November 2024
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Pregnancy and infant loss awareness
October was International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, including Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day on 15 October – an annual day of remembrance for pregnancy loss and infant death, which includes miscarriage, stillbirth, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), ectopic pregnancy, termination for medical reasons, and the death of a newborn. With one in four pregnancies ending in loss, the purpose of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day is to allow families the opportunity to pause, reflect and honour the life and loss of their pregnancy and baby. It is also a way to bring forth greater public awareness…
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Thank You Busy Fingers Auxiliary
The Busy Fingers Auxiliary, a dedicated volunteer group located in Northern Health’s Bundoora Centre, has been making a difference through their efforts to fundraise for our patients. Formed with the goal of establishing independent aged care services in Melbourne’s north, it has now grown into a well-known fixture in the community, raising money to support healthcare initiatives at Bundoora Centre. Founded over five decades ago, Busy Fingers Auxiliary members work together to produce a range of handmade items, including knitted goods and blankets, which they sell at a shop front in Bundoora Centre. The proceeds go directly towards the funding…
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Get to know: Sara Almoosawi
#WeAreNorthern Meet Sara Almoosawi, Lab Assistant Microbiology/Pathology. Q: What is your coffee order? A pretty simple one – a medium chai latte. Q: What does a typical day look like as the Lab Assistant in Microbiology/Pathology? A typical day starts off by starting up all the machines and performing their respective internal quality controls and maintenance, setting up each workstation for other staff that will come in later in the day, processing all the different types of samples that come to microbiology and getting them tested as soon as possible and somehow squeezing in lunch! Q: What do you enjoy…
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The Australian National Lung Cancer Screening Program
The Annual Scientific Meeting of the Royal Australian College of Radiologists (RANZCR) took place in Perth on October 17-19. At this meeting Dr Miranda Siemienowicz, Co-Director of Radiology Training at Northern Health and Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Thoracic Radiology (ANZSTR), introduced the Australian National Lung Cancer Screening Program (NLCSP) to the radiology community. This session was a highlight of the conference, which had over 1,300 attendees. The NLCSP is Australia’s first new screening program since 2006 and aims to save 500 lives each year by detecting lung cancer early with low-dose chest CT scans. Dr…
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Interdisciplinary workshop boosts communication in healthcare
On Monday, 14 October, Northern Health held an innovative interdisciplinary workshop aimed at enhancing communication skills among healthcare professionals. The event was a collaboration between Northern Health and Deakin University’s Centre for Organisational Change in Person-Centred Healthcare (OCPH). On the day, 17 participants from surgery, oncology, medicine, emergency, and mental health divisions engaged in interactive learning with facilitators from Deakin University, University of Southern Denmark, and Northern Health. The workshop was held at the Northern Centre for Health Education & Research (NCHER), and focused on advancing communication skills as a critical component of patient-centered care. The program was co-led by…
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Northern Health Public Fertility Service welcomes first bub
Northern Health is proud to support our community in growing their families through accessible public fertility care. In a service led by The Royal Women’s Hospital, Northern Health is committed to making fertility services more available to individuals and families who currently have limited access to private services. One of these families is the Rowe family. Sarah and Matt Rowe had been trying for a baby for some time. All around them, their friends were having babies, and they were concerned with why it didn’t seem to be happening to them. While it appeared to come easy to others, they…
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New patient REGGIE-stration portal for VVED
A new patient registration portal for the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED) is helping to fast track patient care. Affectionately known as ‘Reggie’, the portal launched in August 2024 and was developed and built internally by the Digital Health Team. The portal features a user-friendly interface that enhances the experience for patients and key stakeholders. It also includes a comprehensive dashboard for clerical staff to register patients into the iPM and FirstNet EMR systems. ‘Reggie’ has been created to match the workflows of VVED, and in turn, has saved staff time and enables a faster registration process. The software has…
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Get to know: Ella Critchley
#WeAreNorthern Meet Ella Critchley, Program Manager at the Advance Care Planning (ACP). Q: Firstly, what is your coffee order? A: Skinny latte, double shot. Q: Tell us about your Northern Health journey? A: I’ve been with Northern Health for just over a year now and am still getting familiar with the various campuses! Recently-ish, I completed a Master of Gerontology which along with my experience as an educator, researcher and nurse, has provided a solid foundation for my role as Program Manager. Q: What do you like most about your role? A: The opportunity to work alongside incredibly knowledgeable, skilled…