Published on 21 March 2022

With our world facing unprecedented challenges, wellbeing matters more than ever

 

Welcome to the March edition of the transition news and the month that includes the United Nations International Day of Happiness. This year both internationally and nationally there are many challenges facing our world and our wellbeing matters more than ever. I’m hoping that some of the activities that we had arranged for International Day of Happiness resonated with you and that you could find a moment to join in and enjoy.  National Closing the Gap Day  is an important day falling on 17 March where we acknowledge and pursue our commitment to achieving equality in health status between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-indigenous Australians​. Western Health is an official signatory to the national Closing the Gap campaign.

This past month a major piece of work was completed when BM/M payroll system was integrated into Western Health shared payroll system. The integration required a significant amount of work from many people at Western Health and Melton and Bacchus Marsh. Thank you for your participation in the education sessions and for continuing to support solutions and send questions as issues arose, we still have some work to do and will continue to keep you informed of any further changes.

You may have noticed some changes to the Bacchus Marsh Hospital where an infrastructure upgrade is in the process of being completed. This work will cause some disruptions however will improve the site to ensure it is able to meet the future needs of the hospital and services.

Work has now begun on our Being Our Best (BOB) culture project, which is very exciting. The culture work begins with a survey, leadership development for our leaders and workshops for staff. We are hoping to hear your opinions and experiences throughout this work and from staff representatives on the BOB Advisory Committee which has a number of staff volunteering to work on the program with us.

I hope you are all keeping well in this busy time and have either taken time out or are planning to take some time out for yourself over the next little while as we move into a new phase of work.

Regards

Suellen

 

We welcome

  • Tal Levitas and Andrew Kim – Bacchus Marsh and Melton Projects Team

    Tal Levitas and Andrew Kim

    Bacchus Marsh and Melton Projects Team

      

     

    We now have a list of over 300 minor new works Projects, 5 Engineering Projects, 6 Capital Works Projects and significant ICT investments in the pipeline to support infrastructure improvements and systems amalgamation at our Bacchus Marsh and Melton Sites. As these projects bring increased workload and require significate co-ordination, we have two new staff members join our Health Support Services Division.

    Tal has joined us as the Operations Manager Logistics, and Andrew as the Project Manager; they will coordinate and manage these activities to ensure we prioritise the most urgent works with minimal disruption and communicate what is happening and when.

    They will work closely with Sandy Schutte and Christine Neumann (Director Health Support Services) to manage the complexity of these projects and cross-divisional reporting.

    Both are based at Bacchus Marsh and work closely with their colleagues across Western Health to ensure we continue to integrate with current Western Health systems.

  • Khanh Do – Senior Consultant Organisational Development

    Khanh Do 

    Senior Consultant Organisational Development

    Khanh Do has joined the Transition team after being the Manager of Consumers and Inclusion for the past five years at Western Health.

    He’s been instrumental in implementing several initiatives at Western Health, including:

    • the online Patient Information Approval process
    • consumer support and integration with improvement and governance processes
    • our inclusion statement
    • various projects within the LGBTIQ, Disability, Cultural Inclusion working groups

    Khanh’s role of Senior Organisation Consultant is part of the transition work that will focus on culture-building initiatives where his experience within the consumer and inclusion area will be a tremendous benefit to the work of the transition project. Take some time to stop and say hello with Khanh when you see him on site.

  • Stacey Segond - Maternity Services Integration Project Officer

    Stacey Segond  

    Maternity Services Integration Project Officer

    Stacey has joined the transition team as the Maternity Services Integration Project Officer and will develop and implement standardised pathways for the transfer of women between our two maternity campuses of Joan Kirner and Bacchus Marsh Hospital.

    Stacey has been part of Western Health for 12 years with various senior roles, most recently working in the Clinical Practice Improvement Specialist role, focusing on developing and coordinating new policies, procedures and guidelines and project improvement for Maternity Services.

    Many may already know Stacey from when she previously worked some shifts in Maternity.

  • Claire Rankin - Senior Project Officer Clinical Transition

    Claire Rankin

    Senior Project Officer Clinical Transition

    Claire is a passionate Critical Care Registered Nurse and Midwife with extensive clinical and project management experience across a range of metropolitan and regional health services.

    More recently, Claire has worked to support Western Health’s COVID-19 response; as both a Communication Advisor in the Western Public Health Unit and a certified critical care registered nurse in the Sunshine ICU.

    Please make Claire welcome when she visits your department.

     

 

Services and Programs

Being our Best (BOB) culture survey

As we gradually emerge from the demands and challenges of Covid-19 during the past 2 years and the work in the transition into Western Health, I would like to thank you again for the incredible commitment you continually show to give the best possible care for the communities of Bacchus Marsh and Melton.

The amalgamation with Western Health has likely added to the challenges at this time and as an organisation we want to check in to see how you are travelling and what this experience has been like so far.

It is with that in mind that I would like to invite you to participate in a short Culture Survey which you will have received via email.  The survey is being run by an external agency and your confidentiality with the information you provide is assured.

Your voice and expertise in these challenging and changing times is extremely important for us to hear, and to ensure we develop ways to make the transition as smooth as possible and to keep your well-being in mind.

Some details about the survey are below:

  • Q1: How long will the survey take?

    The survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

  • Q2: Will my answers be anonymous?

    Yes.  The survey is being managed by an external agency so you will be de-identified.  This means that your answers will be anonymous.

    You are encouraged to be as honest and specific as possible.

  • Q3: How will my answers be used?

    Your answers will be used to provide insights and guidance to Western Health in helping to build a positive culture that is responsive to the needs of staff.

  • Q4: How can I access the survey?

    You will receive an email from the external agency providing a code to access the survey.  If you have not received an email within 4 days, please email Khanh.Do@wh.org.au

  • Q5: How long will the survey remain open?

    The survey will remain open for 2 weeks.  The closing date will be stated on the email from the external agency.

  • Q6: Who can I contact for further information?

    For any questions about the survey, please email Khanh Do, Senior Consultant, Organisational Development (Bacchus Marsh & Melton) Khanh.Do@wh.org.au

Transition of our IT systems?

Our Digital Technology Services (DTS) team are working to integrate and merge the former Djerriwarrh Health Services (DjHS) network with the Western Health (WH) network so that we can all become part of one WH group. This is a very complex and time consuming project. Please click here to find out more on:

  • OKTA Authentication
  • Upgrade of the BMM Network
  • MS Teams
  • WH Helpdesk
  • Email Changes
  • Centralised Source of Data

 

Human Resources integration (including Recruitment & Payroll)

As of 21 February 2022, Human Resources was integrated with Western Health.

  • HR and recruitment support is now managed through WH People and Culture team.
  • Payroll and RosterOn support is provided by Melbourne Health (shared services agreement)

The intranet has been updated with resources you will require including a General Enquiries page and FAQs page

Other resources can be found here:

These pages are being updated regularly as new information is provided.

Vaccination information required by Western Health.

As part of the integration of our Human Resources systems and functions we are required to hold up-to-date immunisation status for all staff and Western Health uses COHORT, a designed and secure database, for this purpose.

To assist this process, many of you will have received a text message in the last week from Western Health requesting you to complete a survey regarding your immunisation records.  The text message is legitimate and not SPAM.  It will look like the example shown below.

The link takes you to a short survey that seeks you to nominate one of 2 methods to provide results:

  1. Provide consent to Western Health to access your Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) and Western Health will update your immunisation status directly on your behalf.
  2. Provide instructions for you to access your results and provide a link to upload the results to Western Health

We will provide another text message for staff to complete the survey.

Example of the text message you will receive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What's New

Alaris Infusion Pumps

Alaris Infusion Pumps are going live Tuesday the 5th of April 2022 at Bacchus Marsh and Wednesday the 6th of April 2022 at Melton.

There are over 11 end user training session you can attend commencing Monday 14th of March so please check out the education calendar!

 

Post Partum Haemorrhage Procedure

A new post-partum haemorrhage procedure will be going live in Maternity on Monday April 4th, with 3 weeks of focussed education commencing Monday 14th of March. This procedure will ensure alignment of evidence-based practices across the Bacchus Marsh and Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s campuses.

Clinical Support Midwives

We are lucky to have two Clinical Support Midwives, Jennie Gilbert and Naomi Eales, commence in Maternity on Monday February 28th! Jennie and Naomi will support the implementation of new practices and procedures as the transition continues to progress. Welcome to Jennie and Naomi.

Water Immersion

The Water Immersion in Labour Procedure has been finalised, which will allow women to use the birthing baths for pain relief in labour. This is an exciting milestone and commencement of using the baths will begin following all staff having had participated in simulations and appropriate clinical education.

 

 

 

Melton Health Renal Chairs

Our Renal unit operates 6 days a week, 2 treatment sessions per day. We see 24 patients a day with treatments averaging 4 hours each.

We now have 12 new Fresenius Chairs, which arrived in late December that replaced the original chairs from when the Renal Dialysis started at Melton Health. The chairs were becoming uncomfortable for the patients and had deteriorated due to wear and tear.

Patients commented that the chairs are very comfortable, with wide backrests and folding tray tables/ armrests allowing room for personal items to be placed in reach while having their treatment. Staff have found the chairs easy to move and can accommodate other equipment when needed.

There was a colour change from the previous chairs, a Staff vote; the winning colour Mako! is a charcoal colour.

 

 

 

 

What's Next?

Neonatal and Paediatric Services Transition

The transition of the neonatal and paediatric services transition is commencing shortly, which will allow further establishment of relationships and sharing of resources with our sister neonatal and paediatric services at Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s

Transitioning to a new provider for  Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

We will be transitioning to Western Health’s (EAP) provider “Caraniche at Work” (CaW), with appropriate support and processes in place to help change from Converge to Caraniche as smooth as possible. In the coming weeks please keep a lookout for information on the services available.

Contact details for Caraniche:  1800 099 444  or  work.caraniche.com.au

There are many services supplied to help with:

  • Stress management
  • Feelings of being overwhelmed
  • Bullying and harassment
  • Grief and loss
  • Anxiety and depression
  • And many other workplace and personal challenges

 

Deteriorating Patient Systems 

Work will soon commence to align the management of deteriorating patients with the broader Western Health. This will be a significant piece of work further supporting the delivery of best care to our patients at Bacchus Marsh and Melton campuses.

A new look Riskman for incident reporting is on its way.

Riskman V2 goes live on 26 April 2022 and will provide a more user-friendly experience when entering and reviewing incidents.

Please Note: Bacchus Marsh/Melton run a separate Riskman system, and this will also be upgraded, but closer to the end of June 2022.

 

Did You Know?

Congratulation Debra! Walk West Champion 

Congratulations to Debra from Day Medical/Dialysis who won an award for raising the most money in the Recent “Walk West” campaign. The Western Health Foundation event helps to provide our cancer patients with the best additional care through diagnosis and treatment to ensure they get the best result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thumbs Up to the “Knead a break initiative”

Western Health’s Wellbeing team partnered with the company Seated Massage to provide staff with a neck and shoulder massage across all sites.

The staff at Bacchus Marsh and Melton gave the big thumbs up when the Seated Massage company visited, making everyone refreshed and relaxed!