This morning, Northern Health virtually hosted the Quarterly Staff Recognition Awards to celebrate and acknowledge the amazing work of our staff.

We had an outstanding response from our staff, with a number of nominations received across seven categories. Today’s ceremony awarded winners from 2023 Quarter 1 (January – March).

Siva Sivarajah, Chief Executive, opened the ceremony by acknowledging the hard work of our staff across the health service.

“Northern Health has over 7,500 staff, who work across a wide range of areas, departments and sites, and are all committed to providing great care to our community each and every day,” he said.

“Among our award winners today are staff who exemplify a strong and positive workplace culture, staying true to Northern Health’s values of “Safe Kind Together,” and who continue to show a genuine commitment to their patients.”

Jade Ralston, Director People and Performance, People and Culture, presented the awards to the winners.

“It is an honour to stand here today to recognise and award the staff who demonstrate excellence in the work they do each and every day,” she said.

“I am extremely proud to work in an organisation where staff are passionate and kind and turn up to work every day to provide outstanding care to our patients and community. We thank you all for your hard work and dedication.”

David Langsford, Nephrologist, Head of Medical Obstetrics, Director of Physician Training, won the Innovation Award, for implementing a better way to deliver care or service through a new idea or initiative. David was instrumental for establishing the Medical Community Virtual Consult Service.

The Above and Beyond Award, presented to an individual or a team who has gone above and beyond in providing care or support to a patient, family or work colleague, was presented to Rachel Nolan, Speech Pathologist. She was recognised for welcoming new staff members and showing a strong initiative to lead the team, collaborate and offer compassion.

The ICT Services team won the Excellence in Safety Award for making Northern Health a safer place for patients, visitors and staff. The team was acknowledged for ensuing the highest level of cyber security across the organisation.

The Patient Experience Award for making a significant achievement in improving the care experience, including showing kindness and compassion towards a patient, family or colleague, was awarded to Warren Bawanee (Mervin), Registered Nurse. Warren was recognised for his exceptional care provided to a patient by showing compassion, providing support and gaining their trust.

The Clinical Excellence Award, presented to a person or team who are generous with knowledge, instil confidence in patients and colleagues, and achieve the best patient experience outcomes, was won by Kirstin Tirant, Plural Clinical Nurse Consultant. She was acknowledged for developing clear hospital-approved protocols for multiple complex plural procedures to be facilitated on the ward and oupatient setting.

Gurjeet Kaur, Registered Nurse, was presented with the Education Award for having exceptional skills and passion to pass on knowledge to others in either clinical or administrative environments. Gurjeet was recognised for being a knowledgeable, experienced and confident staff member on Ward 20, and for teaching new staff everything about patient care and documentation.

Lastly, the Rising Star Award, presented to a staff member as having great potential to grow and develop in their career at Northern Health, was won by Stephanie Thompson, Aboriginal Liaison Officer (ALO). Stephanie was acknowledged for progressing in her role as an ALO with great speediness and maturity, and for working with hospital staff to improve services for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

Congratulations to all award winners. The Quarterly Staff Recognition Awards are proudly sponsored by BankVic and Northern Health Foundation.

To watch the ceremony recording, please click here.

Featured image L-R top row: David Langsford, Nephrologist, Head of Medical Obstetrics, Director of Physician Training, Rachel Nolan, Speech Pathologist, David Calvo, ICT, Warren Bawanee (Mervin), Registered Nurse

L-R bottom row: Kirstin Tirant, Plural Clinical Nurse Consultant, Gurjeet Kaur, Registered Nurse, and Stephanie Thompson, Aboriginal Liaison Officer

Yesterday, 8 May 2023, we farewelled our Concierge Service from all Northern Health campuses.

As we reach the stage of the pandemic where public health directives and community expectations continue to wind down, it is time to reduce our centralised hospital entry screening in line with updated government guidelines.

Concierge was first implemented at Northern Health in March 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, as an outsourced program managed through ISS. Over the last three years, Concierge has formed a vital part of Northern Health’s COVID-19 response, by ensuring compliance with public health directives during uncertain times, including:

• Enforcing visitor restrictions
• Enforcing mask wear and safety compliance
• Registering visitors into the visitor portal
• Enforcing Rapid Antigen Testing for unvaccinated visitors and those visiting sensitive areas
• Ensuring temperature, vaccination status, purpose for visit and QR codes are monitored on entry into the facility.

ISS Key Account Manager, Saj Amerasinghe said, “The ISS Concierge team has done a tremendous job demonstrating the Northern Health and ISS core values from day one. They provided an important and supportive role in the overall process, focusing on the consumers by greeting community members and assisting them to understand the flow and process. Job well done, and I am very proud of my team.”

ISS Facility Services Manager and Northern Health Concierge Project Lead, Snezana Poposka, also congratulated the team.

“Leading the concierge team and working closely with Northern Health management teams has been a great part of my daily job. Everyone has been very professional and polite, and most importantly, they felt very proud to be caring for our community. They have always worked as one team. I am very proud of the Concierge team and on what they have achieved in keeping our community safe.”

In May 2022, the Concierge transitioned from an outsourced ISS program into a Northern Health internal department, and ceased operations at the vaccination centre, PRACC.

Hospital Reception Manager, Nick Caruana said, “The focus of Concierge has always been the protection of Northern Health’s staff and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have continuously been at the forefront of each campus, greeting our consumers and ensuring first contact with our organisation is a positive one.”

“The impact Concierge has made over the last three years has been clear as day – the foot traffic across Northern Health has been controlled, the visiting guidelines have been thoroughly enforced, and mask compliance has been sustained. I am very proud of the work achieved by the Concierge.”

Debra Bourne, Chief Operating Officer, expressed her appreciation for the wonderful work of the staff.

“Northern Health would like to thank the Hospital Concierge staff for their unwavering contribution over the last three years. The significant work performed during this time has helped keep our staff, patients and community safe during a period of uncertainty and anxiety,” she said.

“The enforcement of mask wearing and monitoring of visitors will now shift to local departments within the organisation, as we begin the transition to a sustainable business as usual model.”

From all of us here at Northern Health, farewell and thank you!

Pictured in featured image: Concierge staff from Craigieburn Centre, Bundoora Centre, Broadmeadows Hospital, McLellan House, Merv Irving Residential Care and Northern Hospital Epping.

The Cardiovascular Ambassador Project involves 20 participating health services and hospitals, including Northern Health, to improve the quality of cardiac care delivered to patients, and reduce unplanned hospital readmissions.

Participating hospitals have received funding by Safer Care Victoria for a cardiovascular liaison nurse to plan, lead, implement and coordinate appropriate multifaceted interventions for each site’s model of care. The model of care for this project in 2023 is focusing on atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrythmia and contributes to significant burden upon Victorians as the leading cause of stroke and a frequent cause of hospital admission.
Northern Health currently receives 400-500 admissions for this cohort of patients annually, with an unplanned readmission risk of 16 per cent in the last year.

The Rapid Access Atrial Fibrillation (RAAF) clinic is a face-to-face nurse-led clinic that focuses on supporting patients and implementing evidence-based care for patients who have been recently admitted with atrial fibrillation/flutter, or where atrial fibrillation has been a major clinical event during their inpatient stay.

The aim of the RAAF clinic is to ensure that decisions regarding rhythm and rate control are made in a timely manner, appropriate prescription of anticoagulation, better symptom control and to help support the patient’s stability in the initial vulnerable phase following discharge.

The clinic is led by Madonna Goro, Cardiac Liaison Nurse/ Atrial Fibrillation Clinical Nurse Consultant and Rob Clayton, Cardiac Nurse Practitioner, with medical oversight by A/Prof Gautam Vaddadi.

There will be a strong focus on managing comorbidities that drive atrial fibrillation, such as weight management, obstructive sleep apnoea and alcohol use.

Wait times for patients to be seen by an electrophysiologist at Northern Health is currently a nine – 12 month wait. The RAAF clinic is one-stop shop that will aim to review these patients within two weeks post discharge and ensure a thorough management plan and appropriate follow up is established. This will help to alleviate some of the burden on the Outpatient’s clinic department and improve patient outcomes and satisfaction.

“There is well-established clinical research to support and prove nurse-led integrated atrial fibrillation clinics to reduce all-cause mortality and improve patient outcomes,” said Ms Goro.

The RAAF clinic launched on 27 March 2023 and is a weekly clinic that runs on Monday afternoons, with a 30-day telephone follow up clinic to assess patient progress and evaluate outcomes.

All patients reviewed in clinic thus far have reported positive feedback and appreciate the prompt follow up. Please see below recent patient feedback:

“The help and management and being able to touch base with someone has been amazing.”

“I felt so reassured by you, Madonna. You and Rob listened to me and adjusted my medications, and I feel so much better than I ever have. You have taken the fear out of it, and I know I have someone to touch base with when I am unsure.”

“Having that rapport with someone is valuable. I am so grateful I got to meet you in hospital and be seen in the rapid access AF clinic when I did, and I believe it has kept me out of hospital.”

If the pilot project proves successful, the plan is to increase clinic sessions and open up referrals to Outpatients and general practitioners within the local community.

“By raising awareness of this cardiac condition, we hope to equip and empower patients to self-manage their condition and keep them well in the community,” said Ms Goro.

 

Pictured : A/Prof Gautam Vaddadi, Madonna Goro, Cardiac Liaison Nurse/ Atrial Fibrillation Clinical Nurse Consultant and Rob Clayton, Cardiac Nurse Practitioner.

#WeAreNorthern

Today is International Day of the Midwife and to mark the day, we meet Kiri Platek, Clinical Midwife Specialist

Q: Tell us about your current role at Northern Health?

A: My role at Northern Health is as a Clinical Midwife Specialist. I work solely in the Maternity Assessment Centre, caring for and supporting women, antenatally, with high-risk pregnancies that require frequent fetus monitoring, and those in the early stages of labour or requiring urgent obstetric care. I’m also currently a part of the Preterm Birth Prevention Collaborative team, working to reduce the incidence of preterm and early term birth at Northern Health as a part of the nationwide collaborative.

Q: Today is International Day of the Midwife. What advice would you give to students and those wanting to pursue a career in midwifery?

A: My advice to students is to fully immerse yourself in midwifery. It is a vast profession with a lot of avenues that you can be drawn to. It’s essential to experience all areas to find the area/s that are most engaging, and you’re most passionate about. But also, it’s important to remember that even though one area may suit you at one stage of life, you are more than capable of diversifying and excelling at other areas that you may grow to develop an interest in, later on.

Studying and practicing as a midwife is a very rewarding profession that allows you to form incredibly strong bonds and connections. Not only are these bonds formed with the families that you care for, but also with the team you work within. The families you care for throughout pregnancy, birth, and postnatally, will remember your kindness, compassion and how you made them feel during such an important shared moment in their lives. From the moment they hear their baby’s heart beating, to baby’s first cry after birth and the first cuddle during skin-to-skin contact, your work as a midwife helps to form key memorable experiences for families, which will stay with them forever. Midwifery also connects you with colleagues that you work with collaboratively through often incredibly high paced and stressful, but also joyous and happy, workdays. Not only are you always learning, but you are also adapting and supporting one another through whatever challenges and new experiences you face together as a team. Midwifery provides you with a sense of reward in that you have the ability to care for and support families through such a pivotal life moment, and utilise your knowledge and skills to communicate, educate, care for and assist in welcoming their baby into the world.

Q: Is there a quote that motivates you?

A: A few words that really resonate with me by Charlotte Freeman: SUNSHINE

The best kind of people are like sunshine- they are warm and brighten your soul with their light. They love unconditionally. They are soft and gentle with your heart and soul. They make you smile with just their presence. They know when something is not right without you having to say anything at all. They are accountable and take responsibility for their actions. They respect other humans. They are kind. They let you be yourself and accept you as you are. They forgive others instead of seeking revenge. They are patient with your struggles. They are there for you no matter the situation. They make you feel safe, loved and understood. These words motivate me to be like sunshine.

Q: Which two radio stations do you listen to in the car the most?

A: I don’t usually listen to the radio when driving. I like to listen to podcasts like Darling Shine or The Imperfects.

Q: Who is your favourite author?

A: I don’t have a favourite author, but the only books I’m currently reading are those to my 4-year-old and 2-year-old at bedtime, so right now, our favourites are Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’ and ‘Mem Fox- Possum Magic’.

Tessa Bruno is a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Ward 19 and in the Plastics Wound Clinic. She spends her days working on the floor, interacting with patients and their families, and providing safe, kind and together care to the community.

She recently completed a month-long secondment with Quality and Safety, where she took on the role of Acting Quality Coordinator, Surgical Division, while Erika Dax, stepped in as Acting Quality Coordinator, Women’s and Children’s Division, for six weeks.

In their roles, both Tessa and Erika were responsible for supporting staff in their respective divisions, which included educating on quality, reviewing incidents and being a resource for staff on the ward.

“A large component of our role is serious clinical incident management, review of systems, processes and event reporting,” Erika said.

“We also look for trends in minor incidents, and work with Nurse Unit Managers, Heads of Units and other leaders to identify opportunities to make our care safer for our patients and staff at Northern Health.”

“We are always evaluating what we are doing, understanding the effectiveness, and trying to improve.”

For Erika, stepping into the role to support the Women’s and Children’s Division was a challenge. But it was a challenge that Erika was up for.

“I am not a midwife, so that was a really big learning experience. But, it was a terrific experience with a great team and therefore it was really valuable,” she said.

“I was able to step in and provide lots of support and education, and make staff feel more comfortable with the quality components of their role, helping to improve safety in their areas for their staff and patients.”

“I learnt a lot about midwifery, clinically, that I did not know about. It was a privilege to be entrusted in the role for a period of time. It was very rewarding, a thoroughly enjoyable and a really positive challenge.”

For Tessa, coming from shift work and clinical work, and stepping into a non-clinical role, Monday to Friday, was an adjustment. But she was able to rely on her clinical knowledge and supportive colleagues to step up into her new acting role.

“The role definitely broadened my horizons. Nursing is so broad so it was great to see a side of things that we don’t usually get to see when we are on the floor,” she said.

“On the ward, we routinely do VHIMS/Riskmans, but we don’t actually see the outcomes of them once they have been submitted. Everything is reviewed, everything gets commented on and things that are more serious get put through a system where multiple people are involved in reviewing and making changes to prevent the incident from happening again in the future.”

“It was great to see that reporting doesn’t go unnoticed – there is actually something that happens.”

“I have learnt so much, which I am able to bring back to the ward and help other staff members with reporting and investigating incidents,” Tessa said.

“Definitely in the future, a non-clinical role would be great – but that would be later in my career. I have a little bit more hands-on clinical work to do in the next few years.”

Erika also encourages staff to step out of their comfort-zone and into a new role if an opportunity presents itself.

“It’s really important to support staff when there are opportunities to work across different areas, as it is such an invaluable experience. It is great to share knowledge and expertise, and see things from a different perspective. Both Divisions and Quality and Safety are richer for our experiences.”

 

Featured image: Tessa Bruno and Erika Dax.

Have an idea but don’t know where to start? Trying to get some improvements off the ground but keep facing barriers? Let’s get them moving! May is your month!

The Transformation Team is focused on fostering and supporting innovation at Northern Health. Innovation is defined as having the creative idea plus having the skills and capabilities to deliver on the idea.

Innovation Month will run through the month of May and will include avenues to elicit creative and different ideas on solving issues relating to clinical or non-clinical work and building staff skills in innovation.

Across Northern Hospital Epping, Bundoora Centre, Broadmeadows Hospital and Craigieburn Centre, there will be a range of events and activities to help develop new and innovative ideas. Staff can interact in a range of activities across the month through face-to-face or online sessions or via IdeaScale.

Staff can submit ideas through IdeaScale, which will be open until Monday, 22 May. All ideas will be reviewed by the Executive team, with a select few to be pitched to them in more detail on Wednesday, 31 May in the IdeasLab at Northern Centre for Health Education Research (NCHER).

Those ideas will then go through the Northern Academy of Learning Improvement (NALI). NALI is the structured delivery of improvement learning, which will be delivered from June to August. This will include a component of online self-directed modules for staff to attend fortnightly, along with deliverables aligned to their idea submission. The modules are run through the Institute of Health Care Improvement and will be delivered along with one-on-one fortnightly coaching sessions by members of the Transformation Unit to support the pilot and implementation of their idea.

Staff will also have the opportunity to attend Ideas Cafes – informal sessions set up for staff to discuss ideas. It is an opportunity to bring like-minded people together to discuss some of the current opportunities for improvement. Transformation Unit team members will be available with resources to assist in shaping ideas for submission on IdeaScale.

During May, there will also be presentations from staff who have gone through the process of submitting, refining, scoping and implementing their Big Ideas. Staff will discuss their experiences navigating Northern Health to implement service improvement.

Short bites are structured education sessions on topics to support and build innovation skills, including an insight into Northern Health’s HRO journey so far, creative thinking, what exactly is NALI, and presentation skills.

“We want to see as many staff engage with innovation as they can across the month. Log onto IdeasScale and submit ideas, attend a short bite or Ideas Cafe, talk to your teams about ideas you may have. We are looking forward to starting the conversation about innovation with everyone,” said Laura Hughes and Cassie Bramston, Project Managers.

For more information on Innovation Month, including a structure of what the month will look like, please visit the Intranet.

To attend any of the Innovation Month sessions, please email BigIdea@nh.org.au.

Featured image: Derwin Or, Paula Dimakos-Pugliese, Sue Mathieson, Steve Ferguson and Erika Dax attending an Ideas Cafe.

At Northern Health, the Continence Service is a major public health service available to both adults and children. The clinicians working within the continence service specialise in the management of bladder and bowel dysfunction. The service provides assessment, diagnosis, management, education and support for the promotion of continence to clients.

The multidisciplinary team consists of two medical consultants, four allied health staff and six nursing staff members, who work across Northern Health and can provide:

• Comprehensive continence assessment
• Client and carer education counselling and support
• Bladder retraining programs, nocturia assessment and management, toileting programs and bowel regulation programs
• Equipment/aids prescription
• Catheter education
• Medication assessment
• Product selection, facilitating access to trial products and advice
• Health promotion in relation to lifestyle and behaviours
• Physiotherapy management programs for urinary or faecal incontinence, incorporating pelvic floor muscle assessment.

Consumers of the services also includes patients who are NDIS participants with additional needs and who require continence nursing support as part of their NDIS plan.

The team provides holistic management for many older patients who have dementia and for their carers, as well as patients which are diagnosed with neurological diseases, such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease or Multiple Sclerosis.

The team also manage patients with mental health issues and those with increasingly complex social needs.

One of the founders of the Continence Service is Santha Tisseverasinghe, Continence Physiotherapist. Over the years, she has mentored many staff who have rotated through the service, including many continence registrars.

“I started at the Bundoora Continence Clinic in October 1997, in a team consisting of only one continence nurse consultant, one geriatrician and myself.  Since then, we have grown and become part of the Northern Health network and have now expanded to other campuses such as Broadmeadows Hospital and Craigieburn Centre,” said Ms Tisseverasinghe.

“When I first started, our patients were mainly older women at the age of 60 years and older, and only for symptoms urinary incontinence. Today, we see a wider population group inclusive of younger patients and different genders, with various conditions.”

Beverly Leiper has worked as a Paediatric Continence Nurse for almost 50 years, making a significant contribution to the service and to her patients. Ms Leiper has made the decision to retire from her long nursing career at the end of June 2023.

“I returned to Northern Health in 2007 as part of the Paediatric Developmental Team at the newly opened Craigieburn Centre. I have worked in many roles since then, but all have involved working with children and families. Being able to improve the quality of life for children and supporting their families to achieve this for their children is my passion and what motivates me,” said Ms Leiper.

“I am looking forward to my retirement and am excited about the opportunities that may present themselves. I will take some time to ‘smell the roses’ and then will look for some volunteer work – with children and families of course.”

In 2023, the Continence Service team is excited to be teaching new staff members the skills required to be a continence nurse, with the team recently welcoming a new Registered Nurse Parmeet Kaur. The team are also looking forward to promoting continence awareness to staff and the community during World Continence Awareness Week from 19- 25 June.

Thank you to our Continence Service team for all your hard work and dedication.

Pictured (L-R): Jonathan Marriott, Geriatrician, Michael Farber, Geriatrician, Christine Sumper, Coordinator of Continence Service, Parmeet Kaur, Continence Nurse Consultant, Santha Tisseverasinghe, Physiotherapy, Eva Stachnik, Registrar Geriatrics and Femy Jacob, Continence Nurse Consultant 

The Electronic Medical Record (EMR) survey is back! Some of you might recall completing this survey last April – thank you again to those 730 individuals who completed the survey.

Since the last round, we were able to take the comments and feedback back to the team and work on ways to better inform you. Some new engagement activities include publishing regular EMR updates, increasing the frequency of publishing iNews stories, and providing more transparency on the project via the EMR website, as well as running EMR familiarisations to give you early visibility on the system before going into training.

From today, you will be able to let us know how you feel about the EMR implementation by taking part in the survey. The survey is anonymous and is open from 1 May until 18 May, running simultaneously with the EMR Solution Gallery.

This information will inform the team further on how supported you feel and any areas of improvement to make sure this transition from a paper-based to a paper-light approach is as smooth as it can be.

“As we move closer to our EMR go-live date, I would like to acknowledge the significant amount of work both the EMR team and wider organisation have undertaken over the last year. In this home straight, it is important that this work continues and your contribution to this survey is vital to ensure we are hearing about this implementation process and any changes we may need to make,” says Debra Bourne, Chief Operating Officer.

Click here to complete the survey.

Featured image (Left to Right): Amelia O’Reilly, EMR Trainer, Cliff Wiltshire, EMR Training Manager, Chandini Luchoo, EMR Trainer.