Chief Executive Update – 8 April 2022

We have: 

• 46 COVID-19 positive inpatients
• 185 employees with COVID-19
• 70 employees in precautionary quarantine
• 80 employees who are primary close contacts and working under public health exemption

In this update, we cover: 

• Monash Health recognised as one of Australia’s top workplaces by LinkedIn
• The state government’s COVID catch-up announcement
• Supporting our Emergency Departments
• Free flu vaccinations available
• Keeping up to date with COVID-19
• A reminder not to come to work if you are unwell or symptomatic
• Book in for your annual fit test to stay ‘COVID Fit’ for work
• Privacy: is it time to refresh your training?
• Victorian Public Sector Mental Health Enterprise Agreement 2020-2024
• Updated Emergency Codes training package (Fire Training) now available in Latte
• Borrow a device through the Virtual Care Device Library
• Revised mobility chart for falls
• Have you had your Give me Five or Annual Performance discussions?
• Mandatory and targeted training reminder
• STAR award winners – Security Services Leadership Team
• Bailey’s Day raises more than $300,000
• Good food = good mood – new content on the Healthy Body and Mind Hub
• Patient Experience: Help us understand what’s important to you

Monash Health recognised as one of Australia’s top workplaces by LinkedIn

Monash Health has been named as one of Australia’s top 25 best workplaces to grow your career, in the 2022 LinkedIn Top Companies list, the only healthcare provider to appear on this year’s list.

The rankings are based on seven pillars, each revealing an important element of career progression: ability to advance, skills growth, company stability, external opportunity, company affinity, gender diversity and spread of educational backgrounds.

Our inclusion in this list is well-earned recognition for the workplace you have helped create, as we continued to deliver high-quality care throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, despite adversity.

It is timely, as we are seeking new team members to join our health service and help relieve the pressure we are experiencing. As discussed in yesterday’s Employee Forum, we are developing new strategies to help attract and retain great talent, and we would welcome your suggestions. Please email your ideas to communication@monashhealth.org

The state government’s COVID Catch-Up Plan announcement 

Over the weekend, the Victorian government announced its COVID Catch-Up Plan to boost surgical activity across the state.

The government’s investment will be focused on supporting the expansion of activity in public services through more same-day surgeries, increased twilight and after-hours work, and the establishment of new Rapid Access Hubs. It also includes public patients being treated in private hospitals. A key part of the plan is investing to support the workforce.

Next year (2023), elective surgeries are planned to run at 125 per cent of their pre-pandemic levels.

The plan is a very welcome investment to help those who have been waiting for surgery, and it should be seen as a program of strategic intervention. It is not something that we deliver tomorrow, but something we are planning for and will gradually roll out over the next 12-24 months. This is not only about making up for lost time and opportunity during the pandemic, but meeting the ongoing, growing demand.

This boost will occur in the context of a number of initiatives we have underway to build our capacity, such as the opening of the Victorian Heart Hospital early next year.

The announcement does not change the necessary pause in resumption activity we flagged last week. We need to modify our service resumption plans in the lead-up to Easter to meet increasing COVID-19 demand and workforce availability.

I understand the concern and frustration as we adjust to this latest increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalisations. We all want to see more services resume, but we must balance a range of challenges, including record ED demand, longer hospital stays and workforce availability.

Supporting our Emergency Departments 

If you have been watching the news, you will have heard about ongoing pressures across the state, with unprecedented demand on emergency departments and flow-on effects for our colleagues in Ambulance Victoria.

We are working hard to ensure we continue to provide safe and timely care, but also support our colleagues in the ED. We are working on a range of different strategies, which include redeploying to the areas of greatest need, greater utilisation of services (such as Hospital in the Home and the High Acuity Discharge Clinic), evening ward rounds for surgical units, and placing specialist roles in the ED (e.g. geriatricians) to assist with patient management and flow, to reduce delays in accessing appropriate care.

We are also seeking to bolster our supplementary clinical and non-clinical workforce presence in the ED, through our RUSONs and recently created Operations Support roles. Targeted health and wellbeing initiatives are also underway as we recognise that our ED colleagues continue to go through a sustained period of stress.

Free flu vaccinations available

Don’t let flu make you miss out on anything this Winter. Our annual program of free flu vaccinations is now available to all Monash Health employees. I encourage you to protect yourself, your family, patients and colleagues as soon as you can.

Visit the intranet for details of when the vaccinations are available at your closest site.

Please keep supporting your colleagues and reach out if you need extra help. I would like to reiterate the wellbeing support that we have in place including the resources we have online, the Employee Assistance Program and Be Well programs for more intensive support as needed.

Thank you for your hard work and commitment.

Andrew Stripp
Chief Executive

Key Messages

Keep up to date with COVID-19
To help you stay across the current state of play with COVID-19 precautions, we’ve put together a Current COVID-19 Guidance Summary. The factsheet is available on the COVID-19 website and brings together the latest guidance around public health measures, testing, isolation, PPE and ways of working.

Please don’t come to work if you are unwell or symptomatic 

A reminder that if you are unwell, you must not come to work (even for perceived mild illness). A negative Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) is not a ticket to return to work. If you have COVID-19 symptoms, you should get a PCR test.

Throughout the pandemic, the use of masks has proven an effective means of reducing the spread of COVID-19. While wearing masks in some indoor settings is no longer mandatory, it remains recommended.

Equally, other respiratory diseases are emerging at this time of year, including the Flu, and we do not want that spreading among our workforce.

Book in for your annual fit test to stay ‘COVID Fit’ for work

Many Monash Health employees are now due for their annual N95 mask fit test.

We want to make sure you are ‘COVID Fit’ for work and ready for accreditation, so please check your fit test card to determine the date you are due for your annual refit. Most refit appointments do not take as long as the original fit tests, so please book in before your fit test results expire.

You can find more information and how you can book your refit appointment here.

Privacy: is it time to refresh your training? 

How we manage the privacy of our patients and our colleagues is an important element of the trust they place in us.

Every day, sensitive information is disclosed to us in confidence, and for a clear purpose, and must be handled carefully and sensitively. We don’t always get this right.

An intentional or deliberate privacy breach means you are breaking the law, and you could lose your job.

With Accreditation approaching, it’s time to check if your privacy training needs a refresher. The privacy e-learning module will help you better understand your legal responsibilities regarding accessing, disclosing and handling personal information.

I encourage you to log onto Latte and refresh your privacy training as soon as you can.

Victorian Public Sector Mental Health Enterprise Agreement 2020-2024

The proposed Victorian Public Sector Mental Health Enterprise Agreement 2020-2024 is now ready to be distributed to employees.

The proposed Agreement covers employees who are engaged solely or predominantly in the provision of mental health services, in a classification in the Agreement.

If you are covered by the Agreement, you will over the new few days be receiving ballot material (and directions) either by email or post.

The ballot will open at 9am on 13 April 2022 and close at 5pm on 14 April 2022. The vote will be conducted by Elections Australia.

Updated Emergency Codes training package (Fire Training) now available in Latte

The Emergency Codes Training package (Fire Training) has recently been updated to include:

• An update of the internal emergency number (2222)
• Introduction of the emergency number to dial from a mobile device (9594 7860)
• Additional information on emergency phases
• Revised general emergency management information for each emergency code

Log in to your LATTE dashboard to view and complete the updated Emergency Codes training package (Fire Training) course.

Borrow a device through the Virtual Care Device Library

The Virtual Care model has been successfully implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and now integrates into our everyday practice across all Monash Health sites.

We are currently running a pilot program where clinical staff from across Monash Health can borrow a digital device for up to two weeks.

Devices are currently available for collection and return from the Clayton Library. If the pilot is successful, we will aim to roll out this initiative across other Monash Health sites.

More information, including how to reserve your digital device, is available here.

Revised mobility chart for falls

Friday 1 April was April Falls Day, an opportunity to focus on falls awareness, education and the implementation of our revised mobility chart, which is now available on PROMPT.

The mobility chart provides a visual guide to clinicians about patient mobility and the level of supervision required to ensure safe mobilisation. You can find more information about the revised mobility chart and what you can do to prevent falls here.

Give Me Five – let’s make time to talk
Give Me Five or Annual Performance discussions are Monash Health’s tools to help encourage conversations and allow you the opportunity to talk about your experiences, clarify expectations, set your goals and provide feedback to your manager. It’s time to book in with your manager for your Give Me Five or Annual Performance conversation. Resources and templates are available to help guide the conversations.

Have you completed your mandatory and targeted training? 
Training is a critical part of delivering safe and effective care to our community. With Accreditation approaching, it is important you complete your targeted and mandatory training as soon as possible.

All Monash Health employees are required to complete their mandatory training, such as iBelong and fire training, regardless of role. Targeted training is specific to your role, and you must complete the courses that have been allocated to you. Log in to LATTE to see the training you are required to complete, along with the deadlines.

Security Services Leadership Team secure STAR Award by prioritising employee safety and wellbeing

The Security Services Leadership Team, Steve Bills, Director, Security Services and Sylvia Lynch, Security Operations Manager, are the STAR Award winners in the Managing Wisely category for Q4 2021.

Steve and Sylvia lead a high performing team and continuously develop new ways to improve the performance of the Security services program for the benefit of our teams and the broader Monash Health community.

Bailey’s Day raises more than $300,000

The 2022 fundraising golf day and lunch named in honour of Bailey Tessier has raised more than $338,000.

Initiated and run by Bailey’s dad, Patrick Tessier OAM, the longstanding event focuses on support for the Monash Children’s Hospital (MCH) Cancer Centre.

Sadly, Patrick lost his son Bailey in 2004, aged just two and a half, to a brain tumour. Patrick has since run Bailey’s Day as an annual event. His efforts have raised in excess of $3.8 million to date. These funds have been used to train 17 additional paediatric clinical oncologists, as well as supporting research into brain tumour biology to enhance patient care.

Good food = good mood – new content on the Healthy Body and Mind Hub

The Healthy Body and Mind Hub is a fitness and wellbeing resource available to all Monash Health employees. At the start of every month, there’s new themed content, and the theme for April is “Food and Mood”.

This month, you can attend a ‘How food impacts mood’ webinar, join a ten-minute class on how to build your mindful eating toolkit, and much more. Explore the hub for the resources that fit your health and wellbeing goals.

Patient Experience: Help us understand what’s important to you

Our Patient Experience Framework supports the Monash Health strategic plan by showcasing the way we meet the expectations of our consumers.

At Monash Health, we strive to embed the four pillars of patient experience – Care, Comfort, Communication and Co-ordination, under an umbrella of Compassion – into each patient interaction.

We want to hear from staff, patients, family members, carers, consumers, volunteers and the community we serve about what’s important to you – those things about Care, Comfort, Communication and Co-ordination of care that contribute to a positive health care experience.

Please tell us what makes a great health care experience by completing the following short survey Patient Experience Survey 2022