Our Residential In-Reach program provides specialist medical and nursing support to nursing homes seven days a week. With COVID-19, due to multiple outbreaks in our catchment, the team have substantially increased both medical and nursing staffing to meet the demand. With the recent outbreaks in St Basil’s and Heritage Epping Gardens, Dr Sandra Brown and her team were the first to arrive.

Dr Brown, Residential In-Reach Program Lead, explained the team now have three doctors and three nurses available to go out into nursing homes seven days a week.

“In these facilities, our team is usually the first on the ground, when we are notified of an outbreak. We go in and advise on processes on how to reduce the risk of infection. While the staff in nursing homes have plans for these situations, they might lack practical experience in managing a pandemic outbreak. That is when our team gives practical advice on stopping the spread and necessary immediate measures,” she explained.

The response team, usually a doctor and a nurse, will provide basic infection control advice and check on COVID-19 positive residents to determine if they are stable enough to stay in the facility. The team also provides information to families, notifies them of the resident’s condition and tries to understand what their wishes are.

Dr Brown explains that, from her experience, COVID-19 patients are often stable in the first week, and then they can rapidly get very sick.

“We monitor them over that week period to ensure they remain stable. Most of our work is checking that everyone is stable. We offer residents oxygen and fluids in the facility if they do not wish for hospital care. If someone is dying, we ensure they are comfortable and have the right medication for end of life symptoms,” she explained.

While providing care to the stable patients, the team also monitors the patients that have deteriorated and arranges transfer to hospital if required.

Although COVID-19 is currently the main focus for the team, they still provide care to residents who might have other health issues, like falls and low blood sugar levels.

“The families are grateful to hear on how their relative is going, and the aged care staff in those facilities really appreciate that we are there, as it does show them help is available,” she said.

Program team members are very committed, and a number of senior medical staff have volunteered to do extra shifts. That has enabled the program to now have senior geriatricians available on the weekends too, which previously wasn’t the case. A number of senior nurses with aged care experience have agreed to be redeployed to the team, and the Hospital in the Home team have also been supporting.

“I am really proud how doctors and nurses across Northern Health have supported this service and enabled us to do our job of providing care in nursing homes, whilst avoiding people coming to hospital who aren’t going to benefit from hospital care,” Dr Brown said.

Dr Paul Viray is one of the team members – he is a registrar and geriatric medicine advanced trainee.

“It’s been hectic in the last couple of weeks. The team has been working extended hours to help improve the quality of life for the nursing home residents. It has been an absolute honour to work with the whole team. We will keep going – this is what we do and we’ll do whatever it takes to keep residents well and protect their quality of life,” he said.

“We are in this together”… This has been one of the most commonly used phrases during the COVID-19 pandemic that people from all over the world have been using in solidarity.

Together makes up one of our news values here at Northern Health, along with Safe and Kind – the three of which will help us to achieve our vision of a healthier community, making a difference for every person, every day, as outlined in our Northern Health Strategic Plan 2020-24.

The current pandemic has shown just how critical it is to work together across our entire health service – and support and encourage one another while doing so.

Briana Baass, Chief Allied Health Officer and Partnerships, explained what the value together means to her.

“All of us working as one team to look after our patients together – from medical, nursing and allied health to non-clinical staff – we all enable this to happen,” she said.

For the wider community, Together applies to health networks and community organisations across our catchment area working collaboratively to help people in the community have access to the best possible care.

“From a partnership perspective, it’s about how we come together across the whole northern system to create an integrated care system for our community, while we work together with our consumers,” Briana added.

Together is especially relevant in the concept of ‘Staying Well’ where we work to address the needs of patients with complex conditions both in hospital-based and community care.

Briana used the example of the project, ‘Staying Well with diabetes in the north’ – a partnership between Northern Health, Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network and DPV Health which aims for an integrated, multidisciplinary wrap around service model for community members living with diabetes.

“An important aspect of this is is the way we use patient-reported outcome measures to help shared decision-making, so we are working together to design their own treatment plan,” Briana said.

During COVID-19, working with our community partners has become especially important.

Together with Max Lee, the CEO of Hume Whittlesea Primary Care Partnership, Briana said they realised there would be a lot of people who will be isolated in the community – “This isn’t necessarily Northern Health’s core business but some of our patients being discharged may experience this,” she said.

In response to this, our social work team pulled together a list of psychosocial services across the region and Hume Whittlesea Primary Care Partnership have taken it on to assist those who are isolated in the community. You can view the full directory here.

“Together is important for Northern Health as there is a real sense of satisfaction from working as a team and being driven by succeeding as a team. Working together is really rewarding and is applicable both within Northern Health and our external catchment,” Briana explained.

“We all have such critical and speciality skills to offer and it’s only when we put all the pieces of the puzzle together that our consumers can really thrive and have the best quality of life. We often think, as an acute health service, that we can do everything, but to ensure patients don’t deteriorate in the community, and reach their own goals, we need to remember that all parts of the system play a critical role,” Briana added.

“I wish I could tell staff that this pandemic will end soon but I can’t promise that – but I do believe that if we work together, we can get through this.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, we have been extremely impressed by the response of all of our dedicated staff – who have all been model examples of how we incorporate one of our new values into our everyday work – Together.

This afternoon, Siva Sivarajah, Chief Executive, led a Virtual All-Staff Forum to provide an overview of the issues we are facing with COVID-19 as an organisation, and how our staff continue to meet and respond to these ongoing challenges.

“We continue to face many challenges, and have had to adapt our operations and learn how to work differently. But none of this would be possible without us supporting each other and working collaboratively together across the entire health service. All while we continue to provide the best possible care and treatment to our patients,” Siva added.

Over the past five months, Northern Pathology Victoria has completed over 58,000 tests and are registering up to 1,000 COVID-19 tests a day – an extraordinary accomplishment by many staff in different areas across Northern Health.

Our staff are working across multiple testing sites and three COVID-19 wards have been set up at Northern Hospital to care for positive patients who require inpatient care.

Staff members have stepped into new and different roles to assist in our response, undertaking additional training and learning new protocols, along with quickly implementing new models of care for our patients such as Telehealth.

“We’re very proud of our staff and how they are responding to the rapidly changing situation. Staff have been brilliant at being adaptable, flexible and patient – and continue to do the absolute best they can to care for our community,” Siva said.

“Every day, I see examples of our staff working safely, being kind to their patients and colleagues and working together,” Siva added.

We continue to work collaboratively with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and provide support to local aged care facilities that are experiencing increasing COVID-19 cases. A number of our staff are working in these facilities to deliver care to residents and our Residential In-Reach team continue to step up and play a key role in helping manage this difficult situation.

Recently, our community services team launched a new telephone-based COVID-19 Positive Community Monitoring Program which provides expert support, guidance and medical advice to people within our local community.

“We extend our sincere thanks to all of our staff across Northern Health. Whether you are working in frontline clinical areas, wards, finance, allocations, front-of-house, support services or in administration – each and every one of you are playing an important role in helping us fight COVID-19 together,” Siva said.

“Please know – we see you, we appreciate you, and we are so very grateful.”

Collaborating with community organisations and research partners is a key focus for Northern Health, so we can continue to work together to create a healthier community.

La Trobe University researchers working to prevent premature births among socially disadvantaged and vulnerable women recently secured $1.6 million over four years from the Medical Research Future Fund’s “Preventative and Public Health Research” scheme.

La Trobe Professor of Midwifery, Helen McLachlan, received the funding to lead a randomised trial to explore whether caseload midwifery – offering continuity of care from a ‘known’ midwife to vulnerable women – can help reduce their substantially higher risk of preterm births.

The randomised trial will involve over 1,800 women and 10 midwives from three Victorian hospitals – Northern Health, the Royal Women’s Hospital and Bendigo Health.

Professor McLachlan said the innovative public health trial ultimately aims to prevent babies being born too early.

“Preterm birth is the most common cause of death in Australian infants. It also impacts on the short and long-term health of over 27,000 babies nationally each year, with much poorer health outcomes for vulnerable and disadvantaged mothers,” Professor McLachlan said.

She said caseload midwifery is associated with improved clinical and psychosocial outcomes for women, but it has been tested in mostly very low risk populations so far.

Debra Bourne, Northern Health Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, said, “Northern Health welcomes this incredible opportunity to work together with La Trobe University in this research project.”

“We are committed to offering caseload midwifery and, in the participation of this research project, will provide the support and partnership needed to get this important model in place for women and babies in our community,” Debra said.

La Trobe Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Industry Engagement) Professor Susan Dodds welcomed the funding.

“This is an investment in research that would have a lasting and meaningful impact on Australian families,” Professor Dodds said.

“La Trobe University is focused on research and teaching programs that bring about positive, tangible change. I am particularly proud that this work has been funded which will undoubtedly improve the lives of vulnerable women and their babies.”

This week, we have been looking at the second of our values – ‘Kind’, and how it helps us in ‘making a difference for every person, every day’.

As Deb Bourne, our Acting Chief Operating Officer explained, “When we treat our staff with kindness, we actually are saying…they are important and adding value and they make a difference when they come to work.”

“When we come to work and feel that way…it has a direct impact on patient care,” she adds.

We saw the creative ways compassion is being expressed at Northern Health through initiatives such as the Children’s Colouring Book launched by Narrun Wilip-giin (our Aboriginal Support Unit), and the COVID-19 Community Clinic.

The COVID-19 Community Clinic is not just providing medical assistance, but also bringing reassurance through a daily phone call to anxious patients self-isolating at home.

Kindness, as we stated in that iNews story, is central to our response to the pandemic, but as the following story shows, not the only instance where kindness has been on display at Northern Health.

Alecia Caddy, ANUM of Ward 2 (our Children’s Ward), tells how on a quiet afternoon, “I was in charge on a shift, where we had a patient, a little bub, who was unfortunately there on her own, as her mum was in a car accident. She had very minimal items of clothing – really only the clothes on her back.”

Along with her team, Alecia took it on herself to “get her a few bits of clothing and toys, and comfort things she would have had at home.”

“She was a happy little girl and we just wanted her to have some nice clothing,” says Alecia.

She adds, “It was really cute and nice to have been able to provide her some comfort.”

As Deb pointed out, “We treat our patients how we want to be treated – and really, in the end, we all want to be treated with kindness!”

So while we may be overwhelmed by what goes on around us, we do have a say in the choices we make each day and can bring kindness into the mix. Choose kindness today.

Northern Health’s Strategic Plan 2020-24 has five priorities, including one that focuses on our innovative, sustainable future.

The goal of working towards a future that enables innovation and is focused on sustainability means that, as an organisation, we will focus on building and maintaining strong financial management and eliminating waste and inefficiencies. Waste can be behavioural, clinical and administrative, and by reducing the waste, we will be able to release resources and transform the organisation to deliver value to our communities and founders.

Additionally, by investing in new opportunities and innovations, including digital processes, and by expanding our services in the community, we are delivering trusted care and improving our reputation.

“A strong reputation in the community is important to us as we want to be a trusted and a value-based provider of health care,” said Wanda Stelmach, Divisional Director Surgery.

Sophie Argiriou, Director, Project Management Office, said, “An innovative, sustainable future is about Northern Health being recognised as a leader in healthcare innovation”.

Karen Green, Director Capital Development, explained our expansion projects, adding: “Northern Health is expanding our infrastructure to ensure we can cater for our growing community and their care needs”.

One of the key initiatives when it comes to improving our digital processes is the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) project.

Trish Aldridge, EMR Project Director, said: “EMR will transform our patient’s care to improve efficiencies, safety and quality”.

Please see the video below to hear more on what “an innovative, sustainable future” means to some of our staff:

Kindness is a key value of Northern Health, as is presented in our Northern Health Strategic Plan 2020-24. It is also central to our response to the pandemic and the Northern Health COVID-19 Positive Community Monitoring Program.

The program is a telephone-based service providing both an imaginative and compassionate response for people that test positive for COVID-19 at any of our testing sites. The program operates from 8 am to 5 pm, seven days a week, targeting patients with mild disease symptoms that can be managed at home.

Patients at risk in the COVID-19 Positive Community Monitoring Program are closely monitored with daily phone calls. They are also provided with a hotline to contact the monitoring team for further support, guidance and medical advice during business hours.

Johanna Hayes, Program Director, says, “Since the program commenced just a week ago, 417 patients have received a total of 1,100 monitoring calls.”

“The program was set up in a response to the increased community transmission of COVID-19, and within one week we had robust guidelines, a call centre with six stations, and most importantly amazing staff from many areas. We welcomed staff from Cardiac Rehab, Emergency, Intensive Care and Allied Health disciplines – Exercise Physiology, Physiotherapy and Social Work,” says Johanna.

“The intention is to stay in contact by phone or SMS during the first 10-12 days of symptoms. Some people need and want daily contact and others prefer SMS or less frequent contact. We support patients discharged home and diagnosed with COVID-19 as well from the Fever Clinic,” adds Johanna.

Tom Cooper, Allied Health Physiotherapist, is part of this multi-disciplinary team that monitors patients. He recounts the story of an elderly gentleman isolating at home, with his partner, both confirmed COVID-19 positive. One morning when Tom checked in on him, he found him short of breath and requiring medical attention. The next day when Tom called in, it was the partner who complained of chest pains, resulting in paramedics taking both of them to hospital.

Tom explains the service goes beyond providing clinical support to patients. “Some of them are from a non-English speaking backgrounds and don’t understand what isolation entails,” says Tom.

The team has also assisted patients to access food in the community and obtain emergency food supplies and masks.

Yet another patient said she was grateful for our service, as she, “has not heard from anyone else during her two weeks of isolation.”

After she received a phone call from the COVID-19 Positive Community Monitoring Program, she said she was more comfortable staying at home in isolation as she knew there was someone she could call and also who would check in with her. She was of the opinion our program should be for everyone as it makes a big difference.

“The Northern Health COVID-19 Positive Community Monitoring Program reflects our key value – Kind,” says Johanna.

“Long before COVID-19 struck, we resolved to extend our care not only to the patients who walked in our doors; we envisioned keeping our community, staying well in their own homes.”

“The Northern Health COVID-19 Positive Community Monitoring Program is a natural extension of this,” she adds.

Hospital stays can sometimes be long and challenging and, at times scary, especially for children.

With this in mind, Narrun Wilip-giin (Aboriginal Support Unit), has developed a colouring book to be provided to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children during their hospital journey at Northern Health.

The book was launched today on National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Children’s Day, a day on which we celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and the role that culture, family and community play in the life of every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child.

The book is beautifully illustrated and designed by Aboriginal artist Gary Saunders, a proud Bangerang, Wiradjuri, Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung man, “It contains 20 pages of magnificent Australian animals to colour, pass time and keep our children connected to their culture and to feel supported whilst away from their home,” says Gary.

Karen Bryant, Senior Aboriginal Liaison Officer says, “Narrun Wilip-giin (Aboriginal Support Unit) is very pleased to launch this book on this important day, which will provide a positive influence to children going through a very challenging time in hospital. We hope to make this book available to all children in the future.”

“It meets a key objective of the Aboriginal Support Unit, which is to develop and strengthen Northern Health’s cultural competence by offering ever-improving services for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community,” adds Karen.

Toni Gabelish, Aboriginal Liaison Officer, who was closely associated in the creation of the book says, “As every parent will agree, having a child in hospital can be a difficult experience at the best of times. Hopefully this colouring book will provide entertainment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children having to stay at Northern Health.”

“I commend Karen and Toni for the development of this book,” said Emiliano Zucchi, Director Transcultural & Language Services and Narrun Wilip-giin Aboriginal Support Unit.

“The development of this colouring book exemplifies one of our key values as Northern Health: Kindness. I think sharing culture is one of the greatest acts of kindness. Not only is giving kids in hospital the book an act of kindness, it also demonstrates to the Aboriginal community that we value their culture.”