Health’s best recognised for dedication to quality and care

Wednesday 21 September 2011

2011 Staff Achievement Awards and Quality Awards

Hunter New England Health employees from across the region celebrated a year of achievement and innovation last night at the 2011 Staff Achievement Awards Gala Dinner, held at Pokolbin. 

The Achievement Awards Gala Dinner is held each year to celebrate the people and projects that are influential in improving patient care across our health service.

The winners and finalists celebrated their achievements with Chief Executive Michael DiRienzo, who had the pleasure of congratulating the award winners.

“Last night’s Gala Dinner was not only a chance to celebrate our achievements, but to showcase the dedication and commitment of the people who work in our health service – our leaders, innovators, front line staff, managers, support staff and volunteers,” Mr DiRienzo said.

“As an organisation, Hunter New England Health is recognised as a leader in the
healthcare industry. We have a strong reputation for fostering learning and innovation, and
translating that into improved clinical practice.

“My congratulations go not only to last night’s winners, but to all finalists for their commitment to their roles and their innovative efforts. The care and dedication these individuals show to their patients and communities – and to the overall health of our region – is worthy of recognition.”

The Staff Achievement Awards are designed to acknowledge the outstanding contributions made by staff and volunteers, and the Quality Awards recognise innovative projects aimed at further improving the quality of care our patients receive.

Major sponsors for the 2011 event included: NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation; Prosperity Salary Packaging; Travelworld – Hunter Travel Group; Carestream Health; NuCoal Resources; Cypress Lakes Resort; First State Super and Telstra.

 
Below are the winners of the 2011 HNE Health Staff Achievement Awards and 2011 HNE Health Quality Awards.

Clinical Leader of the Year 
• Margo Asimus - Nurse Practitioner, Wound Management, Western Newcastle Community Health
Margo is well respected by internal, external, national and international colleagues and in particular by her patients and other nurse practitioners. She has been instrumental in the development of an evidence-based wound management model that continues to evidence implementation success across the community nursing service. Margo is an active member of dozens of national and international professional boards, conference groups and clinical panels, including being the secretariat of the scientific program committee for the 2012 Wound Management Association’s National Conference.

Extended Excellence
• Dr Eric Ho – Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon, John Hunter Children’s Hospital
Dr Ho has demonstrated a significant commitment to ensuring that services for children across HNE Health meet best practice standards. He has clearly demonstrated this through his work on the treatment of Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip, the management of lower limb spasticity in children with Cerebral Palsy, and Congenital Talipes Equinovaru, also known as Club Foot. Since 1994, Dr Ho has introduced processes that have resulted in the screening of 36,924 babies, and a significant reduction in late presentations of Dysplasia of the Hip in babies born at John Hunter Hospital.

Healthcare Unit of the Year
• Manning Renal Dialysis Team – Manning Hospital
The team at Manning Renal Dialysis, like many across Hunter New England Health, strives for patient centred care. Patients who attend the service have commented on the team’s exceptional ability to listen and learn from the patient. They’ve also pointed out to staff how they feel guaranteed that, if they
approach staff with concerns, they’ll be rectified. Commissioned in November 2008, the Manning Renal Dialysis team was built by nurses with no former experience in building a unit from the ground up.
The team flourished when it was given the opportunity and has continually grown to meet the demand.

Manager of the Year
• Peter Massey - Program Manager, Population Health, Tamworth
Trusted and respected by his colleagues, Peter leads a diverse team of staff across two sites.
Supportive of a high-calibre team, Peter has an ability to bring out the best in people. His guidance of individuals in operational research has enhanced the diversity of knowledge and skills of the team. He is aware of the skills and knowledge of individuals and encourages them to apply those skills to challenges. Peter has been innovative in identifying real impact targets for communicable disease and immunisation programs, which have been adopted across NSW.

Outstanding Contribution of the Year
• Derene Anderson – General Manager, Greater Newcastle Cluster, Wallsend
Derene has a substantive role as Greater Newcastle Cluster General Manager, but her willingness to lead the Community Falls Injury Prevention Working Party since 2008 has seen a number of new initiatives implemented which support the SMaRT Indicator: Reducing Falls Related Hospitalisations for people aged 65 years and over. Those who report to Derene state that she selflessly guides and encourages each person to recognise and achieve his or her personal potential and envisions the ‘bigger picture’. She is also a mentor and significant leader to many at Cluster and District levels.

Support Unit of the Year
• CHIME (Community Health Information Management Exchange) Team, Wallsend
CHIME is committed to improving HNE Health’s outcomes, which is demonstrated through its development of exceptional systems and supporting processes such as training and the helpdesk.
CHIME also continually contributes to initiatives aimed at improving the health of communities; the team’s innovation has led to CHIME being used not only as a recoding and data tool, but also as a
prompt to clinicians for appropriate care delivery, such as with preventive care in community health services and the Aboriginal client 48-hour follow-up.

Tomorrow’s Leader
• Dr Younes Ismail – Visiting Medical Officer, Wilson Memorial Community Hospital, Murrurundi
Dr Ismail is a caring young doctor who shows an interest in the entire welfare of each patient with an understanding of their physiological needs, as well as their emotional and personal circumstances. Bringing coffee and hot chocolate for staff while doing morning rounds, giving patients time to ask questions and phoning patients at home to follow-up on their condition is what colleagues think of when asked about Dr Ismail. In just two short years, Dr Ismail has become an integral part of the small country town of Murrurundi, helping bring new health services including a visiting diabetes educator, podiatry and drug and alcohol clinics and by supporting community events.

Volunteer/s of the Year
• Singleton Hospital Auxiliary members
The Singleton Hospital Auxiliary demonstrates unflagging commitment and dedication to supporting Singleton Health Service. The group has supported the hospital since 1932 in numerous fundraising
activities. These activities have directly benefited patients; in the past 10 years they have contributed $217,000. They also promote good new stories for the health service through the local newspaper and play a crucial role in times of emergency, including feeding patients and performing tasks as requested to ensure the safety of all patients and staff. The members of the Auxiliary love what they do and are dedicated to the community and the staff of the hospital.

Teacher of the Year
• Dr Elizabeth Jones – Emergency Physician, Tamworth Hospital
Dr Jones has a consistent and enthusiastic commitment to education within Tamworth Hospital. With her focussed approach and attention to detail, Dr Jones is able to accurately assess and manage any given clinical scenario. She demonstrates an enthusiastic, but respectful approach towards patients,
relatives and other staff. Dr Jones works in a quietly confident manner and is committed to the provision of quality education to all doctors and nurses, regularly giving teaching sessions in her off-duty. As the Critical Care Education Director, she stages well-organised teaching sessions, displaying her systematic approach to organising high quality education.

Promoting health category
• Infection control and hand hygiene station – Inverell District Hospital, McIntyre Cluster
Previously, McIntyre Cluster distributed cough etiquette products on tables or trolleys, for use by staff, patients and visitors. A prototype design of a new product called an ‘Infection Control Station’ was developed for trial at Inverell Hospital, and was rolled out to the rest of the facilities within the Cluster in July 2010. An observational audit conducted in April 2011 revealed that 97% (n=320) of staff and visitors at point of entry and/or prior to entry to wards were observed using the stations.

Creating better journeys – patient safety category
• Reducing pressure ulcers in patients with hip fractures – Armidale Hospital
This project aimed to determine whether the use of preventative dressings would reduce the incidence
of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers in patients who present with a hip fracture. Processes have been established to ensure that all patients who present to the Emergency Department with a hip fracture have protective dressings applied over their sacral/buttock area and to both heels. An audit conducted following the first seven months of this project revealed a reduction in the incidence of pressure
ulcers in this patient group from 22.2% to 8.8%.

Creating better journeys – improving access to services when and where needed category
• Opening the door on osteoporosis – Royal Newcastle Centre, John Hunter Hospital
A fracture prevention coordinator position was implemented at John Hunter Hospital to design and
implement a model of care to better address unidentified osteoporotic patients. A systematic team approach has created efficiencies in detecting and managing osteoporosis with improved patient outcomes. The mean time between fracture and attending treatment for identification of osteoporosis and treatment has improved markedly and clinic referrals increased from 6% in 2007 to 68%.

Creating better journeys - improving patient experience category
• Making things sweet for diabetic mothers – Obstetrics and Gynaecology, John Hunter Hospital
Over the past seven years, the number of women attending the Diabetes in Pregnancy Clinic at John
Hunter Hospital has increased by 75%. New models of care were developed with a focus on providing continuity, evidence based pathways and education. As a result, continuity of care increased from 45% to 80%, average waiting time reduced from 101 to 32 minutes, patient satisfaction with waiting times increased from 24% to 88%.

Improving primary health and care in the community category
• i-Care Young Carer Project – HNE Health EDuCARE Support Service
Young carers are aged between eight and 18 years, and may provide assistance and practical and/or emotional support to a sibling, parent or grandparent who is frail, aged or has a chronic disease, disability, mental illness, drug and/or alcohol issue. This project included the provision of support and education to young carers in a number of ways, including through resource material, information and how to access community services, education and social activities. A young carer training package was developed and is now being used across Hunter New England Health.

Building partnerships for health category
• Evaluating our way to success: Area Clinical Networks – HNE Health Area Clinical Networks
In 2005, HNE Health established the Clinical Networks Program. Within the Australian context, this
was a new approach to service delivery that promoted collaboration, standardisation, networking and
decision making between clinicians to improve patient outcomes. A 2010 evaluation articulated nine key success factors for the development and success of clinical networks which were in line with international findings which could be used to guide and monitor the development of clinical networks in Australia.

Making smart choices category
• Reducing brown fat improves positron emission tomography – Hunter Nuclear Medicine and PET Service
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning is a high cost but highly valuable procedure integral to
the diagnosis and staging of many cancers. The purpose of this study was to improve PET scanning by reducing the number of scans affected by hypermetabolic brown fat. A review of the literature indicated that cold temperatures may induce hypermetabolism in brown fat and that warming patients might be an inexpensive but effective intervention. Pre and post intervention audits showed a decrease in the percentage of scans affected by hypermetabolic brown fat from 15% prior to the intervention to 3.3% after the intervention.

Building the health workforce category
• Assessing International Medical Graduates – HNE Health Centre for Medical Professional Development
Building a sustainable workforce that reflects an increasingly diverse community is a challenge for health. HNE Health is the first location where International Medical Graduates seeking general registration through the Australian Medical College standard pathway can be assessed using workplace based performance assessment. Unique in Australia, the program has become a nation-wide benchmark for health services, medical schools, colleges and universities. As part of the pilot, 49 International Medical Graduates were enrolled in six month trials at six HNE Health hospitals, they were assessed by clinicians from different disciplines using pre-set criteria and all were successful at the end of the assessment.

Being ready for new risks and opportunities category
• HNE Health bushfire response package – HNE Health Disaster Management Unit
Hunter New England Health has many health care facilities that, due to their topographical and geographical location, are vulnerable to bushfire. In January 2010, the Disaster Management Unit started a review of internal emergency management procedures and found a gap in emergency planning concerning bushfires. The project resulted in a multi-faceted package that addressed the issues of preparedness and response in relation to an actual or imminent bushfire emergency.

Contact: Carisa Mitchell

Phone: 4939 2280