The SEPHU Case Contact and Outbreak Management Team are the STAR Award winners in the Excellence in Research, Teaching and Innovation category for Q4 2021.
This category recognises an individual, group or team who develops innovative ways to improve the quality of health care or service delivery, including providing quality teaching and education.
The team has been recognised for rapidly increasing its service capacity in response to the surge in COVID-19 cases in mid to late 2021 through swift recruitment, on-boarding, and training.
During the peak, the team expanded from 20 team members in May 2021 to over 200 contract tracing and public health officers by the end of the year.
The team adopted a multimodal education and training program, including the teaching of advanced contact tracing theory and practice systems, for both on-site and remote delivery.
These concepts and processes were complex and frequently changing as Department of Health policy evolved in response to the pandemic, requiring the education program to adapt and expand constantly.
All employees, including those who were redeployed, and existing team members, experienced a steep learning curve in their new roles and adopted new systems in response to increasing demands for contact tracing.
The education program was initially established by Chris Mulligan, Contact Tracing Clinical Educator. Chris developed the program while a Public Health Officer in addition to her existing role, which quickly saw her move into a dedicated full-time educator role. In her new role, Chris continued to deliver and adapt the program to the changing public health policy in response to rising case numbers.
Everyone in the team played a crucial role in the success of the education program and fostered a supportive team environment through mobilising resources, equipment, on-boarding processes and access to all systems – with over ten being used overall!
The team attributes their successful expansion and upskilling to their targeted activity-based education, resource folders, collaboration through Microsoft teams and quick reference guides to support the team with new and complex tasks.
Thank you to the SEPHU team for your invaluable contribution to our pandemic response, and for your ability to rapidly respond to the evolving demands of our health service.
If you would like to nominate a colleague or team, you can do so at any time by visiting the STAR Awards portal. For more information about the STAR Awards program, visit the Monash Health COVID-19 website.
Approved by Karen Lowe.