January 2020
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Caring for children closer to home
A new partnership between Northern Health and The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) has proven an outstanding success, with local parents giving the new scheme an average satisfaction rating of 9.2 out of 10. The partnership, developed jointly by the Heads of Paediatrics and Nurse Unit Managers at both Northern Hospital and the RCH, is designed to allow children from the north to be cared for closer to their home. Northern Health Clinical Director of Paediatrics, Dr David Tran, was integral to the development of the partnership which sees Northern Health aim to offer two beds per day for the RCH…
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Specialist Clinics: Celebrating success in a time of change
The Specialist Clinics across Northern Hospital, Broadmeadows Centre and Craigieburn Centre had a very busy and successful year in 2019. Last year, Specialist Clinics managed 135,641 referrals, and the number was up from 130,800 in 2018. The number of attendances in clinics was 198,000 in 2019, up from 189,100 in 2018. Fail to attend rate prior to Q-Flow was around 22 per cent, and since the introduction of Q-Flow, it is down to 18.2 per cent, showing significant improvement. “Our urgent KPI was 98.8 per cent in December, which means we are seeing patients who require an urgent appointment within…
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LGBTIQA+ Better Together Conference: A space for voices to be heard
“We don’t have all the answers but we are creating a space to ask the questions” – Better Together Conference Electra Ulrich, Co-chair of the Northern Health LGBTIQA+ Working Group, shares key learnings from her recent attendance to the LGBTIQA+ Better Together Conference – facilitating conversations about LGBTIQA+ rights in Australia. Better Together explores issues facing the LGBTIQA+ movement, bringing together voices from Indigenous communities, people with a disability, the deaf community and multicultural and multi-faith communities. “We all know advocacy is important, but what does this look like for the LBGTIQA+ community? In particular for those at the intersectionality…
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Northern Pathology turns one
Northern Pathology Victoria just completed one year of service – a year in which it processed over 1.3 million tests and 400,000 patient requests, and received accreditation from the National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia (NATA). As the first public pathology service in 40 years, it offers Gene Xpert testing for Flu/RSV, a Complex Coagulation Laboratory and a suite of onsite tests including tumour markers, haemolysis screen, HbA1c as well as high sensitivity troponin. When asked about the future plans, Dr Prahlad Ho, Program Director – Diagnostic Services and Director of Clinical Haematology says 2020 will see the introduction of…
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Ivanna wins the car
The Northern Health Foundation Major Raffle, drawn in December 2019, had ticket holders gathered in anticipation in Northern Hospital foyer to find out who would be the winner of a brand new Hyundai Kona. The Kona was on display in the foyer for the last few months of the year, creating a lot of buzz and excitement – and Christmas came early for one lucky person! The winner of the car was Ivanna Panopoulos, graduate nurse at Northern Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. When Ivanna picked up the phone on that December day, she couldn’t believe the news. “I still can’t…
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Andrew Lauva on consumer participation
Andrew Lauva enjoys a challenge and a problem that needs to be solved. That is one of the reasons he is one of Northern Health’s valuable consumers who has participated on a number of important initiatives, including the working party for the strategic plan, patient experience recruitment and Standard 2 committee. Andrew spent the majority of his career working for the Victorian Public Service. His last role was as a HR Coordinator/ Facilities Manager was at the State Services Authority. “I worked in about 10 departments during my career in the Victorian Public Service also volunteered with Brotherhood of St…
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Intern, Nikki Petrakis on becoming a Northern Doctor
Nikki Petrakis says she has always wanted to be a Northern Doctor. This year, she saw her dream become a reality. Nikki is one of our many excited and talented medical interns starting their Northern Health journey this year. After studying as a medical student at James Cook University in Townsville and Mackay, Nikki was eager to return to her home city of Melbourne and work in the northern suburbs where she grew up. “Northern Health was my top choice for internship as I was driven to give back to the community I had grown up in as a child.…
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Northern Health hosts third annual Complex Venous Workshop
The Northern Health vascular surgery team were pleased to host their third annual Complex Venous Workshop last Wednesday. Workshops involve treating cases of patients with complex venous disorders, and hosting renowned venous experts from around the globe, for an opportunity to share expertise and learn from world-leading surgeons. “This year, we had the honour of hosting Melbourne surgeon, Professor Michael Grigg, to join us and share his invaluable experience. The focus of the workshop was thoracic outlet compression and, once again, a case of complete vena cava obstruction,” said Iman Bayat, Head of Vascular Surgery at Northern Health. Professor Grigg…