August 2023
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EMR: Downtime and Business Continuity Planning (BCP)
When the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) goes live, there may be planned downtime for system maintenance and in the unlikely event of unplanned downtime. To ensure we continue providing quality patient care and keep our patients safe during downtime, wards will be equipped with downtime boxes and 724 laptops as a part of the Business Continuity Planning (BCP). In case of downtime (Code Yellow), an announcement will be made via Public Announcement. When you hear “EMR go to downtime packs”, locate the 724 downtime device and the EMR downtime box. The laptop will show a subset of historical patient data…
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Get to know: Eve Kodermann
#WeAreNorthern Meet Eve Kodermann, Occupational Violence and Aggression Coordinator, OH&S. Q: You’ve been with Northern Health since PANCH. Tell us about your journey? A: I started as a student nurse – School ’54 on 30 July 1984. It was a hospital-based training that provided me with great foundations into nursing. As a new student, we were expected to live in the nurses’ home. It was not to everyone’s liking, but it was convenient. Many changes and improvements occurred during my journey. In 1986, there was the 50-day Nurses strike, following changes in industrial relations, where the nursing award resulted in…
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STAIRway to safe manual handling
The nature of the work performed in a hospital environment often involves transferring patients, with an increased risk of staff sustaining an injury due to hazardous manual handling. Hazardous manual handling is often the cause of workplace injuries known as Musculoskeletal Disorders. Manual handling accounts for almost half of all workplace injuries at Northern Health The impact of a workplace injury on a staff member cannot be underestimated and it impacts all areas of life. In 2021, an external review of patient manual handling was commissioned at Northern Health. The findings of this report have been incorporated into the updated…
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Northern Health Mental Health Unit welcomes patients
Today, Wednesday 16 August 2023, we officially welcome patients into the Northern Hospital Mental Health Unit. With 30 acute inpatient mental health beds and a contemporary and modern design, this building encompasses technologically enhanced sensory rooms and courtyards with in-built exercise equipment. The patient rooms and communal spaces are light, supportive and flexible so the changing needs of consumers can be accommodated to throughout their stay. Consumers will also have access to a range of shared internal spaces for social, therapeutic and recreational activities. “Following from the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, Northern Health became…
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We are Northern: This is the Referral and Intake team
The Outpatient services at Northern Health are vital in providing and accessing timely healthcare for the community in the north. The Referral and Intake team, which is based at the Northern Hospital Epping, is one of the busiest components of the Outpatient division. The team receive approximately 15,000 referrals per month across 34 specialties. It consists of 15 staff who are all committed to providing excellent patient care while ensuring all referrals are processed in an effective and timely manner. The team takes pride in their work and the important role they play in patients accessing healthcare services. Kelly Luca,…
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Eye-opener into the Ophthalmology and Orthoptic departments
The Northern Health Ophthalmology and Orthoptic departments have expanded to full-time to cater for an increase in referral demands. Based at Broadmeadows Hospital, the Ophthalmology department provides specialists ophthalmology care to patients in the northern catchment. It can provide assessment, diagnosis, prevention, medical and surgical management of various eye conditions in adults. The main ophthalmology surgical procedures performed at Broadmeadows Hospital are cataracts, pterygia and minor lid surgeries. The department was originally open three days a week, and in August last year, moved to a full-time service from Monday to Friday. Lilian Akimana, Associate Nurse Unit Manager Clinic Lead, Ophthalmology…
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Get to know: Daniel Crompton
#WeAreNorthern Meet Dr Daniel Crompton, Director of Emergency Services, Northern Hospital Epping. Q: Tell us about your new role at Northern Health? A: I’m a Director of the Emergency Department (ED), responsible for service delivery and governance of the ED at Northern Hospital Epping and following the expansion of services at the Craigieburn and Whittlesea Urgent Care Centres. Essentially, I provide support to the extremely hard-working ED staff to do their job to look after our patients. Q: What was your first job? A: My first job was a newspaper round to pay for my first ski trip aged 13.…
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Vascular Surgery Unit first to use the INARI ClotTReiver on east coast
Northern Health’s Vascular Surgery Unit, led by Mr Iman Bayat, Clinical Lead for Complex Venous Service, is the first vascular team on the east coast of Australia to use an innovative new device to perform deep venous thrombus (DVT) removal in a patient. Mr Bayat says he is delighted by the outcome and has been closely following the new technology that uses the INARI ClotTreiver device in international literature for the past two years. “I am pleased to announce that this was the first use of this technology on the east coast of Australia, with the first one performed in…