system and to people’s health by providing the information systems and data central for medical decision making and patient care planning. HIMs coordinate many kinds of healthcare information, from a variety of sources. At Northern Health, HIMs work across the following departments: Health Information Services, Decision Support Unit, Legal Counsel, Information Technology, Mental Health and Electronic Medical Record project,” she said.

It’s been a busy year for our Health Information Services (HIS). In the last 12 months, they have been responsible for securing submission of the eDishcharge Summary to patient’s My Health Record, implementing the Department of Health Unique Patient Identifier statewide system in identifying and managing patient duplicate healthcare records and establishing a data linkage with births, deaths and marriages in upgrading Northern Health Patient Administration System with deceased information of patients.

The team has upgraded Clinical Patient Folder (CPF) to include the CPF Referrals Manager for referral management with Specialist Clinic Outpatients and CPF scanning hardware and software fleet has been upgraded to ensure Windows 10 compliance.

The Northern Health Communications team has transitioned to the HIS program and a Hospital Reception Manager position to oversee Communications/Hospital Receptions across the health service has been created. The remaining Northern Health Ward Clerk Workforce has transitioned to the HIS Program, with the creation of a HIS Program Allocations team to manage vacancies across the HIS Program and Communications and Ward Clerk resources have been supplied for the Main Ward Block.

In addition, there were notable projects such as the development of the new Cancer Registry Board.

“The Cancer Services division identified that Northern Health did not have a method to capture all cancer patients presenting to our health services. The task was presented to Decision Support and HIS to develop a tool to identify and monitor all cancer related patients that are treated at Northern Health,” said Nga Dang, from Decision Support.

As cancer patients can touch on various points throughout the organisation, Nga analysed a number of internal systems such as iPM, CHARM, HMS and CANMAP, and built a methodology to isolate those patients that had been flagged with cancer whilst categorising them into an appropriate tumour stream.

“The end result is a Cancer Registry dashboard, which is accessible through the reporting portal, and allows users to track volumes of patients, first treatments, tumour streams and cancer diagnosis. The dashboard will evolve in the future to include key KPI’s to support the monitoring and auditing of cancer care clinical indicators,” she explained.

Maria Tucker, Divisional Director Nursing, Cancer Services and Specialist Clinics, was highly appreciative of the end result and said, “clinical indicators are best practice quality indicators that span patient access, assessment, treatment and outcomes related to their cancer care, and provide Northern Health with an objective measure of performance on areas for improvement or exemplary performance.”

Featured image: HIS staff

Over the coming months, we will continue to introduce you to the dedicated staff members who are working on the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Project – a two year project to introduce an EMR to Northern Health.

Three staff members working in the informatics space are Dr Lachie Hayes, Chief Medical Informatics Officer, Vanessa Reid, Chief Nursing Information Officer (CNIO) and Daniella Chapkoun, Nursing Informatics and Benefits Analyst.

Lachie explains his work in informatics over the past decade at Northern Health.

“I’ve been involved in various informatics projects at Northern over the last 10 years, providing me with a comprehensive understanding of the existing applications. Through my work at various times as Head of Unit, Divisional Director and Acting CMO, I have a broad understanding of the medical culture and the history of the organisation,” Lachie said.

“In my role, I am actively engaged with senior and junior medical staff, assisting in translating their clinical workflows and experience into the EMR. I also still practice clinically, meaning, I will actually be using the end product and therefore have a strong interest in a successful deployment,” Lachie added.

Daniella is also a long-standing staff member of Northern Health and is looking forward to working collaboratively with her team on the implementation.

“I have worked at Northern Health for almost 20 years! My digital journey began in 2019 with the mapping of current state for the EMR team. I then moved to Specialist Clinics as the project lead, implementing The Referrals Manager,” Daniella said.

“My role in nursing informatics is to work collaboratively with Vanessa to lead and facilitate the engagement of nursing staff in the design and operational readiness with the implementation of the EMR. The role of Benefits Analyst is to collaboratively manage the collective portfolio of project benefits through the full life cycle of benefits realisation,” Daniella added.

Vanessa has worked at Northern Health for over three years as the CNIO and has brought a wealth of experience to the role.

“I joined Northern Health after spending the majority of my nursing career at Austin Health in various positions that provided me with a broad understanding of clinical informatics and experience in a range of nursing roles from the bedside to the executive level,” Vanessa explained.

“I have been working for the last three years as the CNIO, supporting EMR planning and working on various projects and initiatives across the organisation. My role bridges the gap between nursing and clinical information systems at the strategic level, so we can meet the needs of the overall organisation, while keeping the goal of patient care at the forefront of our decisions.”

“I look forward to continuing to work with our nurses to ensure our clinical workflows and standards of practice are considered in design and implementation the EMR.”

Stay tuned for more EMR team profiles in the coming months!

Featured Image (left to right): Dr Lachie Hayes, Vanessa Reid and Daniella Chapkoun

International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world annually on 12 May, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. This year’s theme is Nurses: A Voice to Lead – A vision for future healthcare.

Annabel Milonas, Director Education – Nursing and Midwifery, said to celebrate the day, Northern Health is moving its focus outwards to its wider international community and showing support and unification for the nursing staff in Papua New Guinea (PNG) experiencing the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, by sending care packages.

“Throughout 2020 in Australia, while facing the COVID-19 pandemic and in Victoria especially, our nurses would like to acknowledge the dedication and hardship facing our colleagues within the Papua New Guinea region. Northern Health has a strong focus on community and are reaching out to our neighbours in support of their care provision during the pandemic,” she said.

Maria Tucker, Divisional Director, Nursing, Cancer Services and Specialist Clinics, who initiated the idea said: “I think it could be quite unifying and inspiring to support nurses in other countries who are doing it tough still while we have the luxury of an almost COVID-free country,” she said.

Debra Bourne, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer added: “This day is about the roles and impact our nurses had in shaping healthcare, and especially in response to COVID-19. We decided to donate the care packages so we can stand in solidarity with nurses in PNG. When we received some gifts in the beginning of last year, it meant a lot that others were thinking of us. Thank you for all staff who donated items in the packages. We now have around 500 packages to send.”

Our nursing leadership has also reflected on why it is important to celebrate today and how they chose this profession.

For Kirralee Jensen, Acting Director of Nursing Bundoora Centre, today is not only a day to recognise Florence Nightingale, but to also acknowledge and recognise the changes that have occurred in nursing since and how nursing has evolved, as well as to say thank you to all the nurses who work in a range of diverse roles.

“I think this year it is even more important to celebrate International Nurses Day given the challenges we have all faced with the COVID-19 pandemic. Nursing in a pandemic is probably something most of us would never have imagined we would have to do when we joined the profession. However, during the last 12 months, I have seen outstanding teamwork across all areas,” she said.

“I would like to wish all Northern Health nurses a Happy International Nurses Day and thank them for their dedication, empathy and care they provide each and every day to all of their patients.”

Grant Taylor, Director of Nursing Broadmeadows Hospital and Craigieburn Centre, said “this day marks a fantastic opportunity for all staff at Broadmeadows Hospital and Craigieburn Centre to recognise the amazing work that all nurses across both of these sites contribute day after day.”

“I personally would also like to take the opportunity to thank all nurses at Broadmeadows and Craigieburn for all of the hard work, commitment and spirit of togetherness that has been demonstrated throughout the past year, especially during the first and second wave of COVID-19,” he said.

For Lora Davies, Director of Nursing Epping, it is important to celebrate today to remember why we do what we do and why it is so important.

“I chose to be a nurse at a very young age, after requiring hospitalisation. As a six year old, l was frightened, alone and overwhelmed. I found myself under my bed, hiding in fear, the nurse looking after me crawled under the bed and saved me. From that moment on, that’s what l wanted to do with my life – help people when they were at their most vulnerable. And that is what nursing delivers every day, the reward that you can make a difference to people’s lives every day,” she said.

Due to the current COVID-19 situation, the BBQ at Northern Hospital Epping has been postponed today. However, a number of other activities are planned for today across all campuses, including coffee carts and cupcakes.