‘What’s the Big Idea?’ initiative, launched mid-June invites staff to submit their creative ideas that, if selected, will be turned into successful projects in just 90 days.

It has been a busy two weeks on IdeaScale, Northern Health’s portal for innovation and idea sharing, with 45 creative and out-of-the-box staff ideas submitted so far.

“We have quite a range of clinical and non-clinical ideas, a lot of tech ideas like apps and process redesign, ideas on utilising our volunteer service, garden and staff spaces, COVID-19 vaccination, linking with our community, refugee health and research,” said Cassie Bramston, Project Officer.

“If you want to get your idea in, please submit it now. Even if you don’t have the idea, get on IdeaScale and have a look at the current ideas – you can vote for the ones you like, ask questions and express interest to join the team and make the idea happen,” added Ariana Carrodus, Project Manager.

Once the idea submission stage is finalised, the ideas will go through the review process by the Innovation Assembly, who will choose the top 15 and then the team will go back and ask the staff member who submitted the idea for more information.

“We are asking for things like data on the size of the problem, cost associated with implementing their idea, how many people will it impact and similar. If the person who submitted the idea has a support team, that is great, if not – it is fine too, as it’s our job to help staff work out who needs to be in the room to bring the project to life,” Ariana explained.

“It will be Northern Health staff running the projects and implementing the ideas. If you put the idea in, you will be the one leading the project, with support from Project Management Office and access to experts, like Executive Coach, Business Manager and similar,” she added.

Both Ariana and Cassie agree a variety of factors will decide on the winning ideas.

“It’s not a popularity contest, as the Executive have a certain criteria against which all ideas will be measured against. While the staff voting will play a part, it won’t be the only deciding factor. We are looking at how many campuses the idea involves, what is the scale of the project, how many staff will it impact and how will it impact patient care,” Ariana explained.

Anthony Gust, Director Staying Well, and a member of the Innovation Assembly for the second year in a row, says there is no bad idea and encourages staff to send any idea they might have.

“We want everything! Last year, we were facing COVID-19, and there was lot of good ideas and innovation energy, that brought the Virtual ED triage, muscular-skeletal project and the EVE app. COVID-19 was forcing us to go digital and thinking about how we interact with our community not going face to face. People were really engaged in change and we are hoping the energy has rolled across to this year as well,” he said.

Is your idea Human@centre, and has technology@speed and innovation@scale? Submit your big idea on IdeaScale by Wednesday, 7 July at 11.59 pm and good luck!

The timelines are below:

NAIDOC Week recognises the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

This year NAIDOC Week theme is ‘Heal Country’. It calls for all of us to continue to seek greater protection for our lands, waters, sacred sites and our cultural heritage from exploitation, desecration and destruction.

As part of our NAIDOC Week celebrations, we had two eminent physicians – Dr Angela Dos Santos and Dr Graham Gee speak at a virtual Grand Round last Thursday.

Angela spoke on the importance of providing more awareness about strokes in Aboriginal communities. Her presentation highlighted statistics that showed a high proportion of younger people among First Nations People are affected by stroke and are less likely to recognise the symptoms.

Graham said NAIDOC Week was a “time to reflect on culture.” He spoke about Aboriginal mental health, social and emotional wellbeing and the importance of cultural determinants. He said culture was integral in the mental health assessment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The highlight of our NAIDOC Week celebrations at Northern Health is a virtual session by Nova Peris OAM on Wednesday, 7 July at 12 pm. To watch Nova’s presentation, please click here.

Today we profile Trinity Saxby (pictured above), our newest recruit to the Northern Health Nursing Aboriginal Cadetship.

Trinity is a proud Wulli Wulli woman from Theodore/Cracow in Central Queensland. Trinity grew up in a small town, 40 kilometres off country on Gangalu land.

NAIDOC Week has always been important to Trinity and her mob. For as long as she can remember, her primary and high schools dedicated a day to celebrating NAIDOC Week.

“My mob fought to be recognised as the  Traditional Owners of the land and eventually on Wulli Wulli land in 2014, we got our recognition in an official court hearing. Being granted the right to exercise autonomy over our land and practice cultural activities and ceremonies has given us more control over our land,” Trinity said.

“It has allowed us to have a voice and the ability to protect our land in our local government in regards to activities like mining. Going forward we are aiming to regain native title over land outside the original clan as evidence of our ancestors have been discovered in the land bordering the original map.”

“In 2015, after many years of tireless efforts, my mob was recognised by the Australian Federal Court as the Traditional Owners of over 180,000 hectares of land from Theodore up the Dawson River to Taroom.”

Trinity says, “I have always known I wanted to be in the healthcare field, I just had to find one area I was most passionate about,”

“Originally I wanted to be a doctor, however, after sitting for hours at my grandfather’s bedside in hospital watching the nurses work tirelessly to care for all the patients, I knew then and there what I wanted.”

“This experience has stayed with me for years, growing my passion for nursing. Once I figured out what I wanted, I knew I had to work hard to achieve my goals.”

“I enrolled myself into chemistry, biology and mathematics so I prepared myself for the challenge. I achieved a B+ on my first senior chemistry exam and was told by my grandma “you could do better.” Some may take this remark as hard, but I used it as fuel for my fire. I sat my QCS (Queensland Core Skills) test and nervously awaited my OPs (Overall Positions) score, knowing I needed an OP 13 (an ATAR above 70). I achieved my goal of getting an OP above 13 and was prepared to embrace the challenge that was university.”

Coming from a small town, Trinity said she knew she wanted to branch out and leave her home to focus on achieving her lifelong goal of becoming a nurse.

She originally told her family she was going fly to Singapore to study, but decided make the trek down to Victoria.

“I knew Rockhampton and Brisbane were still too close, so Melbourne it was. I packed my belongings into my car and two weeks after graduating high school, I drove the long three day journey down to Melbourne. The distance is daunting to think about, however I knew it had to be endured to reach my goals,” Trinity said.

Northern Health cadetship Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing (RUSON) model offers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students the opportunity to join Northern Health as an employee, work closely with a Registered Nurse or Midwife, and increase their knowledge and skills as they build their confidence.

They get to apply their learnings directly, learning first hand and strengthening their work readiness – giving them much needed exposure to the work environment they will be joining.

The first two RUSON’s have thrived in the culturally safe space that Northern Health provides. One has been recognised as Employee of the Month on their ward and the other has been recruited into the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Graduate Program.

Northern Health also has in place an Aboriginal and Torres Islander Graduate Program to support newly registered nurses and midwives as they transition to the profession. The first Aboriginal graduate nurse has successfully completed her graduate program and has gained employment at Northern Health.

Penny Ramsden, Clinical School Coordinator, said the programs were designed to build both the skills and the confidence of the participants as future nurses and midwives, knowing the vital role they play in providing outstanding health care to the community.

At the postgraduate level, Northern Health has continued to support employees in further studies. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander scholarships have added to their success and career progression, enriching Northern Health’s specialist nursing and midwifery workforce.

All programs are sustained by a comprehensive supportive network of preceptors, mentors, nurse unit managers, educators, cultural peer supervision, sessions and study days, Nursing Workforce Unit, Aboriginal Support Unit and Department of Health and Human Services.

Karen Bryant, Senior Aboriginal Health Liaison Officer, said the two programs, along with the postgraduate program, were an investment in the future, empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives and increasing their confidence and competence in their chosen career pathway.

For more information, on our NAIDOC Week celebrations click here.

Featured image: Trinity Saxby with her NAIDOC Week 2021 t-shirt.

Northern Health acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which Northern Health’s campuses are built, the Wurundjeri people, and pay our respects to Elders past and present.

A large part of the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) implementation across Northern Health is ensuring staff are adequately trained using the new system and are confident using it.

Navigating Northern Health through EMR training is Cliff Wiltshire, our new EMR Training Manager.

Prior to joining the Northern Health EMR Project, Cliff worked at Austin Health, delivering training to all clinical groups, from induction to the implement of new functionality within the EMR.

“My knowledge of the clinical system, from design, implementation, and support, will help to provide a clear understanding of the current EMR functionality and how this will be incorporated in the day to day care of patients at Northern Health. Training will be delivered as ‘role-specific’ training that is focused on roles and responsibilities within the specific clinical environment,” Cliff explained.

Cliff has recently developed the EMR training strategy and will be meeting with the Training Advisory Committee for further guidance on moving forward with training. The Training Advisory Committee is a collection of educators from throughout Northern Health, representing each clinical group including allied health, medical, nursing, clerical and HIS staff.

Training will officially begin mid next year but, in the lead up, Cliff encourages end-users (staff who will be using the EMR) to start engaging with their EMR champions who have up-to-date information the EMR team are providing them month to month. Engaging with your champions is a great way to get involved. Also, check the EMR website regularly for latest updates on the project.

Before training starts for end-users, the EMR team will be looking for super users – staff who will support end-users at go-live.

“Staff who are thinking about being a part of the super user process, which is an ongoing support role, should bring this to the attention of their NUM early,” Cliff said.

The final training program will include a full instructor-led program and may also incorporate some eLearning processes as well as simulations on the wards, so staff can become familiar with things like medication administration, using barcode scanners for positive patient identification, and processes for linking patient bedside monitors and IV pumps to the patient centralise EMR.

One key message Cliff wants staff to understand is that “training is essential”. The EMR team are working towards a vision of ‘no training – no access’, as it is essential that staff have been trained adequately to ensure our patients receive the safest care.

“Patients are at the centre of everything we do, so we need to ensure all of our documentation is done correctly, so the patient can be cared for and treated appropriately moving forward,” Cliff explained.

In addition to this, Cliff wants staff to know, “training is going to be fun! It’s going to be as light as possible and will be essential to your work environment, so we will not teach you things that you won’t need to use – we’re going to focus on your environment and, therefore, focus on the most important things,” Cliff added.

“Our training program will also be an environment where anything is possible – there are no stupid questions. If staff see me out and about in the corridors and they have a burning question, ask me the question – I am more than happy to answer it. No one should ever feel intimidated to ask a question.”

Watch this space… more information regarding training will be provided in the coming months.

We are pleased to announce our COVID-19 Vaccination Program has hit a mighty milestone this week – 50,000 vaccines have been administered since the rollout began.

Siva Sivarajah, Chief Executive, visited our COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic at the Plenty Ranges Arts & Convention Centre (PRACC) in South Morang this week to thank the hardworking staff and to celebrate the occasion.

“A big thank you to our staff, volunteers and everyone involved for achieving this amazing milestone. Receiving a COVID-19 vaccination is an important step in keeping our community safe and I strongly encourage everyone who is eligible to receive a vaccine, to come forward,” Siva said.

“By getting the COVID-19 vaccination, you are playing an important role in not only protecting your own health, but those around you as well. I am pleased to see the dedicated staff working together to vaccinate our community.”

Luma Gashi, COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic Nurse Unit Manager, said it was rewarding to be able to assist in the vaccination program.

“Our community is amazed and grateful for the service we have been able provide at PRACC. We are vaccinating about 1,000 community members per day,” Luma said.

“It is important that our community continues to get their COVID-19 vaccines so we can protect each other and return to a COVID-normal life. A very big thank you to all who have been involved in the set up and rollout of the COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic at both Northern Hospital Epping and PRACC. Thank you to all the nurse immunisers, volunteers, concierge staff, security, ward clerks and management for all your hard work. A very big special mention to the pharmacy team who have worked very hard supporting the vaccine rollout and ensuring the vaccines are readily available for administration.”

Dominic Ennis (pictured above), was our 50,000th patient to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. He said it was a big relief to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

“It’s very important and I am very grateful that we’ve got a good health system so that we can get vaccinated. Follow the public health advice and do the right thing by everyone in our community, it’s pretty simple,” Dominic said.

“There is a big sense of relief. I was saying to a colleague that I was excited.”

Thank you to all of our dedicated staff, volunteers, the City of Whittlesea, and everyone who has received their vaccine, for playing an important role in helping to protect our community. We are all in this together!

On orientation day last month, 56 new graduate nurses and midwives began their Northern Health journey.

The orientation consisted of a two day program, containing a mixture of theory and practice, covering important aspects such as occupational health and safety and wellbeing, infection prevention, safe patient handling, recognising the deteriorating patient, medication safety and basic life support. Time is also allocated to commence many of the mandatory competencies such as Fire and Emergency Training, Respecting One Another and Hand Hygiene.

Among the group who took part in the orientation are sisters Jessica and Laura Scuteri, who finished their studies together at Victoria University, and are both Registered Nurses at Northern Health.

Laura said she enjoyed the experience of meeting people during the orientation who were just as nervous and anxious as she was about starting a new career.

“I liked how Northern Health staff were approachable and willing to answer any questions no matter the topic,” she said.

“From when I was young, I was always interested in the body and how it works. I liked the idea of helping people and helping them at their worst by being able to make patients’ days a bit brighter, and to be able to make their hospital stay a bit better. In 2016, my sister got very ill and was rushed to Northern Hospital. I loved the care that they had given and that was another reason that motivated me to be a nurse.”

For Jessica, she always wanted to pursue a career in teaching or nursing. When she graduated from high school, she began a teaching degree but then became ill with Meningococcal Septicaemia.

“Even though it was a tough road to recovery, it was a blessing in disguise. Every nurse that helped keep me alive until this day were all Northern Health employees. They all helped influence me to become a nurse at Northern Health,” Jessica said.

“I’ve always been a helpful person. I enjoyed meeting new people at the orientation that were in the same boat as us. The practical component (simulations) during the orientation days were fun and very informative too.”

Kate Duggan, Graduate Program Coordinator, said the COVID-19 pandemic affected the ability to recruit nurses into the program.

“We moved all information sessions very rapidly to an online platform. This made it challenging for us to interact one-on-one with students and, I’m sure, made it challenging for students to get a feel for the health service that they should apply to for their Graduate Program,” Kate said.

“Whilst Northern Health successfully filled all vacancies, we know that it was a daunting time for those applying for jobs during the pandemic. There were many disruptions to undergraduate clinical placements in 2020 and students could not attend lectures or tutorials in person for many months. We have acknowledged the effects this had on graduate confidence and we have offered additional support in the transition to the workplace.”

Featured image: Jessica and Laura Scuteri

Wominjeka.

NAIDOC Week recognises the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

This year, NAIDOC Week will be celebrated from 4 to 11 July. The theme this year is ‘Heal Country’. It calls for all of us to continue to seek greater protection for our lands, waters, sacred sites and our cultural heritage from exploitation, desecration and destruction.

The highlight of our NAIDOC Week celebrations at Northern Health is a virtual session by Nova Peris OAM.

Nova was a trailblazer in her sporting pursuits, competing at Olympic level in two sports while juggling the demanding role of being a young mother. Then, post her sporting career, she smashed through another glass ceiling by becoming the first Aboriginal woman elected to Federal Parliament.

Since the mid-1990s, she has spoken regularly on the challenges facing Aboriginal people and has visited hundreds of communities throughout Australia to gain as much of an insight as possible into the issues facing people from all walks of life.

We look forward to hearing from Nova via video link from Darwin on Wednesday, 7 July at 12 pm. To watch Nova’s presentation, please click here.

Also as part of NAIDOC Week, we had two eminent physicians – Dr Angela Dos Santos and Dr Graham Gee, speak at a virtual Grand Round.

Continuing on the theme ‘Heal Country’, Narrun Wilip-Giin, Aboriginal Support Unit, has put together a quiz that will test your knowledge and reward you with great prizes.

More details about this on the Narrun Wilip-Giin, Aboriginal Support Unit pages on the intranet.

Here at Northern Health, our first ever Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) set out to create opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, their communities and organisations, to partner with us and influence the design and implementation of accessible and patient-centred services.

Northern Health’s commitment to providing a culturally safe service starts with our leadership including my Board, Executive Team and Directors. All of us have attended cultural awareness face-to-face training.

Face-to-face cultural awareness training is also provided to staff across all our centres throughout the year. In addition, we have introduced four mandatory online modules for staff.

Northern Health has already reached its objective of increasing our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce from 0.5 per cent to one per cent to be representative of the Victorian population, and has now set a new target for two per cent​.

Aboriginal cadetships have been introduced in Nursing, and in Allied Health as of last year.

In an effort to identify specific health conditions where there is a health outcome gap and to develop culturally safe strategies to improve health outcomes, we have developed an Aboriginal Health Scorecard, which has ‘Measure Owners’, responsible for putting in place plans to close the gap in health outcomes.

I am pleased to report that one research paper specific to the Aboriginal Oncology Department has been delivered. Other research projects include ‘Investigating Trends in Perinatal Mortality for Indigenous Women’. A research grant also led to the recent opening of our Aboriginal Physiotherapy Clinic at Craigieburn Centre.

The Reconciliation Action Plan Subcommittee responsible for the implementation of these initiatives has grown to include seven Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, five directors and three managers from across our centres.

They are supported by the Northern Health Aboriginal Advisory Committee which meets four times a year with executive sponsorship, and is attended by senior management and at least 15 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members.

Let me conclude by congratulating Karen Bryant, our Senior Aboriginal Liaison Officer, and the dedicated support of the NAIDOC Working Group team members for their countless work and research.

There remains a lot more work to be done. We look forward to the next RAP and building on what we have achieved so far.

Northern Health’s dedicated volunteers have been helping out at our new COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic site in South Morang since it opened on Friday, 7 June.

Enduring the colder weather, volunteers greet community members as they arrive and assist them with checking in and directing to where they need to go.

“Some people don’t know how to use their mobile phones or don’t have phones with data, so our volunteers sit down with them and help them to fill in the online survey,” explained Henni Wade, Manager Volunteer Services.

“The volunteers chat to everyone in the line and help make our visitors feel welcome.”

Kathryn Bartho, Director Operational Readiness, acknowledged the important contribution of our staff and volunteers.

“Setting up the vaccination hub has been a great achievement for Northern Health – all of the staff contributing have been a big part of that. Our volunteers are providing an important and supportive role in the overall process, with a particular focus on the consumers by greeting community members, assisting them to check in using the QR code and helping consumers understand the flow and the process,” Kathryn said.

Last week, we introduced Melbourne Polytechnic student volunteers to the clinic environment. The volunteer experience has been organised to complement the health literacy subject they are completing at school. Melbourne Polytechnic and Northern Health are partnering to provide real life learning experiences for the students enrolled in the Certificate 3 and 4 English as an Additional Language (EAL) courses.

Most of the Melbourne Polytechnic student volunteers are interested in careers in health, so volunteering at our health service will give them insight into the many services we offer. They will be able to see first-hand what a difference volunteers make to our visitors’ experiences.

“Volunteers can really help to put peoples mind at ease during stressful situations. Getting the vaccine can be a situation which people get anxious about. Our volunteers meet and greet people as they arrive and help those that need some one-on-one assistance with the check-in process. This personalised help can reduce anxiety levels,” Henni explained.

“The volunteers love the chats and laughs they have with our visitors. The volunteers have been supervised by our Volunteer Coordinator, Christine McGowan, who is out there most days ensuring our volunteers feel valued and supported – and to ensure they get a nice hot cup of tea!” Henni said.

Thank you to our dedicated volunteers for your contribution to helping us keep our community safe.

Featured image (left to right): Volunteers, Carol and Richard at the COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic 

For Margaret Ash, Patient Services Assistant (PSA) on Ward 15, Northern Health’s ward for suspected COVID-19 (SCOVID) patients, one word has become a favourite in the last four weeks – ‘cleared’.

“We had many high-risk and quarantine patients since Ward 15 re-opened again. Hearing the word ‘cleared’ just brightens up my day,” she said.

At the end of May, Ward 15 or the SCOVID ‘Red Zone’ had to quickly be recommissioned due to the latest Melbourne outbreak. For staff, working in the Red Zone meant they needed to quickly adapt to a different working environment, as well as the new team.

“We have four PSAs covering the ward, and we are here day and night. It’s kept very clean. Our job is to stop the spread,” Margaret says proudly.

For her, and her colleague, Ben Amatya, wearing the personal protective equipment all day can sometimes be challenging, but the team help each other and the nurses whenever they can, which makes the day easier.

“People are nice and we work and think as a team,” Ben added.

Amy Freeman, Associate Nurse Unit Manager, says working in the Red Zone is very quick paced, but is well managed with good staff.

“I work in Ward 14, our surgical ward, so this is the first time I am in the Red Zone. Some of the staff who worked here last year have helped us a lot. At the beginning, I felt like I was going into the unknown, but then it started to flow nicely and we had good support. It’s not that scary to work in the Red Zone – we are quite well protected and I feel safe here,” she said.

Clare McCarthy is the Nurse Unit Manager who was temporarily looking after Ward 15 last year – brought in from the Project Management Office/HRO Team – and is back in the role this time again.

For Clare too, the Red Zone was an adjustment. “I’ve been out of uniform for more than 15 years – to be back by the bedside was a big responsibility and frankly a bit daunting, especially in the heightened state of COVID,” said Clare.

“The nursing staff is a mix of our Ward 14 and Pool staff. We had to set up the ward quickly and be responsive for our northern community. In Ward 15, it’s a day of constant change and movement; patients get transferred, assessed, retested, and they move on. It is really a team effort, and I’m proud to be part of it,” Clare added.

To ease the loneliness of patients in the ward, the team are utilising technology to keep in contact with patient families – like iPads or Facetime.

“Contact is crucial for patients and families. We are getting patients that are quite complex and have a number of chronic conditions, so some stay with us a bit longer. Having that connection with their families and having them know what is happening is essential, as things change swiftly,” said Clare.

“The teamwork has consistently been amazing on the ward between the PSAs, nurses, doctors, pharmacist and allied health — it’s very much a ‘we are all in this together’ attitude,” added Rae-chal Burgess, Clinical Support Nurse.