2021
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New operating theatres now open at Northern Hospital
Last week, three new operating theatres, including one hybrid theatre, became operational at Northern Hospital Epping. The new theatres and new recovery area, which was opened on 19 July, form part of the Stage 2 Northern Hospital Expansion Project. The new theatres are large, state of the art and are all set up for video conferencing for teaching purposes – equipped with the latest technology, including fluid warmers. Our brand new hybrid theatre is also state of the art, set up for continual radiology screening with C-arm and a control room. The new recovery area is now set up to…
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Our haematology in Top 5 Australian research
The 2021 Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis brought together thousands of the world’s leading experts on thrombosis, haemostasis and vascular biology. Held online in mid-July, the conference saw presentations from all over the world, with two of Northern Health’s presentations recognised as “Top 5 Australian Research” by ‘The Limbic’. Dr Brandon Lui, a resident at Northern Health, was one of the participants at the conference. He started here as a student in 2017 and, in his final year, commenced research with the Haematology Department. “The conference we presented at one of the main conferences…
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Nursing & Medical: What will the EMR mean for me?
The second ‘sprint’ of our Electronic Medical Record (EMR) project was recently completed on 23 July. More than 100 workshops and meetings were held over this second sprint since 31 May 2021. With the implementation of the EMR, it is critical that the EMR system is designed and built to be ‘fit for purpose’ for us in providing exceptional care to our patients. By adopting the iterative approach in these workshops, this allowed our Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to see the clinical workflows incrementally, as they are being built. This approach has the advantage that potential risks or concerns can…
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h-trak live at Broadmeadows Hospital
h-trak is a fully integrated system in a handheld device that records prostheses and procedure codes in real time. It is an ordering system for prostheses in theatres, and it improves ordering, tracking and management of stock by removing manual processes. The system was implemented at Northern Hospital Epping Operating Theatres in June and is now going live at Broadmeadows Hospital Operating Theatres. Debbi Strappazzon, Acting Nurse Unit Manager, Operating Theatres, said the system will reduce the amount of paperwork used by staff. “Staff can actually scan the prostheses at the point of a patient’s operation, so they are not…
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Dealing with pain in a pandemic
Here’s a timely story for Pain Week. It is a story of persistence in the face of a pandemic. It concerns our Pain Entry Program (PEP), part of our Persistent Pain Service, a group based, face to face program that was the entry point to the pain service for clients. When COVID-19 put such group gatherings at risk, it had to quickly evolve into becoming TelePEP, offering a combination of online and telephone-based services. However, it wasn’t without its challenges as Sarah Slater, Pain Service Coordinator, explains. “In order to participate in TelePEP, clients were contacted to determine if they…
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Associate Professor Lisa Hui awarded grant for Outstanding Women
Associate Professor Lisa Hui has been awarded the Melbourne Medical School’s Strategic Grants for Outstanding Women. She is the second recipient along with Dr Leonie Griffiths from the Department of Medical Education, Melbourne Medical School and Northern Health – a double honour for Northern Health. The Melbourne Medical School’s Strategic Grants for Outstanding Women, offered biennially, is designed to assist high-performing, early to mid-career women in academia, negotiate some of the challenges faced as they pursue career progression towards senior academic and leadership roles. The Melbourne Medical School’s Strategic Grants for Outstanding Women, offered biennially, is designed to assist high-performing,…
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World Hepatitis Day: Hep can’t wait
On July 28 each year, World Hepatitis Day brings the world together to raise awareness of viral hepatitis and to influence real change. This year’s theme, ‘Hep can’t wait!’ highlights that, even in times of a global pandemic, people living with or at risk of viral hepatitis, should not delay their screening and management. Lyn McLean-Knight has been a hepatitis nurse at Northern Hospital since 2012. “You can be infected with hepatitis B or C for a long time without any symptoms or signs of cirrhosis. Cirrhosis is scarring of the liver which can lead to complications including an increased…
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Evoking the senses for our patients
Northern Health is fortunate to receive donations from many volunteers in our community who knit and crotchet items that are given to various departments across the health service. Fiddle-mitts are knitted cuffs or hand warmers which have different textures and materials attached, such as beads, ribbons and buttons, that people can hold and ‘twiddle’ with to help any restlessness or agitation that they might experience. One of our latest donations was from the Sunbury Library Monday Knitting Group. Their donation included a big bag of fiddle-mitts for patients at Northern Health. Rebecca Lyall, one of our nurses in Ward 19…