April 2020
-
Supporting local industry through COVID-19
’Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void but out of chaos.” Mary Shelly Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is in demand for staff on the frontline of fighting COVID-19. When Nicholas Romeo, the Head Scientist and Lab Manager of the Respiratory Department at Northern Health, first heard of a possible shortage of PPE in a discussion with his head of department, Dr Katharine See, he decided to do something about it. He first asked himself, “Who could make PPE?” and fast concluded it needed a supplier with the ability to fold plastic.…
-
Creativity in a time of COVID-19
With increased physical distancing measures and stage three restrictions currently in place, our staff have been spending their days off, quite differently lately. A number of them have found creative ways to spend their time at home and express themselves through their cooking, sewing, weaving, gardening, photography, art – even dance and carpentry! Wanda Stelmach, our Director of Surgery, refused to let the lock-down get in the way of celebrating Easter with her 95 year old dad , who is in residential care. Not only did she prepare and deliver Easter eggs (the Polish version of coloured hard-boiled eggs) but also…
-
PPE donation arrives
A donation of valuable PPE equipment arrived yesterday to Northern Hospital Epping, with boxes of N95 masks and protective gowns. Lucy Liu, Vice President of MedFamily, the organisation behind the generous donation, said it all started because they wanted to help with PPE and to help hospitals fight COVID-19. Annie Cao, MedFamily member, said the reason the team is doing this is to pass on the message that we are all Australian and that together, we are stronger. “We are all related to the medical profession somehow – I am a dentist, Lin is a physiologist and her husband is…
-
New ‘Partnered Pharmacist Medication Charting’ model
Towards the latter half of the year, Northern Health Pharmacy will be implementing the Partnered Pharmacist Medication Charting (PPMC) model. This will allow for a more collaborative approach to improving patient care through the quality use of medications. Carol Ly, Deputy Director Pharmacy explained this model was developed to reduce the incidence of medication errors in an acute setting. “At the moment, doctors are only able to chart the medications that the patient presents to hospital with. The pharmacist then checks with the patient and gets the full medication history. The pharmacist would also call the patient’s pharmacy, do the…
-
Keeping us safely connected: our ICT team
In the past month, our Information and Communication Technology (ICT) team, has been working on numerous improvements and initiatives to help the organisation adapt to modified ways of daily operations. “These few weeks were really about setting up tools for video conferencing and remote working,” said David Ryan, Chief Information Officer. “We had to look at the tools the people have; things like Follow Me desktop, secure remote access etc. We found there wasn’t enough licences for everyone, so luckily we managed to get a whole range of services and licences to get us going. Now, any staff that is…
-
Record number of twins in Northern Hospital Neonatal Unit
In March, the Neonatal Unit at Northern Hospital Epping cared for five sets of twins – a record number of twins in the Unit at the same time. The twins were all born within days of each other, comprising of seven girls and three boys. Barbara Rischitelli, Neonatal Nurse Unit Manager, said, “We were delighted to provide care for these families and proud to be welcoming them into the northern community.” “The twins have all now been discharged, with the last set of twins able to go home to their families just a few days ago. They were all happy,…
-
Channel 7 News: Northern Health prepared for COVID-19 pandemic
Our staff on the front line are working hard to protect our community. Yesterday, we welcomed Channel 7 News to Northern Hospital Epping to interview Associate Professor Craig Aboltins, Director of Infectious Diseases, and Madelaine Flynn, Infection Prevention Manager, about our response and preparedness for the COVID-19 outbreak. Our Fever Clinic at Northern Hospital was established early March to safely screen for potential COVID-19 cases. The clinic is open seven days a week from 9 am to 8 pm and has seen over 2,400 people since commencing. 45 people have tested positive to COVID-19 through our Fever Clinic, with the…
-
Q&A with Dr Christian McGrath on COVID-19
When COVID-19 pandemic started, Dr McGrath, General and Infectious Diseases Physician took the role of clinical leadership for the COVID-19 response at Northern Health. He has been answering staff questions through regular Chief Executive Forums which were live streamed across campuses. Today, he further explains how we are preparing our pandemic response and offers some advice and guidance to our staff. What is your role in managing COVID-19? I got the role of the clinical leadership by being at the wrong place at the right time, if I can say that. I have experience in dealing with emerging infectious diseases,…