Recently, the Happy Mothers Assyrian/Chaldean Group Pregnancy Care Program officially launched at Craigieburn Centre.

The Happy Mothers Group was established in July 2017 to provide an integrated, culturally safe program for Assyrian/Chaldean pregnant women who were either newly immigrated or refugees, and had settled in the north. It is the only group pregnancy care offered to Assyrian/Chaldean women in Victoria, and is guided by the mothers to deliver education and support based on their individual and cultural needs.

The team who deliver the program – Marie Treloar (Team Leader and Childbirth and Parenting Education Coordinator, Northern Health), Bronwyn Madigan (Maternal and Child Health Nurse, Hume Council), Michelle Griffiths (Parent Support Worker, Hume Council), Maria Toma (Bicultural Worker, VICSEG New Futures), Bronwyn Gellie (Midwife, Northern Health) and May Khoshaba (Interpreter, Northern Health), were delighted to see over 20 pregnant and postnatal women return with their babies to take part in the celebrations.

Team Leader, Marie Treloar, said, “At Northern Hospital Epping, we service a richly diverse community – migrant and refugee women are a vulnerable group who are susceptible to poor birth outcomes. When the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute approached us to pilot an innovative model of group pregnancy care for this population, we did not hesitate!”

“To date, we’ve had 93 women through our program, with a high breast feeding rate continuing past six months,” Marie added.

Debra Bourne, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, opened the event speaking about the challenges of a growing population in the north, which includes a richly diverse community.

“Northern Health is delighted to partner with Hume Council and VICSEG to deliver this innovative program. Our aim is to increase breast feeding rates in the community, while ensuring health literacy and engagement with health services and meeting the optimal health care needs of our migrant populations,” she said.

Lena Casparian, a past group member, came with her six month old baby, Isabel. While speaking about her Happy Mothers journey and the tools she learnt for giving birth naturally, she also added:

“In the past six months, I’ve learnt about the importance of exclusively breastfeeding, as well as being socially engaged with my community and how it can help with my emotional and psychological wellbeing.”

Salam Dankha from Foundation House, spoke of her own experience as a new arrival to Australia and her childbearing experiences in Iraq, emphasising the contrasting experiences of her daughter giving birth in Australia.

“Connecting with the community and having their support in navigating the services in a new country is crucial,” she added.

During the fortnightly education sessions, women also receive the recommended antenatal appointment by a midwife, and appropriate referrals are made to ensure a safe and healthy pregnancy and birth. The presence of a Maternal and Child Health Nurse (MCHN) ensures the women uptake postnatal services and make regular visits to see the MCHN for the next four years of their child’s growth and development. The Parent Support Worker provides expert childhood care, providing any necessary referrals in relation to child health. The Bicultural Worker and Interpreter are present to ensure information is provided in the group’s chosen language, as well as to ensure cultural safety.

“We do not have a set agenda or curriculum when we deliver the two hour sessions. The women who attend choose their learning needs relevant to them at the time. Education therefore becomes individualised, specific and timely to where they’re at,” Marie explained.

“We were very excited to see many of the women return with their babies to celebrate the launch with us. It reinforced to us that the women had made worthwhile connections and felt comfortable to return, reporting the sessions had been very useful in their pregnancy, birth and postnatal periods.”

Kathryn Bartho, Director, Revenue and Financial Projects, received the ‘Above and Beyond’ award at the Quarterly Staff Recognition Awards.

Kathryn’s role is to optimise revenue across the organisation and ensure patients are provided with informed financial information.

She was nominated by Chief Financial Officer, Basil Ireland, who says, “Kath marries clinical understanding with commercial, finance, vendor management, communication and people skills.”

“She is the most versatile person I have ever worked with, and from a technical and communication perspective, has had an extremely positive impact on the RosterOn upgrade, Q-Flow implementation, automated bed fee and doctor consult billings, and Computer Assisted Radio Personnel System (CARPs) implementation,” Basil continues.

Kathryn’s journey at Northern Health began in 2006, and has since worked in a range of different roles across the organisation.

She started as a clerical staff member in the Emergency Department and Unit E, and was then inspired to go to university and complete a Bachelor of Nursing, which she graduated from in 2012. In 2013, she completed her grad year at Northern Health.

After completing her grad year, Kathryn was given an opportunity to work in a project management role in finance, combining both her administration skills and clinical experience.

Today, she particularly enjoys looking at projects and improvements across the organisation, combining her clinical and revenue skills for a holistic approach to benefit the organisation and staff.

“My team in revenue are my support and foundations – I cannot express how much I value and appreciate everything they do. Without them, I would not be able to do my role or be successful in my project implementations,” Kathryn says.

Her role does come with its challenges, but these challenges are also what drives her.

“Projects and change management is the most challenging part of my role, however, I also love a challenge and getting out into the business to share exciting new opportunities,” she says.

What some may not know about Kathryn, is that she still works as a nurse one shift per week to keep up with her clinical skills.

When asked what winning the award meant to her, she says “It was such an amazing feeling of acknowledgement. Northern has some amazing teams that I am privileged to be part of.”

“I appreciate all the opportunities that I have been given by the Executive team, particularly Basil, Jane, Siva and Michelle – their ongoing support has been amazing,” she adds.

In the future, Kathryn would like to work towards further efficiencies and continuous improvement within healthcare.

“The future for Northern means we will have to develop and implement improvements and efficiencies very quickly. However, we are Northern and we are up for the challenge!”

Sponsored by Maxxia and BankVic, our Quarterly Staff Recognition Awards have been designed to formally recognise outstanding contributions by our employees and celebrate staff excellence. Nominations for the next awards are now open. To nominate a staff member, click here.

Yesterday we welcomed Channel 7 News to Northern Hospital Epping to interview Vascular Surgeon, Iman Bayat, about his use of cutting-edge intravascular ultrasound technology to treat venous disease.

Northern Health is leading the state in the field of complex venous disorders, as the first hospital in Victoria to offer intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) as a regular service to patients.

In order for veins to function normally, they need to be clear of blockages. Veins can be acutely blocked by commonly known conditions like deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

Many advances have been made in minimal invasive treatment of blocked arteries. One major advance is the cutting-edge technology, IVUS – sonography inside the vein.

Several studies show the superiority of IVUS to standard angiography when treating complex venous disorder as it enables vascular surgeons to conduct highly complex procedures whilst reducing the risk of radiation exposure to patients.

Iman Bayat said, “IVUS gives us accurate measurement of the degree of obstruction, the size of the veins, and also guides treatment of blocked veins using stents.”

“Previously, the technology was restricted to arteries within the heart. Now we are able to assess veins that are 10 times the size of the heart vessels.”

Northern Hospital’s new state-of-the-art angiography hybrid theatre is also the first in Victoria to be equipped with IVUS.

81 year old grandfather, Gerhard Scholl, was one of the beneficiaries of this IVUS treatment at Northern Hospital by Iman Bayat.

Gerhard’s results speak for themselves. Prior to the procedure, Gerhard said he had a lot of trouble walking and painful swelling. He would even struggle to walk through the shops with his wife.

“I feel so much better. Now, I can walk all the way through the shopping centre no problem!” he tells us gratefully.

Watch the video below which featured on Channel 7 News last night:

A Melbourne surgeon is pioneering a new treatment for deep vein thrombosis. @TomChadwick_7 #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/2MItv5vYN4

— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) July 17, 2019

Upali and Somaratne are Patient Service Assistants (PSAs) who are always smiling, right through an eight hour work day. Their typical day includes mopping floors, restocking trolleys and store rooms, cleaning bathrooms and making beds – everything required to prepare the room for the next patient.

Today their smiles are broader than usual. They have just been through week eight of a Manual Handling Risk Improvement Program, run by our Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) team in conjunction with Exercise Movement Professionals (EMP).

They say they have learnt a lot and can already see an improvement. “Particularly, when the EMP staff come around to our wards and observe how we’re working and show us the correct way to complete tasks without causing pain or damage to our bodies,” they say.

Among the first participants to test out the technology used in the program were Chief Operating Officer, Jane Poxon, Chief Financial Officer, Basil Ireland and Executive Director People & Culture, Michelle Fenwick.

Jane, Basil and Michelle took part in both the function assessment and sensor tests, and had their results explained instantly from EMP staff.
They were shown how small changes in behaviour can reduce risk – such as moving closer to the table or moving a chair out of the way if you’re wiping down a table.

Michelle Fenwick said it was nice to be able to recognise the hard work our PSAs do and empower them to give of their best.

“They are an important part of our workforce and vital to the smooth discharge of patients,” she said.

The PSA-CARPS staff group was the first set of PSAs to trial the program, with other departments to follow.

Are you worried your patient may not manage in the community after they go home from hospital?

The Acute to Community Coordination Team (previously known as DPSS) are helping Northern Health patients on their ‘Staying Well’ pathway and will have a solution.

The team reviews patients in all areas of Northern Hospital, who have had unplanned admissions (three or more in the previous six months), are at risk of readmission or failed discharge, or who they worry may not be able to cope at home. These patients are referred to as Healthlinks patients, meaning the patient has had three or more recent unplanned admissions. Healthlinks patients are people with chronic and complex health needs, and are often frequent users of hospital inpatient services.

With extensive knowledge of the health service and community programs, the Acute to Community Coordination Team link patients to what they need, helping them transition from the hospital to the community, and continue to recover at home.

Lorinda McPherson, Manager – Acute to Community Coordination Team, says, “Our coordinators provide post discharge support in the form of a phone call within one to three days of going home. We check on the patient’s wellbeing and how their recovery is going – ensuring they are staying on track, improving their health, and referring them onto community programs such as the Hospital Admission Risk Program (HARP) if necessary.”

“We can help chronic disease patients to recognise if they are becoming unwell again, and assist them in ‘Staying Well’ and out of hospital. We provide support for the patient or carer with several phone calls in the weeks following discharge,” Lorinda continues.

Patients often struggle at home after discharge, as they aren’t clear on their discharge instructions. For example, medication changes, fluid restriction in heart failure patients, blood glucose management, and the importance of follow up care via their GP in the community.

“We are trying to prevent our patients from having to come back to hospital, as we know that frequent hospital admissions and being unwell leads to poor general health and reduced quality of life,” Lorinda says.

The Acute to Community Coordination Team also review any patient in the hospital with a length of stay (LOS) of five days and above, ensuring there is a clear plan for discharge.

The team are involved in referral to continuing care programs such as the Transition Care Program (TCP – both home-based and bed-based), GEM@Home and GEM@Resi.

If you are unsure if one of your patients would benefit from or be eligible for these programs, please contact your ward Acute to Community Coordinator.

To contact our coordinators, please click here or email lorinda.mcpherson@nh.org.au.

Featured Image (left to right): Acute to Community Coordination Team – Lorinda McPherson, Rebecca Moussa, Donna McVean, Melinda Roberts, Adeshewa Ajide, Natasha Vinci, Karina Barca, Sandra Rizzotto 

Professor Brian Dolan is on a mission. First, he started a global social movement called #EndPJparalysis, which gained over 400 million impressions on Twitter and was all about encouraging patients to get up, dressed and moving, to reduce the risk of deconditioning of patients while in hospital.

Now, he is on a campaign to make patient time the most important currency in health care.

Northern Health was privileged to hear Prof. Dolan, voted one of the 20 most influential people in the 70-year history of the National Health Service (NHS) UK, speak to our staff on this subject.

Debra Bourne, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, said she first heard Prof. Dolan at the Canterbury Health Service in New Zealand this year, and was inspired by his approach to patient-centred care.

“We thought it would be a great idea to get him over here to speak to all our clinical and non-clinical staff, to deliver the key message that we are working through the High Reliability Organisation (HRO) framework about the improved patient experience,” she says.

Professor Brian Dolan is the Director of Health Service 360 UK, and conducts leadership programs in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. He has published over 70 papers and is the author/editor of seven books, mainly on emergency care. Prof. Dolan is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Honorary Professor of Leadership in Healthcare at the University of Salford, Manchester, and Visiting Professor of Nursing at the Oxford Institute of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Research (OxINMAHR).

Prof. Dolan believes whilst medical staff are busy and important, patient time is sacred.

In a lecture punctuated with bon mots such as, “People who have the most birthdays – live the longest,” he made the point;

“If we value patient time, there will be no needless waiting, suffering and harm and people feel safer – they will have their dignity and sense of self restored, and get back to the loved ones they need to be with.”

“Rather than spend their last 1000 days in hospital – they will spend it with the ones they love.”

His lecture titled ‘Last 1000 Days’ left the audience both entertained and inspired.

Nicole Campbell, Clinical Nurse Consultant, said she was completely overwhelmed by his presentation and could’ve listened to him for many more hours.

“I am fortunate to work in an organisation that encourages this type of learning,” she said.

Debra Bourne, speaking for all those present at the lecture, said;

“Brian absolutely lived up to our expectations. The lecture he delivered contained wisdom and passion, and gave everyone a space to reflect upon the care we are giving and what the most important thing to us is – which of course are our patients.”

45 year old father of three, Adrian Nandapi says it’s great to be alive, literally.

Two months ago he was in the fight of his life. Whilst on holiday in Fiji with his family, Adrian suffered a scratch on the shinbone of his right leg.

36 hours later, his family flew home to Australia and his leg had become noticeably swollen.

In the hours that followed, his body went into septic shock and he was rushed to the Northern Hospital’s emergency department for life-saving treatment and surgeries.

After being admitted to our intensive care unit, Adrian’s family were informed he had a serious bacterial infection, necrotizing fasciitis.

Over time, Adrian’s body started to fight back as our medical team successfully treated his condition, even saving his leg.

On 11 June, after five weeks and multiple surgeries later, Adrian safely returned home to his family.

Last week, he returned to hospital to thank the nurses and doctors that saved his life.

“I am alive today due to the passionate, empathetic and outstanding professionalism shown to my family and I by the wonderful medical team at Northern Hospital in Epping,” he said.

“Thank you to the staff who took such good care of us in Ward 15 and Ward 13. Hospitals are an emotional roller coaster and doctors and nurses are at the forefront of that – they unwaveringly support us in life’s most difficult of moments,” he added.

“Northern Hospital’s magnificent medical team saved my life, and in doing so, you saved my family and friends from a world of pain.”

Adrian is now back on his feet and has even returned to work. Watch the video below to see Adrian’s story featured on Channel 7 News.

A simple scratch almost cost a Melbourne father his life. Days after returning from his family’s dream tropical vacation, the man was lying in a coma in intensive care. @MatildaBoseley #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/WsrJHc5tdq

— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) July 11, 2019

Our Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Surgery Department is delighted to have recently received a grant from the Northern Health Foundation, allowing them to purchase surgical equipment to introduce complex ear surgery to the services offered at Northern Health.

Director of Ear, Nose & Throat Services, Dr Deborah Amott said, “Many people in our community need specialist ear surgery due to chronic ear disease. This surgery enables children to hear properly during their education, and adults to increase their participation in the workplace, education, and taking care of their own families, removing the burden of recurrent ear infections, pain and poor hearing.”

Complex ear disease is usually associated with recent migrant population and low-socio economic groups, which are over represented in the northern corridor.

The grant has allowed the department to purchase a mastoid drill, a piece of surgical equipment crucial to performing very complex ear surgery.

“We’re very excited because this enables us to not only add new resources to the ENT unit here, but also perform a surgery that a lot of people in the northern growth corridor require,” Dr Amott said.

Until now, patients with this kind of ear disease need to be referred to other health services, often with considerable time away from their family and work due to travel for appointments and surgery, as well as causing significant inconvenience and costs for our hospital.

“Patients can end up on waiting lists for a long period of time, and if they require surgery and follow-up care there, it’s a great deal of inconvenience to them. So we’re very excited to offer a new line of surgical treatment for this group of patients locally,” Dr Amott said.

“It’s a great advantage for local patients and creates an overall improved patient experience within our hospital,” Dr Amott added.

For Northern Health as a whole, Dr Amott tells us being able to offer this new surgery means we can build more ENT services, which has a significant run on effect for the rest of the hospital, particularly the emergency department as they will have improved access to ENT surgeons.

It also means we’re able to recruit surgeons that wish to offer this particular service, who would otherwise be looking for work elsewhere.

“Expanding Northern Health ENT services is also a stepping stone on our way to building training positions within our unit, as access to this kind of surgery is mandatory to be approved by the College of Surgeons,” Dr Amott said.

Currently, ENT offers a daytime service without significant after hours emergency services.

“The purchase of this new, surgical equipment is a very big step towards having a 24/7 ENT presence at the hospital. It’s $21,000 towards an entire service – it’s a very impressive leverage for a relatively small amount of money,” Dr Amott added. 

“We’re extremely grateful for the help from the Northern Health Foundation both in giving us the grant, but also helping us through the process of applying for it,” Dr Amott said.

“I’d very much like to acknowledge the support from the surgical directorate here and surgical services – they’ve all been very supportive.” 

The support from the Northern Health Foundation builds on expansion of the ENT service underway, towards a fully-fledged service for our local community.