August 2021
-
Second Quarterly Staff Recognition Awards for 2021
Today, Northern Health’s second Quarterly Staff Recognition Awards ceremony for 2021, showcasing the brilliant achievements of our dedicated staff, was held online. More than 170 nominations, for six categories, were submitted by the winner’s colleagues. Siva Sivarajah, Chief Executive, opened the virtual presentation. He said the awards recognised the “outstanding contributions by our employees and celebrate staff excellence.” “Northern Health has over 5,700 staff who work across a wide range of areas who are committed to providing great care,” Siva said. “Through these awards, we recognise staff for their hard work and dedication to our patients, staff and community. Award…
-
Virtual ED extending hours to support and protect patients
To support and protect patients in the community, Northern Health’s Virtual Emergency Department (ED) is extending its working hours to 11.30 pm, instead of the usual 9.30 pm. Dr Loren Sher, Emergency Physician, explained this temporary change is made so that residents in the north can have increased emergency access to virtual nursing and medical care. “In many instances, we will be able manage a patient’s condition at home. Patients that need to attend the ED will be advised when it’s best to attend for their condition and will be given advice on how to manage their condition at home…
-
HOW-R-U?: Holistic Approach to Care
Person centred services and care takes into consideration all influences on a person’s health and wellbeing. Lack of adequate social support can lead to unnecessary health service usage. The last 12 months have been challenging for everyone, particularly those who feel isolated and those who live alone. HOW-R-U? is a program that offers weekly social support via a telephone call provided by a volunteer. It has been delivered through a collaboration between Northern Health and Bolton Clarke as part of a Better Care Victoria grant, and aims to reduce symptoms of isolation, loneliness and depression through an improvement in mood…
-
A purple conversation
Wear it Purple Day is an annual lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and asexual (LGBTIQA+) awareness day aimed at young people. On the day, this year held on Friday, 27 August, the community is encouraged to wear purple to celebrate and acknowledge diversity among young people in the LGBTIQA+ community. Wear it Purple Day was founded in 2010 in response to teenage suicides in the LGBTIQA+ community, following bullying from the “lack of acceptance” of their sexuality or gender identity. This year’s theme is ‘Start the Conversation, Keep it Going’ – focusing on the conversations people have about sexual…
-
Accreditation success
Our National Standards Accreditation survey commenced in mid-May and was paused due to a COVID-19 lockdown, affecting interstate surveyors. Last week, the survey resumed with a combination of on-site and online surveyors, and was completed yesterday with a virtual summation. The survey team announced that Northern Health has been assessed as meeting all the requirements of the National Standards. They found no requirement to write formal recommendations against the actions contained in the National Standards. Siva Sivarajah, Chief Executive, congratulated Northern Health on this achievement. “Surveyors were impressed with the knowledge of our clinical and non-clinical staff in keeping patients…
-
Anthony Gust: Mapping the future
Anthony Gust, our new Executive Director Digital Health, is on a journey. He believes our investment over the past few years in upgrading our server, the Wide Area Network and FollowMe desktop, purchasing over one thousand new computers for staff, hiring a dedicated digital health executive, and many other projects, “has positioned Northern Health well and we are ready to start the next part of our journey.” Anthony’s role will lead and champion Northern Health’s commitment to leveraging technology for increasing results and develop Northern Health’s Digital Strategy and manage areas including: Decision Support Unit, Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and…
-
Speech Pathology Week: Communication is everyone’s right
Speech Pathology Week, celebrated 22-28 August, seeks to promote the speech pathology profession and the work done by speech pathologists with the 1.2 million Australians who have a communication disability. The theme for this year is: Communication is everyone’s right. As part of Northern Health’s commitment to breaking down barriers for those living with a communication disability, we have implemented the Communication Access training program through Scope. After undertaking this training, the service is assessed and if successful, it gets awarded with the Communication Access Symbol. At Northern Health, Henry’s Cafe and the front reception at Northern Hospital are accredited by ‘Scope’…
-
Anny Bargo : Dragonfly Dreaming
“I don’t really have a plan when I start a piece – it just happens. I see a colour, then shapes and then the dragonfly appears, taking its rightful place in the totality of the picture.” At the entrance of our Main Ward Block, at Northern Hospital Epping, you can find an exquisite series of artworks by Anny Bargo aka Antoinette Braybrook, that bring both colour and drama to the foyer. Anny serves as CEO of Djirra. Djirra (the Woiwurrung word for the reed used by Wurundjeri women for basket weaving) provides support to Aboriginal people who are currently experiencing…