January 2021
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Dr Kim Pham wins Chris Maxwell Medal
On the evening of 22 January 2021, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology virtually held the annual Chris Maxwell medal competition for the best registrar case presentation. “This was the first time we had held the event remotely and we had more people than usual attend, so by any measure the evening was a great success,” explained Dr Paul Howat, Divisional Director – Women’s and Children’s Services. Topics presented on included primary hyperparathyroidism diagnosed in labour, emergency presentation of germ cell tumours in young women, unusual causes of genital ulceration and pulmonary haemorrhage in pregnancy. “These are all rare conditions…
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Virtual ED patients now triaged in their own language
Northern Health’s Virtual Emergency Department (ED) now offers interpreting services for patients who are more comfortable speaking to our medical staff in their own language. Dr Loren Sher, Emergency Physician, said this is something the team has always planned for, and is happy to announce that interpreting services are now available for our virtual patients, every day. “We have just launched the interpreting services and have so far seen numerous patients who needed to get an interpreter involved. The service is available through Northern Health’s interpreting team and for all languages,” she said. Our first patient to use our interpreting…
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Feelin’ the love on social media
Following what was a truly unforgettable year, our efforts didn’t go unnoticed in the community. We have received hundreds of messages and comments of support and appreciation for Northern Health across our social media channels, especially over the festive season. Recognising staff across the entire health service for their incredible efforts in 2020, here is what some community members had to say about you: “I got tested on a 35+ degree day and the staff were wearing full PPE, despite this, they were incredibly kind and patient. Keep up the great work ” “Thanks to your amazing team, the care…
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Governor of Victoria personally thanks Northern Health staff
Northern Health nurses recently were personally thanked for their contributions during 2020 by the Governor of Victoria. On Friday, 18 December 2020, Her Excellency the Honourable Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria, and Mr Anthony Howard AM QC, hosted a reception at Government House in honour of the nursing profession. Ten Northern Health nurses who represented all of the dedicated nurses and midwives at Northern Health attended, along with a number of nurses from different health services across Victoria. The event was held to recognise the incredible efforts of Victorian nurses in 2020, particularly those nurses who cared for patients with…
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Dr Hayes appointed Honorary Associate Professor
Dr Barbara Hayes, Clinical Lead of Advance Care Planning and a Palliative Care Consultant, was recently appointed as Honorary Associate Professor in Medical Education at the University of Melbourne. Here she discusses her role at Northern Health and in the Northern Clinical School. Can you tell us more about your role in teaching and research? I have been teaching medical students since I qualified as a Palliative Care Consultant. I am very passionate about sharing my knowledge of palliative care and the limits of medicine to cure. This teaching expanded to include communication skills, ethics and law relating to end-of-life…
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New kitchen at Northern Hospital opening soon!
Stage 2 works of the Northern Hospital Expansion Project are coming to fruition, with completion on track to be finished within the next month. One of the first areas to move into the new building will be our Food Services Department – who will be heading into a state of the art kitchen facility. The new kitchen area is more spacious than the current facility, which is the original kitchen that was built within the hospital when it first opened in 1998. Greg Warman, Director of Support Services, is excited for Food Services to move into their new space, which…
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Victorian-first ED pivot triage system
The Northern Hospital Emergency Department (ED) has become the first ED in Victoria to move to a new ‘pivot triage’ and self-registration system. The new triage system, which commenced yesterday on 18 January 2021, is designed to improve patient experience and door-to-physician time, and has already proven successful in the United States. The idea originated after an internal process review, where the traditional triage and registration system were identified as bottle necks impacting patient flow and experience. “Previously, patients would be seen by a triage nurse, then go back in the waiting room and wait for clerical staff to call…
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Pharmacy rolls out new red resus trolleys
Starting today, the Pharmacy team will be rolling out new colour coded resuscitation (resus) trolleys at Northern Hospital. The red trolleys will be rolled out in the Emergency Department (ED), Intensive Care Unit (ICU), theatres and Cath Lab 1, as a staged approach with ED and ICU starting first as part of phase 1 this week. James Ash, ED and ICU Pharmacy Team Leader, explained the idea for the new trolleys came after the team noticed that there were resus trolleys in the wards and around the hospital that didn’t have consistent inventory in terms of medications, and were variable…