message from the chief executive · assistant, licensed practical nurse and registered nurse and...

The Far West Local Health District Newsletter Edition 1, Vol 10, January 2020

Message from the Chief Executive Welcome to the first newsletter of 2020 and

my first one as the incoming Chief Executive of Far West LHD.

I hope you have had a fantastic entry into the new year and spent much needed quality time with your loved ones and friends. 2020 is already shaping up to be a busy but a rewarding year.

We have said goodbye to a number of people in the last few months: my thanks to Brad Astill for doing a stellar job as the acting CE as Brad did more than keeping the ‘seat warm’. Our long-serving DON of Broken Hill Hospital, Kathryn Morrison decided it was time to draw the curtains on a career spanning 46 years with many highlights and accolades contained within it. Our best wishes to Kathryn in the next chapter of her life. And our previous incumbent Chief Executive Stephen Rodwell too decided to retire after a dedicated service to our LHD.

I have just completed my third week on the job and what I have seen in terms of our staff’s commitment, resilience, dedication to quality care and excellence in patient outcomes together

with innovativeness is nothing short of outstanding and fills me with pride to be a part of a wonderful community of FWLHD.

I believe that we have the requisite qualities to continue to build on our excellent clinical and operational foundations to continue in our journey to be an outstanding world-class rural and remote health service that prides itself on its inventiveness and connection with its community in developing new and safe models of care.

I hold to a vision of a health service that is future oriented which aims to provide care closer to patients’ homes, and is committed to improving the wellbeing of the community through the innovative use of technology. It is a service that nurtures learning and promotes leadership at every level of the organisation, and empowers staff, patients and families through engaging them in the co-creation of responsive and accountable service delivery models that are designed to address current and emerging community needs.

We have the right talent of Executives to promote the vision and the strategies of our Board in making FWLHD an outstanding health service. I want to thank all those whom I have had the pleasure of meeting in the last three weeks and for making me feel welcome into the FWLHD family. I hope to continue to meet further staff in the coming weeks. I will be discussing in more depth some of our planning and how we propose to engage with you in further developing our health services. So stay tuned….

— Umit Agis,

Chief Executive


Kathryn Morrison has bid farewell and retired after 46 years working for the health service. Her last day as Director of Nursing and Midwifery at Broken Hill Health Service was on 24 January 2020

Kath said, in a message to staff, that her decision to retire had been planned over many months.

“I have had an amazing nursing career over the last 46 years,” she said.

“It started in 1974 as a trainee nurse and ends in 2020 as the Director of Nursing and Midwifery. In between these positions I completed my Midwifery certificate, worked as a critical care nurse in ICU, Emergency Department and Operating Theatre, had 5 years at the community health centre and then commenced in management roles as the Nursing Unit Manager of Specialist clinics, Deputy Director

of Nursing and Midwifery and now as the Director of Nursing and Midwifery.

“As you can see nursing offers an excellent career pathway. Along the way I have worked with many amazing dedicated people from all disciplines that have had a positive influence in my nursing career and I have made many friends. This health service offers excellent professional development programs and has supported me throughout my career. I would also like to thank Dale Sutton and Tim O’Neill who without their support and guidance I would not be where I am today.

“Over the last 45 years I have seen vast advancements in delivering health care and in my role as DONM I have valued patient centred care and implemented programs that have patients receiving safe quality care. Through a multidisciplinary team approach patients receive

excellent care every day 365 days a year and the community should be very proud of this health service and the services that we deliver. I would like to thank you all for your commitment and that you continue to provide quality safe care with the patient at the centre of their care.

“Once it started to filter out that I was retiring I had many people tell me that I would be bored at home. My response is that I would like the opportunity to see if that is true. However I can always return if that happens. So once again thank you to all the people that I have had contact with over the last 46 years (too many to count) and who have made coming to work a pleasure and I wish you well.”

Colleagues held a farewell for Kathryn and wished her all the best in her retirement and future endeavours and congratulated her on a truly inspiring nursing career.

Colleagues wishing Kathryn Morrison (third from right in front) all the best on her retirement after an amazing 46 year nursing career.

Kathryn wraps up an amazing 46 year nursing career


ABOVE. Our new Interns: Dr Yang Chow (Oscar) Er, Surgical Intern, Dr Sumeela Hariharan, Medical Intern and Dr Himanish Panda, Emergency

Department Intern and below with our JMOs (from left) Dr Nicolas Ramly, Surgical SRMO, Dr Jeff Wang, Paediatric Resident and Dr Victor

Yang, Medical Resident.

New Interns and JMOs

Three new Interns have started with the LHD on a two year appointment.

They are: Dr Yang Chow (Oscar) Er (Surgical Intern), Dr Sumeela Hariharan (Medical Intern) and Dr Himanish Panda (Emergency Department Intern).

Our current Interns Dr Matthew Lui, Dr Amber Pesendorfer and Dr Timothy Haynes, are advancing to be Resident Medical Officers for their second year. This is the first year we have had six junior doctors based at Broken Hill Health Service.

Director Medical Service, Dr André Nel welcomed the new doctors to the team. “We are very pleased to have these doctors working with us,” he said.

The LHD provides a solid start to any medical professional’s career. The size and workforce profile ensures that junior doctors, and particularly interns have access to consultant staff that is unattainable in large metropolitan settings. The breadth of work ensures they will gain exposure to a diverse range of clinical presentations, with the support to allow you to quickly develop your clinical skills and confidence.

Three Junior Medical Officers (JMOs) have also joined Far West LHD at Broken Hill Health Service for 2020. The JMOs are rotating from Concord Repatriation Hospital in Sydney for a ten-week period. Broken Hill is the rural placement for the Concord junior doctors.

I’m sure everyone will make them feel welcome!

A huge thank you to everyone who helped in gathering expired medical supplies that will be used to help sick and injured animals from the bushfires.

BHHS and LHD staff have been collecting expired medical items that can no longer be used for treating people but instead can be used to treat animals impacted by the devastating bushfires.

Working with local RRANA, the items will be sent to the Animal Rescue Collective (ARC) hub, based in South Australia. This hub then distributes medical supplies to wildlife carers throughout SA, NSW and anywhere else, who can provide emergency care and treatment for wildlife who are victims of the fires.

BH Health Service GM Mel Welsh (left) with Lindy Hunt from RRANA and Caroline Clemmens, A/NUM Medical Ward, with expired medical items collected to help care for sick and injured animals in the bushfires.

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Partnership Tales in Sexual Health There and back again — an outreach tale by Jo Lenton, CNC Sexual Health Clinic

The morning of Monday 17

December 2019 found Dr

Chris Bourne (Head NSW STI Programs Unit Centre for Population Health) Phillip Bannon, Megan Campbell (Centre for the Aboriginal Health) up early preparing to travel from Sydney to Mildura via Melbourne. Whizzing down the Sturt highway to meet them was Jo Lenton (Clinic 9 CNC Sexual Health FWLHD) for an afternoon of strategic planning with Coomealla Health Aboriginal Corporation (CHAC).

This was the culmination of 12 months of ongoing partnership work between Clinic 9 and CHAC, developing and strengthening relationships and pathways for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and Hepatitis services between each service.

The afternoon sessions included a presentation from the Centre for Aboriginal Health followed by a presentation and general discussion facilitated by Dr Chris Bourne. The topics discussed were developing strong foundations and strategies for testing for

STIs, highlighting syphilis as a priority in the context of a widespread outbreak across several Australian states

and territories, with rural and remote communities often most affected.

Broader STI and BBV screening was also discussed, as well as pathways to facilitate access. This was a very encouraging meeting with staff providing positive feedback on the afternoon’s

sessions. The completion of the

day found Chris, Phillip, and Megan on a late flight back

to the big smoke with Jo heading back to Broken Hill early the next morning. Lots of travel for all involved, but worth it for the ability to improve access and engagement for local communities, with the maximum number of local staff able to attend.

Thank you to Summer

Hill, CHAC CE0 for allowing us all the opportunity to attend CHAC and provide these sessions. Also a big

thank you to Chris, Phillip, and Megan for taking their time to travel to the FWLHD at this busy time of year.

It was a great finish to a

very productive year for 2019 for Clinic 9 with partnerships and support established for a great 2020.

CHAC staff and CEO Summer Hill with Dr Chris Bourne, Phillip Bannon and Megan Campbell.

Health service pitches in to help injured animals


Lisa Campbell is the LHD’s new CNC for Infection Prevention & Control.

Lisa comes with a wealth of knowledge and experience in IP&C. She has been an RN for over 30 years and started her journey in health care at 11 years old as a Candy striper (volunteer) in the USA. Lisa grew up in the Northeast in Maine and has worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant, Licensed Practical Nurse and Registered Nurse and spent 13 years as a travelling nurse. Her specialty for most of her career was in Critical Care and I was a CCRN. She moved to Victoria 18 years ago and is married with one daughter in University.

For the last 12 years Lisa has been working as an IP&C Clinical Nurse Consultant and most recently worked for Eastern Health in Melbourne, a large public health service that covers 185km, with 10,000 employees and 85 sites. For the last year she was the Associate Program Director for

Infection Prevention & Control working with the Director of Infectious Diseases managing a team of 10 CNCs across the health service.

“During my time with EH I have been involved in many projects and various committees including the Pet Therapy Program, Hoarding committee, Product Evaluation Committee, Antimicrobial Stewardship- NAPS and ac-NAPS, Clinical Practice Committee and various Expert Advisory Committees. We have recently undergone Gap analysis for accreditation,” said Lisa.

Lisa and her husband enjoy bush camping and travelling in their Landcruiser and had always hoped to move to the Broken Hill area as a base for their travels.

“I look forward to becoming a part of this lovely community and the unique challenges of the Far West LHD. The first challenge on the agenda is ensuring success of Standard 3 at accreditation in July. I hope to get to know the staff and to

help foster a team approach to ensuring safe and effective care for the patients, visitors, and staff of this community. Infection Prevention & Control is ‘everyone’s business’,” said Lisa.

Lisa is happy to chat with anyone and has an open door policy. She can be contacted at [email protected] and on 08 8080 1331 or 0427 671 755.

Welcome to the Far West LHD

team Lisa!

Lisa joins FWLHD as our new IP&C CNC

Lisa Campbell, IP&C CNC

On Saturday, 18 January 2020 the Take a Break and Help a Mate event was held in Balranald as an initiative of the Bringing Mates Together Men’s Group.

This community group formed about 12 months ago to support men’s health in the district and they have held a number of successful gatherings since. This group then decided they would like to include partners. Primary Health Nurses were approached to form a band of helpers to run the women’s side of things.

Close to 200 people between ages 18-80 attended the evening of speakers, good food, a good yarn and some

dancing to finish off. The men were pleased and learnt plenty about resilience from Neville Brady and the women had a session with Dr Rosie King about things that worry women.

The two groups then joined together for dinner and a talk about The Secrets to a Happy Relationship by Dr Rosie King. This was well received by everyone and feedback and questions afterwards indicate that they learnt some good information to help keep relationships strong during these tough times.

The help and support of Marie Kelly, RAMHP Coordinator, is very much appreciated. She

is a familiar face to most around here and others were also able to connect with her and her service. She also did a mighty job of MC for the night and kept things rolling with so much to fit into the timeframe.

Marie had mental health resources available and was on hand to talk to anyone about mental health and resilience.

The organisers and the Balranald community are eternally grateful for funding secured from FWLHD Mental Health Drug & Alcohol Directorate, The Balranald Shire Council Drought Funds and Department Primary Industries.

Balranald Men’s Group combined get together a huge success

mailto:[email protected]


Participant (patient, carer, staff) Story Collection Workshop

Staff who are interested in learning how to collect participant stories in Far West Local Health District (FWLHD) are invited to enrol in one of these workshop.

Date Time (CST) Location.

10/3/2020 1300 - 1600 Broken Hill CHC

3/6/2020 0830 - 1230 Broken Hill CHC

11/8/2020 0830 - 1230 Broken Hill CHC

19/11/2020 0830 - 1230 Broken Hill CHC

Attendance via video conference for remote facilities.

Why do stories matter?

It helps us to understand how our patients and their

carer/s feel about their health experience whilst in our care and how our fellow-staff members feel about their experience working in FWLHD.

Stories are a method for people to have a voice with meaning and purpose.

Stories can offer great insight about what is working

well and help us to identify things we can do better and ways to improve.

Who can collect stories?

Any staff member working in FWLHD that has an interest

in gaining feedback as an improvement tool.

Capacity to engage, listen and work collaboratively in a

team which includes health professionals and consumers – patients and/or carers

Have line manager support and approval to undertake

training and story collection.

What does story collection involve?

To actively contribute to story collection in FWLHD

(rostered to collect 4 stories / year)

Follow guidelines as per FWLHD story collection process/

flowchart

For more information please contact [email protected] or [email protected] Enrol via My Health Learning Story Collection Workshop – Course Code 247173439

Resilience Workshop

All LHD generalist staff (ie non-specialist palliative care services) from all disciplines who are working with people with a life limiting illness, are invited to attend a 4 hour Resilience Workshop on Wednesday, 8 April 2020 in Broken Hill.

The workshop will be facilitated by Lyn Worsley from The Resilience Centre, Sydney.

The workshop will assist you:

To identify factors that build resilience

To cope in the face of adversity

To create opportunities to do more of ‘what works well’

To identify your strengths and resources

To develop optimistic thinking patterns

To focus on a solution, not the problem

To strengthen your ability to cope with grief and loss. The workshop will be held 9am to 1pm, is free and

morning tea provided. Bookings are essential by calling Bronte on 08 8080 1215

or email [email protected]

The Broken Hill Health Service Tai Chi for Health program is continuing to have a positive impact on participations judging by an evaluation survey conducted end of last year.

Twenty-three respondents completed the survey saying they had experienced improved fitness, muscle strength, coordination and flexibility; and that Tai Chi improves balance and decreases risk of falls, and helps eases pain and stiffness. “We all know there are benefits of regularly practicing Tai Chi and the (survey) results prove the positive impact. Feedback from the participants on the classes has been exceptional and their reported results, both on their

improved health and their enjoyment of the classes, spur me on to continue the classes,” said Tai Chi for Health Volunteer Leader, Gail Turner (pictured).

All of the respondents reporting enjoying the class ‘a lot’ and over 90% said they feel better for doing the class and making friendships. All of them said their expectations had been met and that they would continue to attend – great news for the Tai Chi for Health program and our volunteers who run the classes!

Rave reviews for Tai Chi




Carer Identification

Changes have been made to Patient Administration System (PAS) and Electronic Medical Record (eMR) to identify when a patient has a carer or is a carer.

As part of registering a patient it is now mandatory to ask these questions at the time first service is provided and note in the PAS system.

Are you a carer? Do you have caring responsibilities?

Do you have a carer? Someone who provides you with ongoing support?

It is important to know if a family member or friend provides a patient with ongoing support because they have a disability, chronic, terminal, mental illness or because they are aging. When we involve the patient and their carer in discussions and decisions, we provide safer and better quality care.

Patients and their carers have a better experience when they are acknowledged and are able to talk and work with health staff. It is also important to know if a patient has caring responsibilities so that alternative support can be arranged while they are in hospital or unable to provide care. When we know the patient’s carer or that the patient is a carer we can also provide support, referrals and information.

When booking or scheduling the first service we can identify the carer of a patient who needs ongoing support because they are unwell, frail or have a disability. The carer information recorded in the PAS system will be displayed in Patient Contacts in the Electronic Medical Record (eMR).

Carers are our partners in planning and delivering a patient’s health care. Take the time to talk to and listen to the carer, they know useful information about the person that they care for and support.

For more information regarding carer identification visit NSW Health intranet or speak with the FWLHD Family and Carer Support Program.

NSW FALLS PREVENTION NETWORK RURAL FORUM

Wednesday 25 March 2020 Time: 9.30 am to 3.00 pm

Venue: Musicians Club, 276 Crystal St, Broken Hill

This forum will inspire and motivate care staff to provide high quality evidenced based care with a focus on strategies to reduce risk and harm from falls. There will be discussion on the latest research and improvement science approach to falls prevention and management including Comprehensive care (Standard 5) with a focus on strategies to reduce risk & harm from falls and falls preventative measures.

Who should attend: Allied Health, Nursing and Medical Staff from Hospital, Community and Residential Aged Care Settings and Allied Health, Exercise Physiology, Nursing and Medical Students

Registrations at My Health Learning Course Code 279510106. For external registrations email [email protected]

Being a Community Exercise Leader is both fun and rewarding!

Expressions of Interest are now open for FREE Community Exercise Leader training on 3-4 March, 2020

in Dubbo.

The Western NSW LHD Health Promotion Team invites interested volunteers and staff members to apply for Community Exercise Leader Training enabling them to run FREE classes in their community.

The two day leader training program equips participants to lead a community exercise class to suit various group situations. Participants learn gentle, strength building and balance challenging exercises and the skills to deliver free, fun and safe exercise classes.

Please Note: New Community Exercise Leaders need to be willing to conduct free classes in their community for a minimum of 12 months after training and to provide Health Promotion with class numbers monthly.

Places are limited and will be allocated based on community needs.

Please contact Nicole Woldhuis in the Health Promotion Team for a registration form and to discuss becoming a Community Exercise Leader.

Phone 02 6809 8967, email [email protected]



Let’s talk safety

When we review incidents that have resulted in injuries — of both staff and patients — we find that the majority of these are caused by

1. Poor communication

2. People not following procedures or taking short cuts

Why do people do that?

They don’t think WHY the procedures were written……….

They are in a hurry and the ‘short cuts’ are supposedly quicker but they are not safe!

Remember Security is Everyone’s Business!

Each work area should have a regular time for getting together – e.g. shift handovers, weekly staff meetings, monthly meetings — make sure that WHS or staff safety and security is an agenda item

In your ‘safety huddles’: ensure staff safety is part of your huddle — not just clinical/patient issues. If a staff safety incident happens, make sure this is discussed with everyone on your team so you are

all aware of what happened, and what’s being done to fix it! Discuss your IIMS. Celebrate your good safety record and support each other to keep it going

We need to change this approach to how we work — the safety of us, our co-workers, our patients and visitors needs to become our number one priority.

Why should we want to avoid injuries occurring? How do we ensure we all (staff, visitors and patients) stay safe in our team? What are the safety risks are in the work we are doing? What is the best way for us to communicate to everyone about safety incidents and hazards? Do we use the ‘safety huddles’ to talk about our safety at work as well as patient safety risks? Can we do this better?

Let’s stop, think and act as a team for safety

Stop and think

Act — How to talk about safety

Let staff know you are concerned for them and their safety. Talk to others in language they understand and as you would like to be spoken to! Be kind and be

courteous. Talk to others about why they should want to stay safe — family to go home to; holidays planned;

maybe retiring soon... LISTEN to what others are telling you about their concerns — genuinely listen! Foster an environment where everyone wants to care for everyone else!

How to communicate about safety


PAGE 9

Submissions can be sent to [email protected]. The newsletter can be found on the Far West LHD website at www.fwlhd.health.nsw.gov.au


Policy Watch — PDs available on MOH internet The following documents have been published on the NSW Ministry of Health internet site http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/policies. These documents are official NSW Health policy. Compliance with Policy Directives is mandatory.

Social media is proliferate throughout society and its use is increasing – the platforms of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter are synonymous with social media.

Whether used for fun, for business or for work, there are implications in its use and particularly so when it crosses over into your work environment. You may not even be aware your private use can impact on your work or that something said or depicted on your private social media profile can be perceived as being associated with your work.

It might pay to make yourself

aware of the responsible use of social media and the impacts it can have on people and organisations, including your employment with NSW Health.

Surprised that may be the case? Want to learn more?

You can! One such tool available to all staff is the eLearning module "Responsible use of Social Media". This is a program on My Health Learning about social media and the potential impacts it can have on organisations and people.

On successful completion of this module you will understand: The main forms of social

media The potential impacts that

social media can have on an organisation and people

The expectations that professional organisations have in relation to responsible use of social media This module is applicable for

all NSW Health Staff and a certificate is issued on completion.

The My Health Learning

course code is 175557330 and it should only take about 30 minutes to complete.

Responsible use of Social Media – are you doing it right?

Title Document Number Date Issued

Safe Assessment Rooms GL2020_001 09/01/2020

Legal instrument for tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine supply as PrEP in MI-EPIC trial IB2019_048 20/12/2019

Pharmaceutical Charges for Hospital Outpatients and Safety Net Thresholds IB2019_049 20/12/2019

Industrial Consultative Arrangements in the NSW Health Service PD2019_059 13/12/2019

NSW Health Privacy Internal Review Guidelines GL2019_015 13/12/2019

WorkSpace Accommodation Policy PD2019_060 17/12/2019

Identifying and responding to abuse of older people PD2020_001 29/01/2020

Bed Type Classification Update from 1 January 2020 IB2020_001 29/01/2020

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/policies

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/policies

http://www1.health.nsw.gov.au/pds/Pages/doc.aspx?dn=GL2020_001

http://www1.health.nsw.gov.au/pds/Pages/doc.aspx?dn=IB2019_048



http://www1.health.nsw.gov.au/pds/Pages/doc.aspx?dn=PD2019_059

http://www1.health.nsw.gov.au/pds/Pages/doc.aspx?dn=GL2019_015




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