“Conversations build empathy, and empathy becomes the glue that binds people in healthy work environments together” – Layne Stretton, Roses in the Ocean.

‘Conversations on Mental Wellness’ kicks off next Monday on 10 September.

James Malachi, R U OK? Ambassador, will be speaking at the Northern Health Bundoora Conference Room at 2 pm, the same time Layne Stretton will be speaking at NCHER Lecture Theatre.

James’ presentation aims to strengthen our sense of belonging, “because we know people are there for us”. Layne will look at the impact that suicide can have on families, communities and individuals.

He will do so through the lens of personal experiences, talking about his reactions over a 15 year period after his brother’s death, culminating in getting the help and support that he needed.

We asked them both what the theme of conversations in the workplace means to them.

“Staying connected and having meaningful conversations is something we can all do,” James tells us.

“You don’t need to be an expert – just a good friend and a great listener. So, if you notice someone who might be struggling – start a conversation!”

Layne tells us at Roses in the Ocean, they believe the more people open up in this area, the more they give permission and empowerment for others to use their voices.

“The telling of stories is still the most powerful medium for gaining attention, emotional connection and changing attitudes,” he said.

“When a person’s courage and vulnerability is expressed through communication, it opens up dialogue in areas that were repressed or forgotten. It builds intimacy, empathy and hope.”

‘Conversations on Mental Wellness’ showcases Northern Health’s commitment to a psychologically safe workplace, and how we provide tangible steps towards a number of actions, including raising awareness, combating stigma, suicide prevention and promoting positive mental health.

Speakers and sessions will run until R U OK? Day to close the program on Thursday 13 September.

To start the conversation, please click here.

Physiotherapists at Northern Health play a key role in helping people achieve their goals, fulfil their potential and participate fully in society.

We often see physiotherapists as a professionals who help with sport-related injuries and post-surgery recovery, however after a quick chat we’ve realised that helping women after giving birth is another important part of their work.

Catherine is one of Northern’s passionate physios, who works with women and helps them in the most sensitive period, focusing on providing advice on how to take care of their body.

“I do a lot of education around pelvic floor and recovery after birth, helping with issues like incontinence, which can have a huge impact on women’s everyday lives,” she says.

Even with women who have had a straightforward birth, physios still have a role of helping them get back to everyday activities in the first three months after the delivery. It is proven that exercise decreases the risk of post-natal depression and anxiety.

Seeing women in the wards, and even as outpatients, is a huge part of our physiotherapy service, especially with the increasing number of births at the hospital and the growth of the northern suburbs.

“We are getting busier and busier,” Catherine says.

The dedication of our physios doesn’t go unnoticed. Recently, they’ve received a card of appreciation from one of the new mothers, who was touched by the care she received at Northern:

Each year, on 8 September, we celebrate World Physiotherapy Day — a global event recognising the incredible role physiotherapists play in the community.

Melanie Hogan, Acting Associate Director Allied Health Physiotherapy, says there’s a different theme every year. This year’s focus is on raising awareness of physiotherapy’s key role in improving mental health through exercise.

“We help patients in many different areas – from helping women getting back to their everyday activities, to people with sports injuries, neurological or respiratory conditions. The world of physiotherapy is vast and it all contributes to helping people achieve their goals and full potential, as well as improve the quality of life,” she says.

Exercise and activity have a wide range of health benefits for mind, as well as the body. 

Our physios say – get active and stay active!

In baking …er breaking news this week, it’s been confirmed next Monday, Northern Hospital Epping will host its first Inaugural Bake Off and Afternoon Tea.

Event organisers have requested that all areas put forward two cakes, muffins, slices or any baked item really. The baked goods must reflect the ‘area you work in’.

Entries will be adjudged on taste, theme alignment and innovation, by our highly experienced judges, Mr John Snowdon and Chief Executive, Mr Siva Sivarajah.

Items can be either sweet or savoury but it’s very important to note all entries must be edible. To quote the event organisers – ‘don’t be afraid to take whisks!’

Cakes will be on display from 11.00 am after 10.30 am drop off. Winner will be announced at 3 pm the same day and receive $100 Coles Myer gift cards.

Entries will be shared with staff from their department as part of an afternoon tea.

When asked if the judges can be ‘influenced’, the cryptic response was ‘if there’s a whisk, there’s a way.’

For any area that would like to participate but hasn’t been included on the below department list, please email jodie.ashworth@nh.org.au.

In response to our question, ‘any final comments?’, they emphatically said ‘just beat it!’

Bake Off Department List

 

Meet Northern Health’s newest Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer, Jordan Casey.

With the Aboriginal population growing in the northern suburbs, it was important for Northern Health to employ another Hospital Liaison Officer to maintain quality support services for the community.

Emiliano Zucchi, Manager Transcultural & Language Services | Aboriginal Support Unit, says, “we realised the Aboriginal population in our catchment area was growing faster than any other group, and there was more demand for our services than we could meet”.

Jordan’s passion for Aboriginal health and culture started to grow five years ago when he got involved in the community health sector in Sunbury.

“It really fuelled my drive to want to help and contribute in the health sector,” he said.

His new role allows him to provide emotional and cultural support to Aboriginal patients at Northern Health.

“We make sure they’re getting culturally safe care whilst in the hospital. We also provide some follow-up care as well, especially if it’s regarding home and community care.”

A typical day for Jordan consists of seeing Aboriginal patients in the Emergency Department, Short Stay and Wards, to ensure they’re getting culturally appropriate care, as well as providing secondary consult to staff members at Northern Health that are engaging with Aboriginal patients.

Jordan has been working at Northern Health for one month now and he already recognises how his new role can improve the overall patient experience.

“The most rewarding part of my role here at Northern is seeing the positive impact we can have on our patients and their families,” he said.

This year marks a major milestone for Northern Health Home Care Packages (NHHCP).

The program will be celebrating their 30 year anniversary of providing in-home support to older people and people with disabilities, with the aim of assisting them to remain in their homes and chosen community for as long as possible.

It all began in 1988, when NHHCP were called the Bundoora Community Care Program, located at what was previously named Bundoora Extended Care Centre.

The program was a trial funded by State and Federal Governments to assist people at home, rather than having to enter residential care prematurely. This was the beginning of the ‘Linkages’ program.

Initially, the program had 74 Linkages packages and later became a part of Northern Health, when it was established in 2000. Since then, Northern Health has been dedicated to providing quality case management and services to improve people’s quality of life and overall wellness at home.

By 2014, the program included 185 Linkages Packages, 77 Community Aged Care Packages (CACP) and 41 Extended Aged Care at Home Packages (EACH). CACP and EACH packages were eventually renamed as what we now go by, Home Care Packages, as part of the Australian Government ‘living longer, living better’ aged care reforms.

Julie Williams, Manager Northern Health Home Care Packages, says the program has grown by over 70%, to include a total of 202 Home Care Packages with 26 staff.

“It’s quite an achievement, as we were one of the original pilot programs,” she said.

Quarterly Staff Recognition Awards

Northern Health is introducing a new Quarterly Staff Recognition Awards program designed to formally recognise outstanding contributions by our employees and celebrate staff excellence. The Quarterly Recognition Awards will be an opportunity for us to reward teams and individuals in a wide range of areas, who have demonstrated commitment to high quality outcomes.

Categories will cover exceptional patient experience, compassionate care, safety improvement, innovation and potential to grow and develop at Northern Health.  An “Above and Beyond” category will also be awarded. The Awards will be jointly conducted by People and Culture and Public Affairs with sponsorship from BankVic and Maxxia.

I encourage staff to nominate their colleagues for their achievements at Northern Health and celebrating success and commitment to our patients and each other. Entries are now open and you can nominate here.

Trusted Care

Bill Shearer, our Executive Director, Executive Director Transformation Quality & Safety, is leading our work to becoming a High Reliability Organisation (HRO). This is a three year journey where we advance our commitment of delivering trusted care to our community. All staff are encouraged to become involved in this journey. You can find out more about HRO and Trusted Care in the guest iNews column this week.

Hope you all have a great week ahead.

Siva Sivarajah

Chief Executive

High Reliability Organisations are those which maintain a high level of safety in dangerous and complex environments.  In 2017, Northern Health began a journey towards becoming a High Reliability Organisation in partnership with Johns Hopkins Health. This has allowed us to learn from the experience of one of the top three hospitals in the world and adapt that experience and knowledge for Northern Health.

Through this partnership, we are able to examine the way we currently work through the lens of High Reliability, which has led  us to design and begin to implement significant and sometimes dramatic changes.  These changes have been built around the concept of delivering trusted care to our community.

We understand that trusted care is safe, patient-centred, clinically excellent and operationally efficient care. This care is delivered by high functioning teams in an organisation which has a culture that fosters trust both within the health service and from the community we serve.

Johns Hopkins has described some basic tools for delivering High Reliability in healthcare, including the deployment of Comprehensive Unit Based Safety Programs to maximise the safety of our patients, and the use of Clinical Communities to solve the most complex and difficult of clinical problems. We have adapted and extended these to include the concept of the enabled healthcare worker.

The enabled healthcare worker is everyone of us. This healthcare worker has knowledge about safety in hospitals and the workplace, knows how to talk to patients with respect and kindness and is passionate about investigating new ways of improving healthcare.

We are all capable of being a champion of safety.

Over the coming weeks and months, you will hear about the projects we are commencing and how you can become involved.

Bill Shearer

Executive Director, Executive Director Transformation Quality & Safety

Foundation’s Audi raffle ticket sale is in full swing, with our staff members making sure not to miss out on the opportunity to win the fabulous sporty A1 looking for a new place to call home.

Basil Ireland, our CFO, bought ticket no. 37 this year, inspired by the efforts the Foundation is putting into raising funds for our Paediatric High Dependency Unit.

“This is a great chance for our staff to win a car – one in 750, better than most odds you get. The money is going to a great cause and it’s definitely worth buying the ticket,” he says.

We were wondering what Basil would do in case he won, and he shared with us that he’d definitely keep the car and drive to work in it.

If you’d also like to drive to work in an A1 Sportsback, be sure to grab your lucky ticket from our dedicated volunteers in the Northern Hospital foyer or just click here.

And if you’ve already bought a ticket and would like to share your story, contact us.