Published on 21 December 2022

Cam on, Shukraan, Dhonnobad, Xie xie, Mh goi, Efcharisto, Dhanyavaad.

These are examples of how to say thank you in some of the main dialects spoken by our local communities here in the west.

Despite each language having a different way of saying it, you don’t actually need to speak the same language to communicate gratitude and appreciation and we don’t need to speak the same language to show compassion to others.

As 2022 draws to an end, I want to extend my own personal thank you to everyone for the sustained effort by all to get through this year. As COVID continues, we have had to start thinking about the ‘new normal’ and business as usual as we try to get back on track and deliver care to those who need it most in our community. This is a challenge in itself, and I know many of you have struggled with working out how to do this. There is no perfect solution but I want to acknowledge the complexity of this situation for everyone.

Whilst there have been many challenges, there is also much to celebrate this year.

2022 saw the launch of the Best Care team led by Lisa Smith, Alison Rule and Erin Turnbull under the guidance of Shane Crowe, and with this came a renewed vigour and commitment to supporting our clinicians’ focus on patient safety. Sean Downer and Narelle Watson also need to be commended for presenting us with 13 dashboards that I know will help everyone monitor progress and give context to many conversations on a daily basis.

Many of our senior medical staff have received numerous prestigious awards and recognition externally this year. Meron Pitcher was given an AM in the late Queen’s Birthday Honours list and Raj Khillan who won Victoria’s Australian of the Year are just two of our SMS amongst many, who I would like to acknowledge for their commitment and contributions outside of Western Health.

It is timely to also congratulate Claire Long on her successful appointment to the role of Clinical Service Director (CSD) for Aged Cancer and Continuing Care Services (ACCC). Claire has been a Consultant Geriatrician at Western Health since 2010 and I wish her every success in this new role.

I was fortunate to attend the last Employee Long Service Awards for 2022 at Flemington this month. It was humbling to see the dedication of the 68 medical staff (totaling 1145 years service) amongst the 534 employees recognised for their hard work over the years and their ongoing affection for Western Health, not only as a place to work but also as second family and home. The common theme from many, when asked by Russell as to why they came each day, for decades, to work was unanimously: “The joy of working with their teams.”

Congratulations to the 68 medical staff recognised and I’d particularly like to acknowledge the senior doctors below who reached their 25, 30 and 40 year milestones respectively:

  • 25 years of service
    • Mr David Clarke
    • Dr Michael Flynn
    • Dr John Grant
    • Dr Martin Higgs
    • Dr Rodney Jacobs
    • Dr Andrew Jeffreys
    • Dr Christopher Paes
  • 30 yrs of service
    • Mr Raymond Crowe
    • Dr Jennifer King
    • Mr Simon Knight
    • Dr Paul Rozental
    • Dr Martin Wright
  • 40 years of service
    • Mr Maurice John Clifford
    • Mr Robert Pianta.

As we look to 2023 and what the new clinical year holds for us, I encourage senior medical staff to apply for the Specialist Certificate in Clinical Leadership (SCCL) which will be running for the third year in a row. Please read more about the SCCL course and the return of our Shark Tank program to Western Health in the education section below. Applications for both close in January.

There is much planned for 2023: EMR Phase 2.0 Go Live, National Standards Accreditation, PMCV accreditation, mental health transition of services and planning for the new Footscray Hospital. It is going to be a jam-packed year, but again, whilst it is challenging it is also exciting! No other health service has the breadth of change and opportunity happening simultaneously, and we are all in a position to forge a new course for the way in which healthcare is delivered in the future.

Many of our junior medical staff will be leaving Western Health as the clinical year comes to an end in January. Juggling work, exams, speciality training and connections to friends and family is no easy feat. I hope that whilst it has been a challenging year for many of our junior doctors, they leave us with a sense of pride. They have got through another year in an organisation that has continually stepped up to deliver healthcare in a community facing high COVID numbers and our junior doctors are the glue that holds many of our medical teams together. Without them, our senior staff and multidisciplinary teams would not have been able to deliver the high standards of care this year and every year.

Thank you to each of you for your hard work. I hope you have learnt not only more about clinical medicine during your time with us, but also the Art of Medicine which does not involve medications or diagnostic investigations, but rather a focus on listening, empathy and compassion for our patients. I wish you all the best in your future training and we would love to see you all back at Western Health in the coming years!

January 2023 will also mark the completion of internship for our 85 current interns. Huge congratulations to all of you for completing your internship. I look forward to welcoming 70 of you back here at Western Health as HMO 2s in February as you progress to the next stage of your medical careers.

For those of you who have some time off during the festive season with family and friends, I hope you come back recharged and ready to take on the challenges of 2023! For those of you who are working over the holidays, I thank you for your commitment and team spirit.

Finally, I hope that all of us, irrespective of our religious faith, take a moment during this festive season to focus on showing compassion to those around us, especially to those in our communities who may be vulnerable at this time and that we go forward with renewed hope and optimism for the year ahead.

Best wishes,

Abi
Acting Chief Medical Officer

Latest news

  • Research news

    Seed funding grant from BankVic
    Congratulations to Professor Tissa Wijeratne who has been awarded a $20,000 seed funding grant to support a feasibility study into the development of a cost-effective, AI-based bedside diagnostic tool for headache disorders. Tissa and research colleagues have developed AI algorithms for the purpose of identifying potential stroke patients through precise macular imaging and analysis at the bedside for patients presenting with a headache. The feasibility study will allow proof-of-concept testing and determine the clinical usefulness of the diagnostic tool in a real-world emergency department. Thank you to corporate sponsor BankVic for funding the research grant through the Western Health Foundation. Eleven high-quality submissions from across allied health, nursing and midwifery and medical teams were all in strong contention for the seed funding grant.

    Strategic Forum
    The Office for Research hosted a strategic forum with representation from across senior leadership, allied health, nursing an midwifery, legal, Western Health Foundation and clinical. The forum was held in place of the yearly Research Strategic Steering Committee under the auspices of the 2021-26 Research Strategy with a few additional Western Health research influencers.

    A number of key strategic priorities have been identified to help Western Health capitalise on its current COVID-19 and IAP, MRFF and NHMRC related successes and ensure that research becomes an expectation and BAU consideration across the various divisions. The Office for Research is currently collating the strategic actions captured at the forum and they will be circulated in the New Year, helping to form the strategic priorities for Western Health and its academic and industry partners.

  • Education

    Specialist Certificate in Clinical Leadership
    Applications are once again open for the Specialist Certificate in Clinical Leadership program, delivered in partnership with the University of Melbourne onsite at the Western Centre for Health Research and Education at Sunshine Hospital.

    The program provides senior medical leaders at Western Health with the skills and knowledge to lead transformational change and develop critical thinking to examine problems on a wider scale – qualities needed as Western Health continues to expand to meet the healthcare needs of the communities we service. Since its inception in 2021 we have been fortunate to have more than 54 senior medical staff participate and learn from national and international experts not only from the University of Melbourne but also from their own peers and alumni. Participants not only gain the core skills required to lead their teams but also forge peer networks for ongoing support, cross speciality collegiately and collaboration.

    A program fee of $7950 will apply. Western Health has helped to reduce the cost by hosting this on-site and providing catering. Senior doctors are able to use their Continuous Medical Education (CME) allowance to fund the full cost of the program. If chosen to participate, Western Health will fund the whole program and deduct the CME allowance from your individual balance.

    For more information, please see the course brochure. To apply, please complete the attached SCCL Expression of Interest Dec 2022 form.

    Shark Tank program – applications now open
    Do you have an idea about how to improve an element of best care at Western Health? Then please consider applying for Western Health’s Shark Tank program. Participants take part in six workshops and then go on to pitch their idea to an expert panel, including Chief Executive Russell Harrison. Up to $50,000 is awarded to the participant with the most compelling pitch to support the development of their project and best care. Applications are now open – please complete the application form (with your supervisor’s endorsement) and submit to Melissa Edwards (melissa.edwards2@wh.org.au) no later than Monday 23 January.

  • Awards and achievements

    Forbes McGain appointed Associate Dean Healthcare Sustainability
    Congratulations to the irrepressible Associate Professor Forbes McGain – anaesthetist, intensive care physician, and co-inventor of the McMonty Medihood – who has just been appointed as the new Associate Dean Healthcare Sustainability at the University of Melbourne in recognition of his leadership in improving sustainability in the healthcare system. In this new role, Forbes will work closely with the leadership team at the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences to bring together research, innovation and education in health sustainability, and collaborate with key stakeholders to reduce the environmental and economic costs of healthcare.

    Prizes for Medical Student Teaching and Student Awards
    Our Western Clinical School continues to go from strength to strength, with 38 of our 50 final year students returning to Western Health as interns in 2023. This number exceeds the previous records of 35 at the end of 2015 and 2018.

    The final year students held their graduation dinner on 27 October during which the following prize winners were announced:

    • The Steven Chan Medical Student Prize, for Outstanding Achievement in their MD2 year, to Julian Wong
    • The Peter Ebeling Medical Student Prize, for Outstanding Achievement in their MD3 year, to Emily Matejin*
    • The Western Health Student Research Prize, for the highest MD Research Subject result, to James Egerton*
    • The Emmanuel Raj Prize, awarded for dedication to studies, to Mitchell Canny* and Christel Harijanto*
    • The Neville Yeomans Medical Student Prize, for Outstanding Achievement in MD4, to James Egerton*
    • The Georgiou Prize, to the student with the highest score in the surgical quiz, to Julian Wong
    • The Julie Holland Medical Student Prize, for professionalism, contribution to the clinical school and community to Flavia Browne*
    • The Intern Medical Student Teaching Prize, to Dr Paolo Masangcay
    • The Registrar Medical Student Teaching Prize, to Dr Sarah Lucas and Dr Alexander Beath.

    NB: students with an asterisk beside their names are returning to Western Health as interns in 2023.

    Next year will bring new changes to the clinical school, with the introduction of a new curriculum commencing in MD2. New online resources for students, a redeveloped term structure  and the introduction of a new subject, Discovery, will be hallmarks of the new course.

  • Medical Workforce Unit update

    Western Inpatient Psychiatric Unit (WIPU) and After-Hours HMO Medical Cover
    Many of you will now be aware that the Western Inpatient Psychiatric Unit (WIPU) re-opened in early December 2022 with an initial capacity of six beds until March/April 2023.

    During this period, WIPU will primarily be staffed by psychiatrists and junior doctors from the Royal Melbourne Hospital and North Western Mental Health Service during business hours. Western

    Health HMOs will cover WIPU after-hours when psychiatry registrars are not present on site.

    Western Health HMO cover will be specifically between 5pm and 9am every evening, both on weekdays and weekends. For evenings, this will be the Footscray Hospital Specialty Medicine HMO until 8.30pm. For night duty and weekends, cover will be provided by Specialty Medicine HMO2.

    Just a reminder, cover to WIPU is limited to acute medical issues and seclusion reviews only. HMOs should email Hien.Nguyen3@wh.org,au with details of WIPU cover activities, so that we can monitor the additional workload.

    Doctors in Training Enterprise Agreement (DiT EA) implementation update
    Thank you to everyone for your patience as we work through implementing the DiT EA changes.

    • The ‘Patience in Bargaining’ lump sum payment and 2.75% pay rise back payments (effective from 1 March 2022) should have been processed in the NW11 pay run. If you have not received these payments, please email PCCBusinessPartners@wh.rog.au, who will be able to investigate and coordinate accordingly.
    • Parental Leave ‘extra weeks’ (+4 weeks for Long Parental Leave and +1 week Short Parental Leave) effective from 11/04/2022 has been applied to eligible medical staff as follows:
      • Employees taking paid and unpaid parental leave will have the paid component extended at full/half pay based on their original leave application (i.e. replacing unpaid leave dates with paid leave dates)
      • Employees that haven’t or are not taking any unpaid leave following paid period, will receive a lump sum payment for either 1 week or 4 weeks salary.
    • A Remote Recall claims process has been agreed to with Payroll Shared Services. A new form has been approved for ‘After Hours’ claims, incorporating Unrostered Overtime, Remote Recall and Physical Recall. This will be an improvement on current processes of having multiple forms for overtime and recall. Guidelines are being finalised and will be circulated before the end of December 2022. Continue maintaining your Remote Recall activity as you will be able to retrospectively claim from 09/11/2022. We hope to improve on this further next year by exploring electronic processes for DiT ‘After Hours’ claims.

    Casual employment opportunities
    With the 2022 clinical year drawing to a close in less than two months, many JMS will be moving on to training opportunities at other health services. If you’d like to remain part of the Western Health family as part of our casual medical bank, please let us know by contacting you MWU Coordinator or mwu@wh.org.au.

If you need further information about anything featured in this edition of the newsletter or wish to submit something for upcoming editions of the newsletter please email us CMOOffice@wh.org.au