Chief Mental Health Nurse update – 29 06 23

Chief Mental Health Nurse update 29 06 2023

Winter has certainly hit in Melbourne, with chilly weather keeping us indoors. With the winter solstice last week, and slightly longer days, we’re edging towards spring.

Occupational Violence and Aggression International Conference 2023

Western Health’s Occupational Violence and Aggression International Conference will held on Tuesday 11 July 2023. The conference will discuss effective interventions to break the cycle of occupational violence and aggression in healthcare. Further information: https://ovaconference.wh.org.au/about/ 

International Safewards Day

Monday 10 July marks International Safewards Day. I hope services can take a moment on this day to pause and remember the value of the Safewards model. As we know, the interventions for Safewards have been highly effective in reducing conflict and containment, and increasing a sense of safety and mutual support for staff and consumers.

Site visits 

We are still out and about visiting services. Our most recent visit was to Barwon Health on Friday 26 May 2023 where we met with staff from the McKellar unit, including the Lived Experience Team. We also had the opportunity to meet with the Hospital in the Home Program staff, which is a wonderful model of care being provided by the team at Barwon.

Pictured: Chief Mental Health Nurse and team with Barwon Health staff

Mental Health Improvement Program

The next Mental Health Learning Health Network virtual Improvement Conversation webinar will be held on Tuesday 4 July to provide an insight into how the MHIP is partnering with health services to co-design, develop and deliver reform initiatives aligned to key priorities of the Mental Health Royal Commission. Register now!

In May, the Sexual Safety team conducted the first workshop in the Improving Sexual Safety in Mental Health Inpatient Units Initiative, which included teams from Albury Wodonga, Eastern Health, Grampians Health, Forensicare and Monash Health.

In June, the Adopting the Zero Suicide Framework initiative began its implementation phase with a 2-day workshop. The Royal Children’s Hospital and Eastern Health Child and Adolescent programs collaborated to adopt and test activities at their service.

Regards,

Anna Love

Chief Mental Health Nurse

Executive Director – Clinical and Professional Leadership Unit

E cmhn@safercare.vic.gov.au

W safercare.vic.gov.au