As we step into 2022, it is understandable we do so with mixed feelings. Yes we made it through two tough years, yes we have a lot to be thankful for- and then came Omicron…

Some suggest that instead of feeling guilty or pushed into making big lifestyle changes for the New Year, a healthy alternative is small, sustainable changes that can be more motivating and can act as a catalyst for bigger changes we want to see in ourselves.

Debra Bourne, our Chief Operating Officer agrees. This year she has, what she describes as her ‘go to self-talk’.

In 2022, Debra says she would like to find, “strength and resilience sprinkled with a heavy layer of kindness to others”.

Wanda Stelmach, Chief Medical Officer says her inspiration for the new year comes from our staff. She says that what they have taught her is, “to see the joyful in the hardest of times.”

Lisa Cox, Acting Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer also has our staff as her focus-specifically our nursing staff. This year she resolves to “take each day at a time, be kind and for all nurses to find their love in nursing again.”

Michelle Fenwick, Executive Director, People and Culture plans to follow the advice that has kept her in good stead for the last two years. She says ‘taking  each day as it comes’, has served her well, allowing her to focus on the now and to only carry over ‘good stuff’ to the next day.

Briana Bass, Chief Allied Health Officer would like to switch things up from setting ‘intentions’ to setting ‘commitments’.

Says Briana, “Whilst I’ll still focus on kindness, I think it’s time for me to reenergise and set some firm commitments! I’m a big believer that good sleep habits are a critical starting point to achieving great things, so I’ll start by committing to getting to sleep before 10pm on at least 3 nights of the week!”

Chief Finance Officer, Andrew Gay says that while it feels like “we take two steps forward, and two steps backwards”, he encourages staff to “recognise and celebrate something positive, regardless of how small it is on a regular basis.”

Celebrating the small victories and being kind to oneself  is a recurring theme and good advice. Starting the new year off with a focus on what may be holding you back, can perhaps help you to start putting your wellbeing first.

May 2022 be the year you focus on giving the world the best of you instead of what is left of you!

 

The heat is on! As we deal with another sweltering day, here are some tips on staying safe in this heat – some more imaginative than others.

To start with, stay hydrated the right way. Too much alcohol or caffeine as we know tends to raise body temperature – yes, that includes iced coffee. So, stick to water and add mint, cucumber, or lemon to add a little flavour.

Talking of flavour, did you know certain foods can raise your body temperature? Ginger, coconut oil, brown rice, garlic and cayenne pepper all contain properties that bring your body temperature up, so save those foods for the winter season.

The reverse is also true – choose foods such as cucumbers, mango, watermelon, zucchini and pineapple that contain a lot of water and keep you hydrated.

Here’s another tip – along with an anatomy lesson. Pulse points are the parts of your body where blood vessels are closest to the surface of your skin. Try running cold water over your wrists, right where you can feel your pulse. If you can cool your blood at these vulnerable points, it will recirculate into the central part of your body and cool you down.

Even more effective, wrapping a cool towel or popping a chilled ice pack on your neck.

Slightly more unconventional is to pour water into your hat and quickly invert it before you wear it. Potentially less dramatic than pouring an entire bucket of water over your head.

More obvious advice is, if you have to be outside to get gardening finished or enjoy your daily jog, move your adventure to the early morning or evening hours. 

Don’t forget to check in on others. Look after those most at risk in the heat – your neighbour living alone, the elderly, the young, people with a medical condition and your pets.

However the best advice we can give you is – just relax. Muscle activity can produce a lot of body heat. Take a blisteringly hot day as nature’s way of telling you to put your feet up and relax.

Lastly a reminder – be aware of any fire dangers around you. Please stay aware of the fire danger rating and know what to do at all times.

For those of you taking a well-deserved break or travelling through Victoria, it is worth downloading the VicEmergencyapp or visiting www.emergency.vic.gov.au  beforehand.

Stay safe, kind – and cool!

 

 

 

 

The Aboriginal Cadet program is an opportunity for allied health students who identify as Aboriginal to work with the allied health team to develop key clinical skills around patient interactions and to develop an understanding of working within the public health network.

Kym Patterson, Associate Director, Allied Health says, “Cadetships are a valued way for Aboriginal students to gain exposure to a health service as an employee and to build their confidence and knowledge.”

One such student is Erin Edwards, a proud Gunditjmara woman. Here’s what she has to say:

“Given COVID restrictions and everything, placements were limited so having another opportunity to get hands on experience was so valuable in improving my confidence and growth to hopefully become a better clinician and implement skills in my future practice of Audiology.”

“I was lucky enough to get experience not only in Audiology at Northern Health but also experience in other areas of Allied Health within a hospital setting and observing how they all overlap and work together in a busy setting.”

She believes that the program helped in, “increasing my confidence and communicating with clients, besides developing my professional teamwork skills.”

“I was fortunate enough to spend most of my time at Northern Health with the Speech Pathology department, who have been so encouraging and supportive. Even though I wasn’t studying speech pathology, I was able to gain more experience by engaging with clients from all different backgrounds which is vital for Allied Health professions.”

“Definitely working in such a great team has made this experience special,” she adds.

As Kym explains, “Cadetships are a valued way for Aboriginal students to gain exposure to a health service as an employee and to build their confidence and knowledge. The Cadetship Program offers additional support to Aboriginal students undertaking their final years of undergraduate study and contributes to a culturally safe and respectful working environment. “

“We hope this encourages the successful transition of Aboriginal cadets into a transition to practice program and provides a culturally safe workplace for Aboriginal students.”

As for Erin, Kym says, “Erin has been a really keen and active learner during her time with us in Allied Health. Initially we wanted to provide Erin with quite a broad experience, across a number of professions. This was quite clunky, due to COVID-19 and restrictions on staff movement. We then offered Erin an opportunity to consolidate the AHA Cadetship to Speech Pathology and Audiology. This would allow Erin to complete competencies within speech pathology and provide consistent patient contact to enable her to see how her work effects the patient journey and to provide real tangible skills and the end of the cadetship.

“Erin embraced this opportunity and really developed a great working relationship with the sub-acute speech pathology team and her patients. Her Audiology skills were able to translate to this communication setting, where she was able to see the importance of communication in a broader context.”

Erin is clear, “I would definitely recommend this program to others. I was hesitant at the start as I had never worked in a hospital setting or considered the prospect but I am so glad I took a chance to explore this opportunity and determine which areas of work I want to do in the future.”

Professor Don Campbell, Northern Health’s Director of Hospital without Walls Program, is pioneering a new trial into COVID-19 treatment.

Northern Health recently welcomed the Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, The Hon. Jaala Pulford, to announce a $4.2 million grant for University of Melbourne and Monash University to establish a six-month clinical trial.

The trial involves using a simple heparin-based nasal spray to be used in households as both early treatment where a person has coronavirus and post exposure prophylaxis for household family members.

The second most widely used drug in the world and primarily prescribed as a blood-thinner to treat or prevent blood clots, heparin forms the base of the nasal spray treatment which is already being hailed as a success for its easy administration, stability at room temperature and global availability.

The Intra Nasal HEpaRin Trial (INHERIT) will be led by Northern Hospital, using the Covid (Oximetry) Monitoring and Early Treatment (COMET) platform which Northern Health has put in place as part of its Covid Community response, that has enabled researchers to access and treat patients within 24 hours of their diagnosis, speeding up treatment and providing remote patient monitoring through portable oximeter devices that measure oxygen levels in blood.

Professor Don Campbell initiated the research into using heparin for treatment of COVID-19.

He says, “What started as an idea that heparin might play a role in infection in the nose, and therefore treatment/prophylaxis for COVID- 19, has evolved into a testable hypothesis. Getting funded for this trial is the culmination of 20 months of intense collaborative effort from dedicated scientists including virologists from the Doherty Research Institute and researchers from Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, CSIRO and Victorian hospital-based clinicians as well as researchers from Oxford University. The support of our doctors and our CEO at Northern Health has been incredibly important.”

Professor Campbell has been working extensively with the Director of Lung Health Research at University of Melbourne, Professor Gary Anderson, the Director of Medicines – Manufacturing Innovation Centre at Monash University, Professor Michelle McIntosh, and Professor Paul Monagle, Haematologist and Professor of Paediatrics, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute.

“The team has done everything possible in the laboratory to suggest this treatment will be effective, but the only way to answer the question is with a robust clinical trial,” explained Professor McIntosh.

“Our study shows immense potential – studies show that intranasal heparin can wrap around the virus like a python, preventing it from infecting you or spreading the virus to others,” said Professor Anderson.

“Coronavirus is not going away any time soon and our amazing researchers are doing work that stands to make a real difference. These projects will benefit not just Victorians but people around the world,” said Jaala Pulford, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy.

 

 

Featured Image (left to right): Siva Sivarajah, Northern Health Chief Executive; Professor Don Campbell, Director Hospital without Walls; Bronwyn Halfpenny MP; The Hon. Jaala Pulford, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy; Professor Gary Anderson, Director of Lung Health Research Centre at University of Melbourne; Professor Michelle McIntosh, Director of Medicines – Manufacturing Innovation Centre at Monash University. 

2021 was another challenging year for Northern Health and our community due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the uncertainty and challenges, I am proud of the dedication and professionalism of our staff in continuing to provide care for our patients. Whilst working under immense pressure, Northern Health staff exemplified our values of safe, kind and together in continuing to provide high quality health care for our community.

As the pandemic continued into 2021, our COVID-19 testing clinics at Northern Hospital Epping and Craigieburn Centre picked up throughout the year, supported by expanding testing capacity at Northern Pathology Victoria.

We commenced our COVID-19 staff and community vaccination programs and, at the peak, established a large-scale vaccination centre for the community at Plenty Ranges Arts & Convention Centre in South Morang.

Many staff temporarily changed their roles to assist with the response, for which we are extremely grateful.

Our innovative COVID-19 Community Monitoring Program coordinated care for people with COVID-19 not requiring admission to hospital, and our Virtual ED was an Australian-first for a public health service. Northern Health has marked many milestones across the year.

The Northern Hospital Stage 2 Expansion Project was completed, with four wards opening – including a dedicated pandemic ward. Shortly after, three new operating theatres, including one hybrid theatre, become operational at Northern Hospital Epping.

Building has commenced on new mental health inpatient facilities, with 30 new beds for Northern Hospital Epping and the new multi-deck carpark at Epping will open within weeks.

Planning is progressing rapidly on the new community hospitals in Craigieburn and within the City of Whittlesea. Building works on the Craigieburn Community Hospital will commence early in the New Year.

We also received formal notification from the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards that we had met all actions within the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards. I express my appreciation and thanks to all staff on this wonderful achievement. Well done.

In November, Ian Brand Residential Care, celebrated 30 years of service to the community. Congratulations to all who have been involved.

We recently commemorated Thank You Week with messages from our patients, volunteers and donors, as well as other prominent personalities from the Victorian community, showing their appreciation to all staff who have continued their great work to our patients and community during the pandemic.

I encourage staff to take some well-earned time off, so we can enter 2022 renewed and refreshed.

On behalf of the Board and Executive, I hope you and your family and friends have a safe and enjoyable festive season.

 

Siva Sivarajah

Chief Executive

This quarter’s Shine Awards have been awarded to staff members or teams from Support Services who role model Northern Health’s values of safe, kind and together.

The awards are presented under three different categories to people who have demonstrated one of Northern Health’s values.

The Safety Award, was presented to Almasa Julardzija and Tonia Scuteri, for demonstrating consistent safe work practices, providing suggestions for improving safety and being a role model for other staff. Almasa and Tonia were nominated by Snezana Velevski, Support Services Coordinator.

“Both Almasa and Tonia have stepped into the floater role while it has been vacated by another staff member who is on leave. They have worked as a team ensuring they work safely and complete manual handling tasks and patient transfers correctly, while providing excellent customer service,” said Snezana.

Wendy Nicol, Operations Manager, PSA and Cleaning Services Contracts, nominated Matko Musulin for the Kindness Award, for consistently and proactively supporting their peers, the broader department and Northern Health to achieve their work and goals.

“Matko kindly cancelled his Annual Leave and returned to work for us in the Cath Lab when another staff member unexpectedly took time off. He is a true team player who had no hesitation in stepping back in to help us when we were short staffed. We appreciate his efforts very much,” said Wendy.

Jenny Rexhepi also received the Kindness Award and was nominated by Karen Ayres, PSA In Charge.

“Jenny stood by a patient’s bedside for 15 minutes to hold his phone to his ear while he spoke to a family members. The phone has slipped from his shoulder so she wanted to assist. She went the extra mile to make the patient happy,” said Karen.

The Together Award was presented to Shimelis Dufera, who was nominated by Miguel Barros, Support Services Manager.

“A quiet achiever, Shimelis always works well as part of a team and always does a great job to achieve team goals. He is a great performer and works hard,” said Miguel.

Congratulations to all the award winners!

Featured image: Shine Award winners and nominators 

The Allied Health COVID-19 Navigators Program has started this week, aiming to assist with discharges of COVID-positive patients across Northern Hospital Epping.

Rachel Ellis, Clinical Lead Physiotherapy and Project Co-Lead for the COVID-navigator service, explained the navigators will be working both in the Emergency Department and in the COVID-19 wards, working closely with the disciplinary team to facilitate safe discharge.

“We believe this initiative will improve patient experience, ensuring a safe discharge,” she explained.

Simone Carris, Clinical Lead, Occupational Therapy and Acute and Project Co-Lead for the COVID-navigator service, added that four navigators will be joining the program at this stage – Antigone Koutoulas, Senior Clinician and Elise Hill, Maria Bowman and Devon Iluksooriya as Grade 2 Clinicians, and will be looking the expand the team as the service grows into the new year.

“To our knowledge, all the COVID-navigator positions that have been introduced in health services in Victoria are resourced by Allied Health professionals. It has demonstrated they are well placed to take on these positions, as they have a good knowledge of the discharge planning process. Our medical and nursing forces were really stretched throughout this period and Allied Health are in a position to be able to expand the scope of what we are able to help with,” she explained.

Antigone Koutoulas is one of the navigators, who joined the role to be able to provide great discharge plans for patients in wards and support them in the community.

“I am an occupational therapist, so from the OT perspective, we look at things quite holistically, so being able to support the patients when they go home is our bread and butter. The role of OT and Allied Health fits with this position,” she explained.

Maria Bowman, Social Worker, added: “I am really excited about this program because I think that it’s a challenging time for people living with COVID. There is a lot of information that takes a lot of times to digest, there is also a lot of support available, and we can keep our community informed and healthy together, in the best possible supportive way.”

Yesterday, Northern Health’s Length of Service Awards ceremony for 2021 was held virtually.

More than 400 staff were celebrated for achieving between 10 and 45 years of dedicated service.

Siva Sivarajah, Chief Executive, opened the ceremony, acknowledging all our staff for their great work.

“We thank our hardworking and dedicated staff who are on the frontline each and every day, saving lives and keeping our community safe and healthy, especially during the past two pandemic years,” he said.

“We have over 5,700 staff at Northern Health working across Broadmeadows Hospital, Bundoora Centre, Craigieburn Centre and Northern Hospital Epping – with many providing dedicated service since the days of PANCH. It is great to see how our health service has continued to grow – expanding the range of services we provide to the communities of the northern suburbs.”

“We celebrate the staff who have worked at Northern Health for 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and even 45 years – an incredible achievement.”

Eight recipients have been with Northern Health the longest, celebrating 40 and 45 years. We also acknowledged staff who marked 40 years of service in 2020, who were unable to receive their award last year due to the pandemic.

Licia Perillo and Anne Fraser have been with the health service for an incredible 45 years each, with 90 years of service between them!

“Nursing has progressed so rapidly, there’s been so many changes. You always need to be refreshing your knowledge,” says Licia.

Says Anne, “Most of those 45 years I have spent on two units and I have worked with the best team orientated group of not just nurses but doctors and allied health staff that you could ever imagine.”

Receiving an award for 40 years of service was Anne Roast, Sharon Robinson, Ann Maffei, Glenda Levens, Stefan Herodotou and Helen Opasinis.

“On behalf of the Board and Executive, congratulations to all our staff who received awards today. Thank you also to, not only recipients, but all our staff here at Northern Health. I am proud to be part of an organisation with such a rich history and whose staff are so dedicated, passionate and hard working,” said Siva.

To watch the full ceremony, please click here.

Featured image: 45 year recipients Anne Fraser and Licia Perillo