Following a rigorous selection process, Vanessa Leonard-Roberts, Nurse Practitioner at Northern Hospital Emergency Department, has been offered a prestigious place in the Melbourne Academic Centre for Health MACH-Track Program in 2025.

MACH-Track is a structured, mentored, fully funded PhD pathway through the University of Melbourne Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences and eight affiliated Medical Research Institutes. The five-year program incorporates both advanced clinical and academic training, and seeks to develop future leaders of clinical innovation by offering an opportunity to integrate pre-PhD, PhD, and initial post-PhD research training with the completion of vocational training of the highest standard.

“MACH-Track is an established program that allows promising health practitioners to integrate career development in research, including a PhD, with the completion of postgraduate specialist or generalist training and clinical career development in their health discipline,” said Professor Sir John Savill, MACH Executive Director.

Ms Leonard-Roberts is delighted to have been selected for this prestigious program.

“I have been wanting to do my PhD for some time but struggled to find a program that would incorporate both clinical and academic training,” said Ms Leonard-Roberts.

“The MACH-Track program will mean that I can continue to work clinically at Northern Health while completing my PhD.”

“I was absolutely delighted to find out I was successful and have been experiencing a mixture of elation and nervousness, but really, I am overjoyed,” Ms Leonard-Roberts said.

“I would like to thank Eleanor Johnson, the current MACH-Track candidate, who put up with my million questions and encouraged me to apply.”

Lisa Cox, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Northern Health, congratulated Vanessa on this significant achievement.

“Vanessa is highly motivated and passionate about nursing research, and this offer is a fantastic opportunity for both Vanessa and Northern Health. Well done, Vanessa,” Ms Cox said.

#WeAreNorthern

Meet Saj Amerasinghe, Key Account Manager, ISS Facility Services, Northern Health.

Q: Can I start with your coffee order, please?
A: I start off with a small almond latte.

Q: Can you tell me a bit about your career?
A: I’ve spent over a decade in freight logistics in a national role with TNT and TOLL before transitioning into facilities management. I discovered my passion working with ISS, during my time at Canberra Health. Over the past 12 years with ISS, I’ve grown from a frontline supervisor to a Key Account Manager, currently overseeing the Northern Health portfolio. My journey with Northern Health has taught me various ways to ensure we continue to provide outstanding healthcare for our community. ISS and Northern Health have always supported my growth, and I’ve gained invaluable experience in both people and client management within the healthcare sector.

Q: What do you love most about your role as ISS Key Account Manager at Northern Health?
A: What I love most about my role as ISS Key Account Manager at Northern Health is the daily challenges that keep me focused and motivated. Each day brings something new, and I embrace these challenges eagerly. I’m deeply committed to improving the quality of care for our patients and their families. Knowing that the work my team and I do adds real value to someone’s life while ensuring we continue to provide outstanding healthcare for our community is incredibly fulfilling.

Q: Favourite childhood memory?
A: One of my favorite childhood memories is working alongside my dad as he fixed our family cars. Those moments taught me the value of hard work and the importance of sticking with a project until it’s done right.

Q: What is something that most people would not know about you?
A: I’m passionate about helping others through various humanitarian projects between Sri Lanka and Australia. I’ve been involved in building houses for displaced people and providing schools in rural areas with books and educational resources. I firmly believe that helping someone in need is one of the greatest things you can do in life. If anyone is interested in getting involved, I’d love to connect and collaborate.

Q: What is one place you would like to travel to and why?
A: One place I’d love to visit is Europe. The thought of spending time there and experiencing a white Christmas with my family is something I’ve always dreamed of, and I believe that dream isn’t too far off.

Our Electronic Medical Record (EMR) team is celebrating one year since go-live!

Ward 1 and Kath Atkinson Wing (KAW-Aged) at Bundoora Centre were the first wards to go live with the EMR on 5 September 2023, with other wards and sites following suit throughout the month.

In just 12 months, the EMR has transformed how clinical care is provided to patients and the community Northern Health serves. The system is used for clinical documentation, placing orders, viewing results and medication management, all helping to deliver significant benefits to the way healthcare is provided.

Terri Fiorenza, EMR Director, said celebrating EMR’s first birthday was like celebrating your child’s first birthday and surviving the first year of parenthood.

“The EMR team feel a great sense of achievement in delivering a successful EMR implementation at Northern Health,” she said.

“Throughout the year, we have further developed EMR build skills to work on enhancing and improving the clinical information system in further supporting our clinicians, staff and patients.”

The past year has been an eventful one for the EMR team, with many milestones achieved. In December 2023, the EMR project was officially closed and in January 2024, the business as usual (BAU) EMR team was established.

While establishing an EMR BAU structure, the team also delivered additional projects including implementation of the Victorian Perinatal Data Collection Statutory Extract, Anatomical Pathology and a Radiology bi-directional interface.

A business case for EMR phase 2 projects including EMR implementation at Kilmore District Hospital, Craigieburn Centre expansion, Whittlesea Hospital and devices for HITH and GEM@Home was endorsed by the Northern Health Board. Work has commenced with Northern Health key stakeholders and our third party vendors Oracle (Cerner) and Health Technology Services (HTS) for this project implementation.

“EMR adoption from a staff perspective continues to improve as staff continue to use and become more familiar with the system,” Terri said.

“Northern Health patients were very patient when the clinical information system was first implemented, and staff were learning to navigate through the system.”

“Staff have come a long way since the initial go-live, and patients would now see this as a seamless task.”

Looking ahead, Terri says the team is aiming to upskill EMR Analysts in EMR build skills in all EMR solutions, so that the team can continue to prioritise and build optimisation and enhancement requests received by staff.

Implementation of projects including EMR phase 2 projects for Community Hospitals and Australian Immunisation Registry EMR integration are currently underway, as well as other projects.

EMR phase 3 projects will be scoped which will include Specialists Clinics Outpatients and Community. The EMR team will work closely with Northern Health key stakeholders, Oracle and HTS to scope the requirements for EMR implementation. Time and motion studies were completed pre go live, with a plan to revisit this analysis 18 months post go live to measure the benefits of the EMR.

“The EMR team thanks Northern Health staff for their support and patience post go-live as staff become more familiar with the EMR, and the EMR team continue to improve on their EMR build skills in improving the clinical information system for our staff and patients,” Terri said.

Earlier this week, the Victorian government announced the launch of the Urgent Concern Helpline, a new family escalation system to ensure concerns are heard. This service will allow patients, and their families, to raise concerns about a patient’s care, condition or deterioration, and get an immediate response.

Northern Health is proud to have been chosen to run the first trial of this service from next week, before rolling out at other select Victorian health services.

The helpline, part of the Safer Care for Kids initiative created by Safer Care Victoria, will be run by the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department. It responds to a report that investigated devastating outcomes resulting in child deaths across the state when early opportunities to intervene were missed. The helpline will provide an important escalation process for patients and their families when they have concerns about a patient’s condition deteriorating or feel their concerns are not being heard.

Dr Joanna Lawrence, Director of Paediatrics for the VVED, has been instrumental in establishing this service, alongside Director, Dr Loren Sher and support from the Department of Health.

“This is a great opportunity for each health service in Victoria to revisit local escalation policies, and for the helpline to act as a safety net when local escalation fails. By partnering closely with all hospitals across the state, we hope to see the use of the helpline in the future become almost redundant as each service strengthens it’s response locally,” said Dr Lawrence.

Northern Health was selected as a pilot site to test the helpline. Not all approached sites accepted the opportunity to be involved and it is testament to Northern Health’s safe, kind and together values that this was recognised as in the best interest of our children, but also as an opportunity to look at where Northern Health can do better.

Northern Health Resus Coordinator Elise Sutton has championed the cause locally and pulled together the key stakeholders to allow a robust response to any escalation.

Minister for Health, Mary-Anne Thomas earlier this week said, “It’s our responsibility to learn from every sentinel event to ensure it never happens again and that Victorians are receiving the best possible care.”

“We’re making significant changes to the way our health services respond to patient deterioration because we know this has historically, and unacceptably, been a significant factor in paediatric sentinel events. The new Urgent Concern Helpline will support families and patients and ensure they have somewhere to turn if they feel their concerns aren’t being heard.”

Featured image: VVED Nurse Julius.

In a collaborative effort between allied health education and medical education, first-year medical students from University of Melbourne have been granted a unique opportunity to observe various allied health disciplines at Northern Health.

The initiative aims to deepen students’ understanding of interprofessional practice and the crucial roles of allied health professionals. By providing early exposure to these disciplines, students can gain insights into how different professionals contribute to patient outcomes, fostering a more integrated approach to future patient treatment.

Earlier this year, Dr Rachael Coutts, Director of Medical Education and Emergency Physician, approached Allied Health Education to collaborate on offering medical students the chance to shadow Allied Health professionals and learn about holistic, patient-centred care.

Tameeka Robertson, Allied Health Clinical School Coordinator, has been instrumental in facilitating the establishment of the program from an Allied Health perspective, coordinating the shadowing program with staff from Allied Health disciplines.

“When Rachael contacted me to assist in coordinating an observation placement for University of Melbourne first year medical students within the Allied Health sector, I was immediately enthusiastic about the opportunity,” Ms Robertson said.

“Immersing students in interprofessional environments is incredibly valuable, as it fosters a deeper understanding of teamwork, communication and collaborative practices skills that are essential for effective healthcare delivery. This initiative was aimed to enrich students’ educational experiences and better prepare them for their future roles in the healthcare system.”

Over the period of one month, 62 first year medical students shadowed 16 allied health clinicians across physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dietetics, social work, orthotics and speech pathology.

“The participants were able to, very early in their learning and medical careers, gain insight into what multidisciplinary care looks like, which forms a strong impression about how they want to work as doctors in the future. This will benefit the patients in our community by teaching best practice from the beginning,” said Dr Coutts.

Students completed two activities during each day of the program. The first was to observe the clinicians in their work, and to discuss the extent and breadth of their work. The second was a reflective debrief, where the students come together to discuss and learn from each other what they have experienced.

“During the debrief the students talked about what their preconceived ideas of their allied health clinician was, and what they learnt about them. They observed how critical the work of the Allied Health team is to holistic, patient centred care, the time that clinicians spend with their patients and the strong advocacy for their patient’s goals.”

“By shadowing allied health clinicians, students have learnt about the importance of teamwork in addressing complex patient needs and how important it is to work together to achieve the best patient outcome. This awareness has led to a more coordinated care approach and a greater understanding of each team member’s role, ultimately benefiting patients through more cohesive treatment plans,” Dr Coutts explained.

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Allied Health clinicians who dedicated their time and effort to make this observation placement opportunity a success for our future medical practitioners. Your commitment and involvement have been instrumental in providing valuable learning experiences for these students,” Ms Robertson concluded.

“The best way to predict the future is to create it” – Peter Drucker.

“Theatre Green” team at Northern Health was established 18 months ago, with the primary goal of enhancing recycling initiatives across the organisation. The team has adopted a collaborative approach, bringing together representatives from nursing, surgical, and anaesthetic departments across all perioperative areas, including operating theatres and Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD) at Northern Hospital Epping, Broadmeadows Hospital and Kilmore District Hospital.

This collaboration extends beyond the immediate team, as the “Theatre Green” team has also partnered with the Support Services team and the City of Whittlesea. These partnerships have been instrumental in driving new initiatives and have enabled Northern Health staff to attend this year’s Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) Health and Environment Sustainability Conference, with sponsorship from the City of Whittlesea.

Tracey Wiley, Director of Operations, Perioperative and Surgical Services at Northern Health, says the main objective of the team is to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, increase the volume of materials that are reused, repaired, repurposed and recycled, and enhance circular economy activities. This in turn helps stimulate local employment and economic development.

“We believe environmental sustainability is crucial and we take great pride in the progress we’ve made so far. We’re eager to continue building on our successes and exploring new opportunities. Some of our current projects include the recycling of plastic, aluminium, PVC, Kimguard, batteries, and medication vial caps.”

“Theatre Green” team is also involved in supporting the OTIS Foundation, which provides employment for people living with disabilities, through the recycling and repurposing of single use “Little Blue Towels.” The proceeds from this initiative help fund retreat accommodation for women with breast cancer.

Natasha Josevski, Nurse Unit Manager at Broadmeadows Surgical Centre and Chair of the “Theatre Green” team, spoke about their latest project which focuses on reducing, and ultimately eliminating, the use of single use cups within our departments.

“We are working closely with our support services to ensure we have adequate reusable mugs available for patients, and we strongly encourage staff to bring their favourite mugs to use instead of paper cups.”

Looking ahead, the team is planning to trial and transition to reusable patient tourniquets, hover mats, calf compressors, surgical gowns, and blueys (absorbent bed underpads).

“Theatre Green” team meets monthly, providing members with an inclusive and supportive forum to share knowledge and ideas. The team also maintains notice boards in all departments and publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, both of which are regularly updated by enthusiastic staff members.

“These forums allow us to keep everyone informed about current projects, recent outcomes and future initiatives,” added Ms. Josevski.

“We are committed to continuing our positive work and outcomes, and we invite anyone who is interested in making a difference to join us on this journey.”

For more information and if you’d like to join the Northern Health Theatre Green Team, please email:  NH-TheatreGreenTeam@nh.org.au.

Pictured in featured image: “Theatre Green” team at the ANMF Health and Environment Sustainability Conference, with representatives from the City of Whittlesea as sponsors.

#WeAreNorthern

Meet Sharon Caruso, Doctor Liaison Officer and Cashier Revenue Services.

Q: Firstly, what’s your coffee order?

A: Skinny latte, us Melburnians love coffee don’t we! One of my favourite things to do is visit our Melbourne city laneways and have a latte!

Q: What do you like most about your role?

A: My team. We are a united, close-knit team. We all multitask and cross train within each other’s roles, and of course, we make sure we have a little bit of fun along the way.

Q: What are some things people don’t know about you?

A: Prior to working at Northern Health, one of my ventures was making wedding cakes. Who knows how many hours of work I put into each one! I really enjoyed delivering them around Melbourne and country Victoria wineries and photographing the finished products. I love how a lot of people are getting creative and making their own cakes these days.

Q: What do you like to do after work?

A: I’m a die-hard Richmond supporter (perhaps I should put that last) and usually attend every game. I love connecting with new people wherever I find myself, and I spend a lot of time with my favourite child who is an English Staffordshire named Archie. He’s king of the castle and absolutely knows it too!

Q: Which Northern Health value do you relate to best?

A: I love them all but ‘Kind’ and ‘Together’ stand out to me the most. Northern Health is naturally a caring community, and our work collaboratively brings everything and everyone together. I’m going onto my 14th year here at Northern Health, and I decided to join our workplace giving program.

I have seen the work of our Foundation does around the place over the years, and it feels good to be a part of it, working together to make Northern Health a better place for the community we serve. I encourage you to join if you haven’t already done so.

 

Dr Jamie Mackay, Anaesthetic Consultant, began a journey three years ago as part of the Big Ideas Campaign, led by the HRO team. His vision aimed to improve communication between the hospital and surgical patients through a digital platform, enhancing patient preparedness for elective surgeries.

This innovative project has now come to life with the launch of the Perioperative Digital Care Pathway (DCP) via the My Health @ Northern app on 20 August, 2024.

“The digital care pathway provides patients with a source of information that’s tailored to them and that they can trust. It is a sign of Northern Health’s leadership in the digital health space that we have a team like CLEO that can take an idea and produce a robust, comprehensive digital care pathway for our patients,” said Dr. Mackay.

The Perioperative DCP is designed to provide clinicians with accurate, real-time information about patients’ health status, improve patient satisfaction, reduce surgery cancellations and decrease hospital-acquired complications.

The project has been a collaborative effort, with a steering committee including key members of the surgery division, Allied Health and consumers, ensuring the pathway meets the needs of both patients and clinicians.

“The My Health @ Northern app is a great addition for our patients, giving tailored surgical and health information, with the aim of reducing patient uncertainty, failed attendances and surgery cancellations,” said Lisa Cox, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer.

A key component of the project has been the recent development of educational resources including a Welcome to Your Surgical Journey  video series, featuring four videos that follow a patient’s surgical journey from start to end. It covers what to do if a patient gets invited to the pre-admission clinic, what will happen on the day of their surgery as well as the discharge and follow up process.

“The Perioperative Digital Care Pathway aligns with the Department of Health’s newly released Planned Surgery Reform Blueprint, which aims to improve the experiences of planned surgery for all Victorians,” added Ms Cox.

“Happy to be involved in making the video to help patients that have never been under an operation before,” said Noel King, Consumer, Northern Health.

The goal of the program is to provide timely, coordinated, person-centred care that delivers the outcomes that matter most to Northern Health’s patients and their families. We want to help our patients build the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to improve their own healthcare outcomes.

“It has been wonderful being involved in this project, which will greatly benefit our surgical patients. The app will assist patients with physical and mental preparation for surgery, and the future phases of the app will continue to improve the patient’s journey in the surgical space,” said Yvette Sage, Perioperative Project Manager, CLEO, Northern Health.

“As a nurse, it has been refreshing to be involved in a project which involves digital health, and to deliver a DCP which is patient outcome focused.”