Chief Executive Update – 20 July 2022
As of today, we have:
- 106 COVID-19 positive inpatients
- 276 employees with COVID-19
- 28 employees in precautionary quarantine
- 92 employees who are primary close contacts and working under public health exemption
In this update, we cover:
- Premier and Health Minister visit to announce winter support package
- Winter Response Plan – Stage 3
- Expanded Emergency Department capacity at Casey Hospital
- Commissioning a new GEM inpatient ward at Kingston Centre
- Special call out for care at Dandenong Hospital
- Our current settings
- On-site pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics for employees
- Congratulations to our STAR Award nominees for Q2 2022
- Pharmacist-led virtual clinic in world-first trial
- Your income statement ready
- Applications for Stronger Together Wellbeing Grants open soon
On Sunday, we welcomed the Premier and Health Minister to Monash Children’s Hospital for an announcement about a support package to help health services through the winter period.
Referencing the increase in Victorians in hospital with COVID-19, along with the number of health care workers who are unwell, the Premier and Minister announced 400 additional employees would be deployed across Victorian health services in the coming months to improve patient flow.
The approach is based on a model successfully used in the United Kingdom to assess and treat patients more efficiently. It will include nurses to help ambulances offload patients quicker, triage doctors to assess patients quickly, and discharge co-ordinators to focus on the timely transition of care from the ward to home or another healthcare facility.
At Monash Health, it will also include an expansion of after-hours Senior Medical Staff on-call coverage, weekend Pharmacy and Allied Health services, and an enhanced Hospital at Night Service for our medical teams.
To reduce demand on our busy emergency departments, a GP respiratory clinic will be established at Monash Children’s Hospital to help prevent avoidable visits to ED for children experiencing respiratory illness. Another clinic will also be established at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
There will also be an expansion of the capacity and eligibility criteria for the Virtual ED, which allows patients to have a consultation with a doctor or nurse, where clinically appropriate, without having to be taken to hospital by ambulance. The Virtual ED model has treated more than 28,000 Victorians to date, 71% of whom avoided visiting an ED.
I look forward to sharing more details as these initiatives take shape.
Victorian Government Winter Response Plan – Stage 3
The Health System Winter Response Plan is the government’s framework for how we respond to the pandemic.
The plan has four stages, ranging from Stage One to Stage Four, reflecting the level of demand on the health system and workforce availability.
Over the weekend, Victoria moved to Stage Three, as the state passed 800 COVID-19 hospitalisations while also experiencing moderate workforce constraints.
Stage Three measures include:
- More hospitals becoming Tier One streaming services. This will increase the COVID-19 Streaming Model’s bed capacity and provide Ambulance Victoria with more options to transport COVID-19 positive patients.
- Using available capacity and workforce in some private health services to care for public patients.
- Using team-based staffing models to mitigate the effect of increased furlough rates.
- The Health Service Response Centre will provide additional service co-ordination and support across the health system.
I spoke in detail about the support package and the Winter Response Plan at yesterday’s employee forum. You can watch the recording here.
Expanded Emergency Department capacity at Casey Hospital
Casey Hospital has received a boost in emergency department capacity with the commissioning of a new modular facility to treat patients. The new units are cleverly designed and feature negative airflow rooms, dirty and clean utility, nurse stations, employee break rooms, and bathroom facilities.
These units provide a dedicated space to treat COVID-positive and suspected COVID patients presenting to our emergency department.
You can read more about the new facilities and view photos here.
Commissioning a new GEM inpatient ward at Kingston Centre
Today, South 1 at the Kingston Centre will be commissioned as a new Geriatric Evaluation and Management (GEM) inpatient ward.
South 1 will provide care for GEM patients, improving access and capacity across Monash Health. We also expect it will lead to reduced wait times for sub-acute care and, as a result, improve patient and employee experience. An additional workforce has been recruited for the ward across all relevant clinical and clinical support areas.
Significant consultation and planning have gone into this implementation, and I congratulate everyone involved.
Special call out for care at Dandenong Hospital
In the middle of a tough week, there were a couple of highlights at Dandenong that remind us of what we are here for and the special moments we create with our patients.
One of our recent patients called ABC radio to let people know about the care she had received, despite the obvious pressures. Jo from Phillip Island called Virginia Trioli on ABC Melbourne. Jo had been staying at Dandenong Hospital for nearly three weeks and said she had “nothing but praise” for our hard-working nurses.
“The night staff, the teams, were just incredible. I couldn’t have had better care… the beautiful nurses attending to everyone, it was just such an experience, I wanted to share,” Jo said.
We also had news of the successful delivery of a baby boy, who only made it as far as the David Street carpark before he decided he just couldn’t wait to come into the world.
Parents Leonora and Rini were lucky that close by happened to be former vet nurse, now admin assistant, Annette McIvor, and former ED nurse, now Director of Clinical Operations at Dandenong Hospital, Kate Sandry, who had done this kind of thing before!
I am pleased to say that this lucky baby, delivered on Friday the 13th, is now home safe and well with a family who are very grateful for the care they received.
Our current settings
Protect yourself, our patients and your colleagues by following the updated guidelines below and our first principles.
- Face masks are mandatory in all areas
- Work remotely where safe and practical
- Halt to face-to-face meetings and training
- Where to get priority pathology for employee COVID-19 PCR testing
- What to do if you are COVID-19 positive, symptomatic or a close contact
- Don’t forget your annual N95 fit test
Remember your hand hygiene and physically distance where you can. Wear a mask even if it isn’t mandatory, and do not come to work if you are contagious.
We ran through details about these settings at the employee forum, so if you missed it, please take some time to review the session and the slide deck.
On-site pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics for employees
We have opened on-site pop-up vaccination clinics for Monash Health employees.
Pfizer vaccines are available for winter doses in line with ATAGI guidance. No bookings are required for the pop-up clinics; simply walk-in. Please bring your Medicare card and Employee ID card.
The clinics are limited to employees only.
Some feedback from one of our team who attended the MMC clinic:
“Just wanted to give you some positive feedback. It was so easy to attend the pop-up COVID vaccination clinic at Monash Medical Centre today… With work commitments, primary school aged children and life balance, it can be tricky to find time to access the GP for vaccinations. So having vaccination clinics on-site for staff is really excellent. I want to thank you for rolling these out for the 4th dose. Again, I feel that the protection of my health is a high priority of the organisation I work for.”
Read more about where and when you can have your winter dose.
Congratulations to our STAR Award nominees for Q2 2022
We’re excited to share with you the STAR Award nominees for Q2 2022.
The STAR Awards acknowledge and celebrate individuals and teams who demonstrate their commitment to our guiding principles and values. Over the next few months, we look forward to spotlighting some of these individuals and teams at our weekly employee forums.
I want to congratulate each nominee. It is wonderful to see so many of our team continuing to produce excellence in all its different forms.
Pharmacist-led virtual clinic in a world-first trial
A new Pharmacist-led virtual clinic is transforming the way patients access and manage their medications at Monash Health.
The clinic, named Optimising One Medication with Patients (OOMPa), is 100 per cent virtual and will help better manage blood pressure in patients with chronic disease with the help of a Bluetooth blood pressure cuff.
The cuff allows patients to securely send real-time vital sign data to an app on their phone from the comfort of their homes, which goes directly back to pharmacists on-site at Monash Health.
Your income statement is ready
Employees can now find their income statements ‘Tax ready’ on the ATO website (accessible via myGov).
You can tell whether your Monash Health income statement is ready to lodge if the ‘Tax ready’ symbol appears next to it.
If the income statement is labelled ‘Year to date’ or ‘Not tax ready’, please lodge a payroll query through the intranet or phone payroll on 8572 5605.
Applications for Stronger Together Wellbeing Grants open soon
Team-based wellbeing grants will soon be available for your area, unit, or department to directly support team health and wellbeing through specific and practical activities. Applications will open on Monday 25 July, and close Friday 12 August 2022.
A range of health and wellbeing packages will be available, including options from our partner organisations, upgrades to rest and recovery spaces, and additional self-selected activities. Keep an eye out for more information, including eligibility requirements, terms and conditions, and how to apply in the lead up to Monday 25 July.
Also, this Thursday at 2pm, take the opportunity to tune in for the Wellbeing Forum on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and remember you can always go back and listen to these events afterwards if you miss them.
I hope you caught the first edition of our monthly Wellbeing Wrap – a new monthly newsletter with all the latest news, events, resources and support programs to help you, your colleagues and your loved ones prioritise your health and wellbeing.
Thank you for your continued commitment to providing the best possible care. We couldn’t do this without you.
Martin KeoghActing Chief Executive
All managers are requested to share these updates with their teams and discuss at stand-ups and handovers. Please print a copy and display it in communication books and on employee noticeboards.