The Central Coast Local Health District has recognised the outstanding contributions and achievements of their own through its inaugural Caring for the Coast Awards.
The awards encourage and celebrate staff who exemplify excellence and who go above and beyond in their roles.
District Chief Executive, Dr Andrew Montague, said it was his privilege and pleasure to launch the awards in such an unprecedented time to be a health worker.
“The situation with COVID-19 has once again highlighted the incredible work and dedication of our staff and reinforced the importance of taking the time to celebrate their achievements,” Dr Montague said.
“We are fortunate to have many passionate and dedicated professionals working across our services and these awards allow us to highlight some of their hard work and achievements.
“We were thrilled with the enthusiastic response to the awards from our staff and sponsors.
“Nominations in each of the 10 categories poured in from right across the District, with a diverse range of clinical, non-clinical, hospital and community based submissions.
“The quality of nominations was outstanding and meant that the judging panel had an incredibly difficult time shortlisting the finalists.
“Each entry was reviewed closely by our judges who were very impressed by the countless examples of staff delivering exceptional patient care and positive outcomes.
“Congratulations to our finalists who are doing some incredibly innovative and inspiring work across our District,” Dr Montague said.
Jessica Hagan is the Deputy Director at Wyong Hospital Pharmacy and was the District’s first awardee, taking out The Emerging Leader Award.
Dr Montague said Hagan earned the award for being an inspiring leader who is dedicated to supporting the development of others.
“In her role, Jess has fostered Wyong Hospital Pharmacy team’s shared vision of collaboration and a strong focus on patient care.
“This has culminated in constantly improving their consistency, reach, quality, efficiency and productivity.
“Her ability to build positive relationships is demonstrated through significant improvement in culture survey scores, service performance measures and the high number of improvement projects and educational activities,” Dr Montague said.
The Outstanding Leadership Award went to Aimme Petersen, Medical Team Leader Pharmacist at Wyong Hospital Pharmacy.
“Aimee is seen by her staff, peers and managers as an exemplary leader in her role.
“She is known to go above and beyond in all aspects of her leadership and professional work.
“Aimee builds a positive workplace culture through leading by example and encouraging the department to run as a cohesive team with shared goals of patient safety.
“She communicates openly and engages with all team members, valuing everyone’s opinion and contribution,” Dr Montague said.
Petersen also pioneered a Medical Team Leader role and was instrumental in embedding this successful reconfigured service model across the whole department, which led to an increase in the number of patients that were provided a pharmaceutical review within 24 hours of admission and this change has been maintained for more than two years.
The Volunteer of the Year Award went to John Daven, Chairperson of the District’s Prostate Cancer Support Group.
A prostate cancer survivor dedicated to volunteering his time and sharing his personal experience to help other men on their own prostate cancer journey, Daven has been at the helm of the Support Group for seven years.
His expert leadership has been pivotal to its ongoing success.
“John not only gives his time and effort, but his heart and soul to the role.
“Coming to every meeting highly prepared, John makes it a priority to welcome new members and make them feel comfortable, supported and heard.
“He reminds them that there is hope and that they are not alone,” Dr Montague said.
Renee Grieve is a Registered Nurse who works at Gosford Hospital’s Inpatient Unit K4.
The Woongarrah local picked up the Belinda Collier Award for exemplifying the collaborative and supportive attributes of the District’s former Executive Director of Workforce and Culture and award namesake, the late Belinda Collier.
“Renee is the type of colleague that can improve any shift through her inspirational presence.
“In a challenging, high-paced acute surgical ward, creating and maintaining a positive workplace culture is no mean feat.
“But Renee succeeds by tackling issues with a purpose,” Dr Montague said.
“No stranger to leadership roles throughout her career at the District, Renee often fulfils the dual role of Shift Coordinator and Charge Nurse.
“She leads from the front, demonstrating a respect for both colleagues and patients that results in high quality care and patient experience.
“As well as being a dedicated and passionate nurse, she is a strong advocate for mental health, always available to support colleagues as a mentor and friend.
“Among her many contributions, she is known for the notes she leaves around the ward that contain inspiring phrases and affirmations, building her colleagues’ self esteem and creating a positive atmosphere, even when she isn’t around,” he added.
The Excellence in Inclusion and Diversity Award went to the oral health partnership with the District and Wyong’s Yerin Eleanor Duncan Aboriginal Health Centre.
This partnership is unique across the District and in 2017, when refurbishment started on the Eleanor Duncan Medical Centre to build a two chair dental clinic, discussions began about expanding the existing Oral Health service model by shifting resources out of hospital into the community.
The partnership took a strategic approach to reducing oral health disparities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians.
It moved from an after-hours service providing three hours of clinic a week, to becoming a dedicated, four-day-a-week, community led clinic at Wyong, reducing barriers to access for the community.
“Since the new model was implemented in October 2018, Yerin and CCLHD staff have worked together to provide a truly integrated dental service to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients, with feedback from patients overwhelmingly positive.
The service also works in partnership with the University of Newcastle’s Ourimbah Oral Health Clinic, and there is ongoing liaison with the State Centre for Oral Health Strategy (COHS) to ensure that the Central Coast remains agile, strategic and influential in the delivery of oral health services.
Team of the Year went to Gosford Hospital’s Black Start Testing team.
Led by Maintenance Operations, the Black Start Testing team included over 50 people from several District departments including engineering, nursing operations, emergency response, operating theatres, security, clinical engineering, ICT and fire services along with contractors, all working together to test critical infrastructure as part of the major redevelopment of Gosford Hospital.
According to Dr Montague, this major undertaking allowed the District to test the capacity of the hospital’s engineering systems in the event of a major power outage, ensuring that patient care would not be compromised.
All critical infrastructure was put to the test including nurse call buttons, medication fridges, medical gases, phone switchboards and paging systems.
Fire safety tests were carried out, and the safety of all duress buttons, access control systems and boom gates checked, as well as all standby generators.
Extensive planning, including staged investigation testing and regular stakeholder liaison, occurred over a six month period leading up to the big day, the Black Start Test.
Thanks to the planning and great teamwork there were minimal to no disruptions to hospital operations during two, 12 hour, overnight Black Start Tests.
Recognising an employee who has made an exceptional contribution and whose work or actions have made a significant difference to patients, visitors, and/or staff, Staff Member of the Year, is arguably the award’s highest honour, and was taken out by Gosford Hospital Cancer Services Outpatients Pharmacist, Michael Swabb.
“As a Pharmacy Team Leader, Michael is described by his peers as an inclusive and respectful colleague who treats everyone equally,” Dr Montague said.
“He embraces change and people from all walks of life.
“Michael is very passionate about patients, talking to them and getting to know them to better cater to their needs.
“It can be an overwhelming and distressing time for patients starting chemotherapy and Michael goes out of his way to make them feel as comfortable as possible.
“Patients often come by just to say hello to him.
“Michael is always thinking about and implementing new ways of doing things.
“He took a lead in a recent major interface change where the cancer care department changed operating systems.
“He came in early and left late, just to make sure that the department wasn’t suffering from his absence while working on the system.
“He drove training for the new system and is still supporting new users.
“Michael is dedicated to training new staff and supporting them to strengthen their skills.
“Nurses, doctors and various other staff are constantly asking him for advice.
“He is honest, open and always has time for others.
“Those who work with him say they are inspired by his energy and passion, not just for pharmacy, but for the wider organisation and our patients,” Dr Montague said.
Other awards on the night went to various projects, programs and campaigns carried out by District staff or in partnership with other health bodies.
They are Excellence in Research, awarded to the No CAUTI project, a research project partnership between the District and Hunter New England Local Health District that introduced a new model for bundled catheter care intervention for the prevention of catheter associated urinary tract infections.
Excellence in Improvement and Innovation, awarded to the Districts’ Oral Health team for their A Tooth in Time Saves Nine campaign that resulted in significant improvements to the District’s Rapid Assessment for Dentures program and overall outcomes for patients awaiting denture services.
Another award was for Excellence in Patient Experience and Safety, awarded to the District’s A Hard Act to Swallow project team which resulted in significantly boosted referral rates to the District’s Nutrition Services in oesophageal cancer patients at risk of long term malnutrition as a result of their treatment.
Dilon Luke