At the recent Giant Steps Conference, our HRO Project Manager, Ariana Carrodus, presented on innovation in health care and our Ideas Lab.
The Giant Steps 2019 – Towards better, safer care is a two-day health care quality and safety event, aimed at those who are interested in finding better and safer ways to deliver health care in Victoria.
Ariana, who leads the Ideas Lab at Northern Health, says we are the only public health service in Victoria to have an Ideas Lab and people are interested to hear how it works.
“The title of my presentation was, ‘What it takes to foster innovation,’ and I talked about our HRO strategy and vision around achieving high reliability. One of the mechanisms of achieving HRO is through the development of the Ideas Lab space,” she said.
To an audience of over 300 people at the main conference stage, Ariana explained how the Lab was established in early 2018, the feel of the space and what makes it different.
“The fact that the space is away from the hospital makes it additionally unique. When people walk into the room, they immediately think they’ve stepped into a kindergarten or that it’s an unfinished space. All of these things are factors that contribute to thinking differently,” she said.
Ariana also touched on the development of the ideas management software, ‘IdeaScale’, and how it helps engage with all staff, regardless of the shift they are working on, or the campus they are at. The software is available to all staff, and everyone is encouraged to contribute their ideas.
A panel discussion followed the presentation, and together with Matiu Bush, Deputy Director of Transformation Lab at RMIT, Ariana answered numerous questions on innovation in health care.
“There were lots of questions on improvement, innovation and consumer participation. The really good thing about speaking at this conference is being able to showcase all the wonderful things Northern Health is doing.”
“People were curious about how it all works and showed interest in coming to Northern Health to observe the workshop. The number of people who came up to me after to ask if they can come and visit is wonderful,” she said.
The monthly Ideas Lab challenges the concept of a traditional workshop, with a new topic each month. Led by Northern Health’s Chief Executive and open to all staff, they encourage people to think differently and find creative and innovative solutions to current issues.
As an Executive Director of Quality, Safety and Transformation, I am proud to say 2019 was a big year for our organisation when it comes to the number of safety initiatives we have implemented.
Not only has the year consolidated our understanding of a High Reliability Organisation (HRO) as it applies in the Australian health care setting and specifically, at Northern Health, but it has also delivered some significant initiatives that bring us closer to becoming a highly reliable organisation and achieving our goal of Trusted Care for our community.
We’ve achieved many goals so far, but our journey is not yet over.
Some highlights from 2019 include the establishment of eight Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Programs (CUSPs) to promote and improve patient safety. These CUSPs have engaged all ward staff and encouraged them to come forward with safety improvement ideas.
We have also established a dedicated safety science training open to all staff called ‘Reliable Innovation and Safety Science at Northern Health (RISSN)’. The training is free to all our staff and gives participants practical project coaching and advice, with the ability to positively contribute to safety of our patients.
I am also proud of our Simulation Clinical Community, who successfully coordinated four simulations with a quality and safety improvement focus. Another safety-focused initiative is our Daily Safety Brief. Northern Health’s Daily Safety Brief is a morning huddle where we get together to learn more about how we manage and solve our daily safety and operational challenges.
We have also launched our ideas management software ‘IdeaScale’. This is a platform where we host all ideas on improvements, innovation, as well as all creative ideas that came out of our monthly Ideas Labs. If you haven’t attended an Ideas Lab workshop before, I strongly encourage you to do so this year and contribute to creative problem solving in our organisation.
There are numerous things I look forward to in 2020, such as addition of two staff members who haven’t previously been part of the transformation team, and a new consumer who would be joining our steering committee. The quality and safety team will focus on increasing the levels of trust between teams and disciplines, which we’re calling horizontal trust, and removing waste from the system with the initial focus being on finding ways to save our patients’ time.
I am also looking forward to the introduction of Sharepoint software for project management and documentation management and the increased focus on our Staying Well initiatives.
If you would like to get involved, please contact the team at HRO@nh.org.au.
Dr Bill Shearer
Executive Director, Quality, Safety and Transformation
The Northern Health Integrated Palliative Care Service now offers an outpatient Symptom Management Clinic, operating fortnightly at Bundoora Centre.
The clinic is suitable for patients with an advanced and/or life-limiting condition who would benefit from specialist palliative care involvement such as linking in with a community palliative care team, optimising symptom management or facilitating psychosocial support and end-of-life decision making.
The clinic is run in association with the Banksia Community Palliative Care Service and is funded by a grant from the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services.
The clinic hopes to make it easier for patients with palliative care needs and difficulty accessing specialists to access the support and expertise that they need.
The symptom management clinic is attended by Dr. Kerith Whittigan, who is a palliative care physician, and a clinician from Community Palliative Care.
The clinic has been well received by both patients and the community.
“Patients are finding this an excellent opportunity to have their concerns and symptoms comprehensively addressed, and have input from both their palliative care teams working together,” says Dr. Whittigan of the new service.
Head of Palliative Care services at Northern Health, Dr. Alison Giles, says, “This is a great opportunity for us to improve access to specialist palliative care services for patients in our area. These patients often have complex needs that can benefit from early identification and intervention. These might include symptom control, psychosocial support and opportunity for challenging conversations about end-of-life decision making that will hopefully help them to avoid unwanted hospital admissions. Great to be working in partnership with our Banksia community colleagues.”
Staff wishing to refer to the clinic should contact the Palliative Care Consultation Service.
Featured image (left to right): Wendy Palmer, Banksia Palliative Care Nurse; Dr Kerith Whittigan, Palliative Care Physician Northern Health and Tori Pearce, Banksia Palliative Care Social Worker.
This February, Northern Health are partnering with local organisations to celebrate Pride in the North!
Along with DPV Health, Hume Whittlesea Primary Care Partnership, Nexus Community Health and The Kilmore and District Hospital, all staff, friends and family are invited to march together as part of Pride March Melbourne on Sunday 2 February.
The first Melbourne Pride March was held in 1996, in St Kilda, with the aim to celebrate LGBTQIA+ in the community in a local and free event. This year the March will celebrate its 25th Anniversary.
As part of the event, buses will provide free transport to St Kilda, where the Pride March takes place as part of Midsumma Festival.
One bus will leave from Northern Hospital Epping, travelling via Bundoora Centre, and the other bus will leave from Broadmeadows Hospital.
Co-chairs of the Northern Health LGBTQIA+ Working Group, Electra Ulrich and Chrissy Nicolaidis, said, “It is the first time Northern Health are marching, and it’s great to be marching with our healthcare partners in the north. This will send a positive message to our consumers and staff who identify as LGBTQIA+.”
One of our Northern Health consumers, Barry McKay, knows firsthand the importance of supporting the event, having been part of the the March 23 times!
“I was at the first one and have marched under different banners – PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), VAC (Victorian Aids Council) and VAC volunteers,” he said.
“I think it’s important we’re visible, we’re no different, we’re a community. There are families, kids, straight people there – it forms a community. It lets people know we are here and we are staying.”
“In the North, I’d like to see more involvement. This is a huge boost for the North – it will help people feel part of a community – give a sense of pride. For Northern Health to be involved is very important to me. I think all health services should be involved,” he added.
Northern Health consumer, Barry McKay
The Rainbow Flag represents LGBTQIA+ pride. It was created by an American gay activist and artist, Gilbert Baker, in the late 70s.
Part of its purpose was to replace the ‘Pink Triangle’ which was considered homophobic. During the Second World War, the Pink Triangle was used to identify gay male prisoners in concentration camps. The Rainbow Flag has 6 colours; the Red symbolising Life; Orange symbolising Healing; Yellow symbolising Sunlight; Green symbolising Nature; Blue symbolising Harmony; and Purple symbolising Spirit. Given the LGBTQIA+ community is diverse, other flags are used to represent and celebrate their community which you may notice at Pride March.
“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.” – Barack Obama
Bushfires continue to threaten large areas of the Victorian community, with months of the bushfire season still ahead.
Northern Health is proud of the number of staff helping out in the frontline, (see story here), and there are many others also keen to contribute in other ways to the affected communities.
One key initiative was a morning tea fundraiser held on Friday, 10 January, at Northern Hospital Epping, with staff and local businesses coming together to raise funds for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal and Wildlife Victoria.
With the generous support of Henry’s Café, ISS Facility Services, Costco, Coffee Hit Epping and Woolworths Epping, along with our Allied Health physiotherapy department, there was plenty of food to go around, as staff turned up in high numbers to support the appeal. In the space of a few hours, $1,700 was raised, with 50 per cent of donations going towards the Victorian Bushfire Appeal and 50 per cent going towards Wildlife Victoria.
This is in addition to a number of other fundraising efforts from our staff, including:
a donation of $5,000 from the Junior Medical Staff Association;
a bake off by the Emergency Department and Short Stay Unit which raised $933.90;
over $1500 raised by Ward 14 towards Wildlife Victoria and Gippsland Emergency Relief Fund;
ISS Facility Services raising $275;
other fundraisers including Ward 13 and the Surgical Centre.
Across Northern Health, Nurse Unit Managers have also been collecting out of date stock to help care for injured wildlife in the Gippsland region.
Northern Health is also providing staff with the opportunity to make a pre-tax salary deduction to the official Victorian Bushfire Appeal or Wildfire Victoria – available until the end of February 2020, with almost $6000 donated thus far. Click here to download the form.
This week, 40 new junior doctors commenced as medical interns at Northern Health.
Dr John Ferguson, Chief Medical Officer, who warmly welcomed our new interns, said, “We are delighted to have them join us – they bring a wide range of backgrounds and the passion and commitment we are already seeing. We are very excited with this intake and we look forward to making them feel part of Northern Health.”
Dr Carol Chong, Intern Training Supervisor, said she is very happy to welcome the interns.
“The interns come from various clinical schools, including our own at Northern Health. The interns will be with us for a year, and will go through different areas of the hospital – General Medicine, General Surgery and Emergency Department and other specialities,” she said.
Dr Brandon Lui, one of the new interns said Northern Hospital has played a significant part in his life.
“I have spent the last three years studying here as a medical student, and during this time I have also dedicated half a year towards research that will improve the way we treat our patients with blood clots. I am incredibly excited and privileged to be able to continue my story at this hospital as one of the next cohort of doctors – a 2020 intern,” he said.
We welcome all of our new interns and wish you the very best in your career at Northern Health.
With ongoing bushfires threatening large areas of our community, this is a challenging time for Australians, and many of us have been, or continue to be affected by the bushfire emergency.
Many of our staff have generously donated their time to help the bushfire communities in the best way they can.
Here are three of their stories.
Jason Amos, Manager, Emergency Management
Jason joined the CFA when he was only 16, initially with the Macedon Fire Brigade. Since then he has held a number of roles, from firefighter to Lieutenant. He has assisted in many incidents ranging from car accidents, aircraft accidents, house fires and bushfires including the Black Saturday Fires in February 2009.
“In nearly 14 years of being a volunteer firefighter, I have attended many incidents. While I haven’t been to the East Gippsland fires in the last few weeks, on New Year’s day I was part of the strike team with my local brigade to put out the grass fire that affected Sunbury. If the call for Gippsland comes to my brigade, I would look into how I can help,” he said.
Jason says every year is a bad fire year, and this year is even more difficult, due to a long period of drought and the limited rain during winter. “Our forests are dry, the simplest of mistakes including not fully extinguishing a campfire can result in a major bushfire”.
“For Victoria, these big fires usually occur in February or March, while this year, they started a lot earlier and the message there is – we still have a long way to go,” Jason said.
“The message from me to staff is to be aware of your surroundings at all times, whether you are doing home visits during working hours in the bushfire prone areas, or you are traveling to and from work every day, even when you are on holidays. Have access to the Vic Emergency App and keep an eye on the weather forecast.”
“Having previously worked in fire recovery sector I know how hard it can be for not just the residents of fire affected areas but the businesses as well. If you’re looking for somewhere to go for your next holiday, once the fires are out and the area is safe, please consider holidaying in these fire affected areas. The businesses need our support to survive, the tourism and farming industries in particular have taken a hard hit this summer season and need our ongoing support to recover,” Jason added.
Jason at Sunbury fires. Photos: Uniform Photography.
Dr Anthony Sutherland, Medical Registrar
Anthony is a medical registrar at Northern Health and a medical officer with the Australian Army. He will be deployed to East Gippsland this weekend as part of the health support team to provide help to army members, but also to civilians.
“My team and I can provide things like primary level health care to full resus and emergency management. Our plan is to deploy this Sunday and will stay until required,” he said.
Anthony has been in the army for 18 years, and was deployed last year on another operation. In 2009, he helped with the Black Saturday bushfires as a medical professional. He is committed to helping those affected by the fires using the skills that he has, which keeps him going back to help time and time again.
“Providing support as a part of the larger organisation is the most effective way. In times of national disasters, people usually want to get out and help, but there is always a question where someone can help the best,” he explained.
“I do this because it allows me to help in a way that I wouldn’t be otherwise able to do, and I would like to thank Northern Health for giving me the opportunity not only to work here but also to provide assistance to bushfire communities,” he added.
Jason Amos and Dr Anthony Sutherland
Tracey Wyllie, Nurse Unit Manager, Surgical Services
Tracey Wyllie is a CFA volunteer and she went up to New South Wales as one the strike teams and has spent five days there. She is now in Melbourne, but is being deployed next week to Gippsland.
“I’ve been volunteering for six years and my husband is also a volunteer. This year, the fires started a lot earlier and even Victorian crews were sent off to NSW. Now, we are back to Victoria to fight our own fires,” she said.
Tracey says the fires in previous years were mostly small bursts of fires, while these fires now a bit like a marathon.
“Even Black Saturday was like a sprint, in its intensity and atrocity. It came and created a lot of devastation and then went out really quickly and was contained. The fires this year keep going on and on, and are causing a lot of destruction along the way,” she said.
Tracey in NSW
To help support the bushfire communities and injured animals, Northern Hospital Epping will be holding Fundraising morning tea on Friday, 10 January, upstairs at Henry’s at 10.30 am.
All staff and volunteers are encouraged to participate.
Victorian Bushfire Appeal – How to make a donation through your pay
Northern Health is providing staff with the opportunity to make a pre-tax salary deduction to the official Victorian Bushfire Appeal or Wildfire Victoria – available to staff until the end of February 2020. Please consider this convenient way of making a pre-tax donation to one or both of these reputable funds.
The year for 2019 Interns ended well with a valedictory celebration, where everyone received a chocolate rose in recognition for their amazing year. This year they return as HMO2s at various health services.
Awards were handed out for:
Intern of the Year, Overall / Intern of the Year, Medical: Jack Anstey;
Intern of the Year, Surgical: Tie – Shubham Joshi, Margaret Shi and Danielle Sabella
Intern of Year, ED: Tie – Margaret Shi and Gavin Wayne
Intern of the Year, Subspecialty/Psychiatry: Tie – Yasmin Shah and Elisabeth Clinch
Intern of the Year, Allied Health/Nursing: Kate Shearer
Intern Choice: Tie – Priyanka Chhugani, Sharon Lee and Elisabeth Clinch.
Seventy five percent of our 2019 interns are coming back to continue their careers at Northern Health – an impressive change to past years where Northern Health saw fewer than 25 per cent of the cohort return.
Wanda Stelmach, Divisional Director Surgery, speaking at the event said, “ Northern Health clinical staff are proud to have worked with the 2019 intern group. The dedication and diligence the group has shown through-out the year has been amazing!”
Elisabeth Clinch, organiser of intern activities, said, “It has been a privilege to work alongside such talented, kind and hardworking colleagues this year. The intern valedictory was a lovely night to celebrate our achievements, large and small, before we begin our careers as HMOs. Good luck to those of us moving on from Northern Health, and for those staying I look forward to seeing you around the wards!”
Dr John Ferguson, Chief Medical Officer, said, “This is a fantastic reflection on the entire Intern team and we are delighted so many are staying with us for 2020. We want to make this event a hospital event and celebrate more widely.”
Northern Health wishes the 2019 Interns safe and happy holidays and an amazing 2020!
