In The Loop- SEM caregiver newsletter-December 2022

Welcome

LISA NORMAN

CEO, South East Melbourne Hospitals

What happened to 2022? We seemed to move through the year at great speed. I suspect that life finally returned to normal and we were busy doing the things that we did pre-covid which resulted in the year moving quickly.

The SEM hospitals have been very busy with the following exciting projects:-

• The biggest change was the relocation of our mental health service where we closed Pinelodge Clinic and relocated our people to the newly renovated Langmore Centre in Berwick. The closure of Pinelodge was a wellconsidered decision and based on the fact that most of our patients lived closer to Berwick. Nevertheless this site has played an important role in our heritage and allowed many to find a place of healing as they faced mental health difficulties.

As the original home of our Berwick Hospital, the new Langmore Centre site has served the health care needs for this community for over 110 years. It has now undertaken an $18m renovation to deliver a contemporary facility designed for mental health care. It is a beautiful hospital that allows patients to feel comfortable while they undertake treatment to improve their mental health and doubles as a modern work space for our new caregivers and former Pinelodge staff. In addition, being able to watch the Gibb St location come to life and provide care to the community once again has been a source of joy for those of us who used to work there.

• Frankston Rehabilitation Hospital has diversified its service offering in 2022 by commencing inpatient palliative care services.

• Berwick introduced cardiac diagnostic services which enables people to undertake tests that

assess the health of their heart. This includes echocardiograms, stress testing, stress echocardiograms, blood pressure and heart rate monitoring.

• The Langmore Centre also commenced a new service with the opening of a perinatal mental health unit which provides inpatient care for parents experiencing anxiety and depression following the birth of a baby.

• Preparation of a new Clinical Services Plan for Berwick began that allowed us to consider how we will look in 2027 and then 2032. This indicated that by 2027 we will need to be around 350 beds with 15 operating theatres and by 2032 we will need to be around 450 beds with 20 operating theatres

• Berwick introduced the Patient Portal for the organisation and this has seen around 90 per cent of our patients complete their admission paperwork online. The best component from a patient perspective is when they need admission again the process is even simpler as they just need to update the details rather than completing new paperwork.

• Frankston also achieved ACHS Hospital Accreditation with flying colours with surveyors impressed at the quality of service and how Frankston continues to evolve to respond to the needs of our community. This was in particular a great achievement for Karen Ward in her first year as the DCS (Director Clinical Services) of Frankston. A big shout out to the quality team led by Eveline Soon and Rebecca Nolan as the rehab quality coordinators for their role in leading us to achieve a great accreditation outcome.

Sadly we said goodbye to two caregivers who passed away during the year. This prompted a great suggestion from Rex Flannery in Berwick theatre resulting in a decision to have a memorial wall in the chapel gardens at Berwick. There may be an opportunity to replicate this idea at Frankston and Langmore.

SEM - What can we expect in 2023

• Berwick will complete Stage 4 tower design that will result in a business case seeking approval to proceed to more detailed design stages.

• Berwick will seek approval to open an additional theatre and a dialysis service

• Berwick will complete a cardiac diagnostic and consulting centre.

• Frankston will complete a renovation of the mobility garden in the Granada Unit in partnership with Sunrise Rotary in Frankston.

• Frankston will work up a design and business case for the renovation of allied health offices.

• A comprehensive palliative care strategy will be developed with our community partner Palliative Care South East and Peninsula Hospice in collaboration with our palliative care physicians for Frankston and Berwick regions.

• Development of a SEM strategy for how we grow in Financial Year 2024.

• Langmore Centre development of a sensory garden.

• Introduction of room service allowing patients to choose from a menu at a time they feel like eating.

St John of God Health Care is currently undertaking an international recruitment campaign to encourage UK and New Zealand Nurses and Midwives to come to Australia you can read more about this on page 18. This is a big investment that is aimed at ensuring we have enough nurses and midwives to support our current teams in delivering exceptional standard of care to our patients. Already over 100 nurses have been recruited for SJGHC hospitals.

In the meantime, I look forward to seeing the festive season bring smiles to the faces of our caregivers and patients. If you are having time off over the Christmas/ New Year period, please enjoy the downtime and whatever plans you have with family and friends. If you are working throughout the holiday season, I thank you for your tireless devotion, selflessness and your commitment to providing exceptional ongoing care to our patients.

May you all stay safe, happy and healthy. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Take care, Lisa Norman

Norman CEO, SEM Hospitals

Lisa

Lisa Norman pictured at the official opening of St John of God Langmore Centre with outgoing Group CEO, Dr Shane Kelly

Sara

2022- HMC wrap up

Crees

- Director Corporate Services

As we are approaching the end of another year I reflect on how many milestones that the Corporate Services team has achieved. Firstly and most importantly I would like to thank all of the Corporate Services caregivers for their continued high standard of care they show each and every day to our patients, visitors and fellow caregivers. I am proud to say that among many other achievements the Corporate Services division:

• Moved our Catering and Environmental Services to Langmore

• Opened our new Pomegranate Café

• Updated all access cards and waste management, working closely with clinical caregivers on the move to Langmore

• Carried out successful audits on our kitchens and cafes were undertaken

• Continues to replace and update old equipment in all of our areas

• Reviewed HR processes and recruitment systems

• Created a SEM environmental sustainability committee.

I look forward to working with all of our caregivers next year to continue to make a positive difference to our patient hospital stay.

Danny

Antonopoulos

– Director of Finance

The Financial ‘Berwick’ Review! From a financial perspective, I would like to share some highlights for FY22. The hospital was able to meet its budget obligations throughout the year. Yeah! Some statistics:

• separations for the year were 25,155 (FY21. 23,872) up 5%.

• patient days for the year were 56,985 (FY21. 54,644) up 4%

• procedures for the year were 16,611 (FY21. 15,985) up 4%

• births for the year were 1,023 (FY21. 912) up 12%

• hospital revenue up 7% on FY21

Specialties that performed well were orthopaedics, urology, gynaecology and general surgery. Good growth also coming from obstetrics and rehabilitation, both up on prior year. Some of our cost challenges included the additional screening costs, extra compliance costs, and PPE needs. My thanks to all our caregivers for doing a great job caring for our patients.

Sue Hallifax- Business Development Manager

As another year speeds to a close I’m happy to pause a moment to think about my first full year at St John of God South East Melbourne. The term ‘caregivers’ was new to me when I joined but it now resonates very strongly with me as I’ve gotten to know the team and seen how much you individually and collectively care about the difference we make to each other and to our patients. As a business development manager I am frequently speaking with our doctors and I have never before heard such resounding praise of a hospital team, it makes it so easy to develop the services of our hospital when doctors prefer to bring their patients here.

I have been privileged to be part of the development of a number of new services and watch them take shape in this past year including:

• Linking with palliative care physicians to establish a palliative service at Frankston

• Recruiting a great bunch of psychiatrists to Langmore

• Supporting the development of the wonderful perinatal unit at Langmore

• Working up the cardiac diagnostic unit at Berwick

• Helping with the capital project to upgrade Theatre B to a fully capable theatre

• Assisting with the recruitment of surgeons to fill the ever changing matrix of theatre sessions at Berwick

• Supporting the promotion of new obstetricians at Berwick

Lastly I feel incredibly proud of my marketing, GP liaison and consulting suite teams whose work is such a vital part of the big picture of our health services and the difference we all help make to patients every day, thank you all.

St John of God South East Melbourne Hospitals

Allison Merrigan - Director of Nursing & Patient Experience

Unfortunately, this year has again been dominated by our response to the pandemic. Our resilience to continue into the third year (yes, it has been a long time) and maintain exceptional patient care has been outstanding. Our patient experience feedback score continues to be one of the highest across St John of God hospitals and is testament to your commitment to the vulnerable members of community who cross our paths daily. I also want to pay special attention to how you have cared for each other. Health care is challenging but I am impressed each and every day in the ways you support one another and contribute to the team.

I definitely feel we are moving on to new and exciting opportunities, not just responding to whatever this virus throws at us.

Looking ahead, I think that 2023 is full of hope and optimism. I wish you and your loved ones a truly wonderful and safe Christmas, and thank you to those caregivers who will share this time working and caring for our patients.

Karen Ward – Director Clinical Services Frankston Rehabilitation Hospital

It’s been another challenging year for Frankston navigating the introduction of new services, refining and expanding existing programs, launching a new marketing campaign, adapting to ever-changing Covid restrictions, welcoming new caregivers and going through the complex and often arduous process of successfully achieving accreditation.

Some highlights have included the establishment of a new palliative care unit which was opened to meet the growing need for more end-of-life care options in Melbourne’s Peninsula region. We’ve also had to increase programs such as falls and balance and lower limb to meet demand.

Despite the increase to workloads and services provided, we’ve managed to host a number of events aimed at thanking our caregivers and improving morale. Throughout the year, we’ve held an appreciation day, donut day and established both a wellbeing group and walking group for caregivers to join. Just to name a few.

Next year we are looking forward to expanding our outpatient services to either increase the number of clinics currently available or introduce new ones. We’ll continue to focus on growing our palliative care services and providing more education opportunities for caregivers, while plans are in place to reinvigorate our patient garden and decorate our patient lounge on Granada ward. Our old executive building and Culburra house are also being considered for alternative ways in which teams can come together to utilise these facilities.

For now, I’d like to recognise and thank our caregivers for their ongoing contributions throughout the year. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year and look forward to welcoming you back for another fantastic year in 2023.

Eveline Soon – Clinical Governance Manager

What a year 2022 has been! As I reflect on the year that was, I am proud of the many achievements within the Quality and Risk department. From achieving accreditation for Frankston Rehabilitation Hospital, overhauling SEM hospital policies and procedures, embedding the SEM Clinical Governance structure, to developing toolkits for our caregivers and supporting the move from Pinelodge to the Langmore Centre, just to name a few. All of these would not have been possible without the support and hard work of our dedicated caregivers. Looking ahead to 2023, Berwick Hospital will showcase our achievements and high quality of care during our accreditation in August 2023, and making Quality and Risk “business as usual”.

Dr John Monagle – Director Medical Services

Despite Covid not completely taking centre stage in 2022 it still posed a number of challenges for our hospitals from a medical services standpoint. Adapting to consistent changes in restrictions and attempting to return to normal activity following the reduction of stricter policies in place throughout 2020 and 2021, along with the continued reliance on WebEx meetings has certainly made for another interesting year in the health care industry.

It hasn’t been all bad news though. With Berwick hospital’s opening of Theatre B, we’ve been able to increase procedure numbers by more than 10 per cent compared to pre-Covid levels, our surgical robotic program has seen significant growth and we’ve recently opened a new cardiac diagnostic service which you can read more about on page 11.

Looking ahead we have plans to establish a renal dialysis service, further develop a kidney stone management service and implement a statutory duty of candour (SDC) process which requires health services to apologise to any person seriously harmed while receiving care, explain what went wrong, and describe what action will be taken and what improvements will be put in place going forward. More information will be made available when these initiatives and projects are finalised.

In the meantime, I’d like to take the time to wish you all a very happy festive season. Please take care of yourselves over the holidays.

Linda Allen – CEO St John of God Langmore Centre

It’s incredible how quickly the year has gone by but it is not surprising when it’s been such a busy and impactful one for our hospital and caregivers. Throughout this year our main focus has been on closing Pinelodge Clinic and relocating our services and opening our new Langmore Centre.

With lots of planning, preparation and a great deal of hard work, it’s been a very rewarding experience to be part of a team that has brought a much loved local icon back to life and importantly also providing mental health services to the Berwick community.

The relocation of our services has provided us with the opportunity to care for more people as we continued Inpatient, Day Program and Outreach services. The opening of the inpatient Perinatal Mental Health Unit, which expands access to services in south east Melbourne has been rewarding for all involved.

I’m very proud of how our caregivers have worked together through an exciting but challenging year and thank everyone for their contributions. I know together we will continue to support our patients and the community for years to come.

Shelley Cooper- Director of Clinical Services Langmore Centre

It’s been a busy year for Pinelodge/Langmore Centre. We’ve closed a hospital and relocated to a new one where we have increased capacity along with opening our new Perinatal Mental Health Unit. Obviously fluctuating occupancy and the ongoing Covid situation has been a challenge for us to work around, however it’s been wonderful to see our team pull together to welcome new caregivers and make the move to Gibb Street as seamless as possible.

Moving hospitals was no mean feat. Our clinicians undertook a review of each of our services in preparation for the move and through their hard work and attention to detail we were able to safely and effectively reopen with very little disruption to our mental health offerings.

Over the coming year we will continue to work with new doctors to review the needs of our community and grow our services accordingly. The development of a sensory garden is a major priority for 2023 and we will be looking at what group therapy opportunities can be established around it.

As we head into the festive season, I’d like to extend my thanks and appreciation to our caregivers. It’s been a big year for us and the commitment, compassion and care shown by our team members all the year through does not go unnoticed. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year. I look forward to another successful year in 2023.

Rhonda

O’Connor

– Director of Mission Integration

Like all areas, the ongoing weariness of caregivers has continued to be evident across the board this year. Bringing caregivers together for Formation and Orientation has, and still is, a big challenge. While online modules are good, nothing replaces in-person contact especially when it comes to having great discussions and reflections. Reengaging with many caregivers who have been working remotely and home schooling over the past three years has meant changes to the ways we work, our set hours and days. Getting back to ‘business as usual’ hasn’t been as easy as predicted with the challenges of navigating Covid still very present.

This does impact on all areas, and yet we have seen caregivers support each other and continue to live the values of St John of God Health Care every day. Therefore, although it’s necessary to acknowledge the difficulties that do exist, it’s even more important to focus on some of the highlights of the past year from a Mission Integration perspective particularly when these milestones are solely achieved through the continued hard work and dedication of our amazing caregivers.

Major achievements for 2022

• Langmore relocation. The whole relocation team which was able to coordinate all the preparation and change management within the significant restrictions was really impressive. The fact that we were able to move safely without major issues has been an absolute testament to our caregivers and their commitment to our mission and values in action.

• Frankston accreditation. Amid changes in leadership and management, COVID restrictions and the introduction of a new palliative care service, the team was under significant pressure. Seeing everyone step up, support each other and strive to showcase the excellent care and service that is offered at Frankston was remarkable. The feedback from the assessors was certainly reflective of all the hard work and commitment behind the scenes. Well done.

• Getting the basics right! For all our sites at Berwick, Frankston and Langmore there has been so many necessary changes to processes, restrictions and adaptations throughout the year. Despite this, our NPS patient feedback has continued to be really high, and reflects that our values are being upheld every day across all areas.

Looking ahead

• Mission Champions! We are looking at a new model of inviting each unit or department to nominate a Mission Champion for their unit. This person would play a role in support of the manager to assist with leading the mission and encouraging the living of our values in our work every day. A full reflection day would be offered to bring all our Mission Champions together early in 2023 to reflect and discuss ideas and activities that will engage all caregivers. Keep an eye out for the nomination forms early next year.

• Mission orientation. After delaying face-to-face Mission orientation sessions during COVID because in-person sessions seemed more important, we’ve had to play catch up and have so far done 10 sessions this year. Some people attending had only just commenced, but others had been with us for almost two years. Next year we aim to have a stable plan in place to connect with caregivers soon after they start working with us.

As I reflect, I think the main focus for us in the year ahead is balancing the workload and finding a work/life balance in the midst of constant busyness. It’s important for us to support our managers who lead their teams with compassion and excellence and make sure they are taking the time to look after themselves as well. As they say ─ fill your own cup first!

I’m excited about the year ahead and look forward to the challenges, rewards, celebrations and new friendships and experiences that will come our way. Until then, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Take care,

Rhonda O’Connor Director of Mission Integration

FRANKSTON NEWS

Accreditation Achieved

Frankston Rehabilitation Hospital was successful in achieving accreditation recently. Three areas were identified as met with recommendations, these being mandatory training of clinical caregivers in medication and blood training. A recommendation included more ATSI (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) specific material as part of our already established cultural training.

Given preparation for making medical and blood training available to caregivers was already underway at the time of accreditation with the inclusion of more ATSI focused training recommended as part of a Group approach, the results and feedback received were overall very positive.

“A lot of hard work goes into this process,” explains Karen Ward, Director Clinical Services. “However, at its completion we can reflect on the opportunity it provides us in showcasing the exceptional quality and safety procedures we have in place to ensure we continue to meet best practice standards for our patients and caregivers alike.”

Well done Frankston! Next up for accreditation is St John of God Berwick Hospital in early August 2023.

Medical Intervention Program launched

Known as MIPs, Frankston Rehabilitation Hospital has launched its Medical Intervention Program for people who are aging and have chronic or complex conditions that require daily care but who don’t necessarily meet the need for rehabilitative services.

“MIPs is designed to provide people who don’t need access to acute care with an alternative pathway to

addressing their needs of receiving ongoing medical support and treatment,” says Karen Ward, Director Clinical Services.

Citing wound care or medication management/ education as examples of conditions that might see a patient referred to our Frankston hospital, Karen says that each individual patient is assessed prior to admission to determine suitability for this service.

“We can accept referrals to either the MIP unit or for rehabilitation. Our assessment nurse will then conduct the appropriate evaluations to establish which program would best suit a patient’s specific needs.”

Also determined in the evaluation process is what might be required to treat the referred patient. “Some patients may require complex interdisciplinary assessments or comprehensive geriatric assessments,” Karen states.

“Education might also be needed around falls management, dietary and nutrition, or medication. Whatever specific condition a patient has, if it falls outside specific admission criteria, we will still accept referrals and assess on an individual basis as there may be other options available.”

St John of God South East Melbourne Hospitals

Cardiac Diagnostic Clinic now open

Cardiac services at St John of God Berwick Hospital have recently expanded with the establishment of a new Cardiac Diagnostic Clinic which provides bulk-billed echo, stress echo, Holter and blood pressure monitoring for patients who are referred by GPs and specialists. The tests are undertaken or reported by one of our 35 accredited cardiologists.

St John of God Berwick Hospital Director of Cardiology Dr James Sapontis believes it’s not only an opportunity to expand current cardiac services, it makes accessing cardiac care more affordable and easily attainable to local communities.

“Currently people needing cardiac services in the Casey area are travelling outside of their local community. Our Berwick Hospital has strong cardiac services with a Cardiac Cath Lab and Cardiac Care Unit, so people have no need to leave the area to access good cardiac diagnostic and procedural care,” Dr Sapontis explains.

The new service provides patients with consistency of care. “When a patient presents to their GP with symptoms, they can be referred to our cardiac services unit for screening and diagnostic testing. If anything abnormal is detected, our cardiologists will consult with the referring doctor before arranging any further procedures that may be indicated such as angiography, stenting, pacemakers, defibrillators or electrophysiology studies,” Dr Sapontis states. “Worst case scenario is if you need to be admitted for more complex surgery or urgent treatment, you are already in a hospital.”

Covid paves a new way to save the planet

Accepting that anything positive could have come out of the Covid-19 pandemic might still be a hard pill to swallow but it can’t be denied that the worldwide onboarding of QR codes has at least contributed in some part to the preservation of our environment and that really is good news.

If you are a caregiver at Frankston Rehabilitation Hospital or Langmore Centre then you’ll already know that paper-based brochures gracing hospital halls and walls are now a climate-changing thing of the past.

In their place are the paper-saving, more hygienic, budget-conscious QR codes that we’ve all become accustomed to since the onset of Covid. The widespread use and acceptance of QR codes has pretty much ensured that there’s very few people left on this planet that don’t know how to use them. This means that implementing a new QR code system for patients and visitors to get the most up-to-date and accurate information delivered directly to their phones was easier than ever anticipated before.

Once a lofty idea of the pre-covid SEM Marketing and Communications team, this project was rolled out at Frankston and Langmore earlier this year once it was recognised that QR codes were here to stay. Replacing hardcopy brochures with a QR code means content changes can be executed immediately, and out-of-date brochures no longer sit idly until hardcopies can be updated, printed, despatched and then redistributed to various locations across the three hospital sites.

QR codes are also found in patient rooms where bedside guides and other pertinent information can be easily accessed. It’s particularly helpful to older patients who are at higher risk of falls, and to patients who are bedridden or have mobility issues. Making the information accessible means patients don’t have to call on caregivers to check whether the information they are receiving is still relevant. Digital copies are quicker and less time-consuming to make changes to which means patients can be assured that the brochure they are accessing through a QR code is the most recent version available at that time.

Due to the success of the project at our smaller hospital sites, the QR code system is intended to be rolled out at Berwick Hospital in 2023.

Gibb St transformed as Langmore Centre opens its doors to patients

A couple of years in the making, St John of God Langmore Centre welcomed patients into its newly refurbished mental health facility on Gibb St, Berwick in August this year. The former St John of God Berwick Hospital closed its doors in early 2018 after it relocated to a brand new, purpose-built hospital a few kilometres away on Kangan Drive.

Since then, more than $18 million has been invested into bringing inpatient and outpatient mental health services to the area.

While the opening of the Langmore Centre has been reported on consistently in this newsletter since construction began, the recent opening of its perinatal mental health unit in October this year has not yet had its fair share of the lime light.

Part of the overall 60-bed mental health facility, the Wexford Unit accommodates 12 private patient rooms with ensuites and video-monitored nurseries. The unit which is accessed separately from the other inpatient wards is equipped to cater to families, with partners of patients encouraged to stay as well. Infants up to 18 months of age who are not yet walking are also provided the opportunity to room-in.

Shared art, music and exercise therapy areas, a café, chapel, daily newspapers, free parking, outdoor courtyards and a sensory garden, laundry facilities, baby bathing room, Wi-Fi, pastoral care services and a sensory room are available for all to use.

St John of God South East Melbourne Hospitals

Mental health patient room

Perinatal mental health baby change room

Perinatal unit Official opening smoking ceremony

Official opening ceremony The team at the official opening

Caregiver profile

LOUISE GAWLER

New to St John of God Health Care, Louise has spent much of her career helping parents and their infants form positive foundations. As nurse unit manager for Langmore Centre’s new perinatal mental health unit, Louise developed an interest in infant mental health after spending more than two decades working with families as a paediatric nurse, midwife and maternal child health nurse. Not long after emigrating from England in 2007, Louise settled in Berwick where she has lived with her husband and two children ever since. When she isn’t working, Louise is busy tending to her cheeky French bulldogs, Bob and Betty, and enjoys time with the newest addition to her family – an adorable little grandbaby.

What’s your favourite thing to do on a weekend? Walk the Frenchie’s to botanical gardens and have a coffee. Sundays are grandbaby day.

Do you play an instrument? If not, what would you like to learn to play? Started to learn the piano many years ago need to find time to revisit this as I would love to play again.

Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Introvert.

Do you have any phobias? It’s a weird one but tiny holes, for instance lotus or protea seed pods.

What has been your favourite holiday? Trip around European cities.

If you could pick anywhere else in the world to go, where would it be? I would like to hike the Cinque Terre trail.

What’s your favourite season? Spring.

Have you ever met anyone famous? Sadly not. Would have loved to have met The Queen though.

What show are you currently binge-watching? Meet the Durrells.

What skill do you think you could improve on? Reversing my car.

What’s something you’re really bad at? Reversing my car. ;)

If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be? Would love to live closer to family.

Who do you look up to at work? As a student nurse, many years ago I had a mentor also called Louise. She was an Irish nurse who taught me how to nurse with true compassion. I still think of her today.

Are you a morning person or night owl? Morning person.

What was your first paying job? Serving customers in a busy bakery.

John of God South East Melbourne Hospitals

Perinatal mental health unit NUM, Langmore Centre

With the opening of Langmore Centre’s perinatal mental health unit in October this year, we welcome our newest team to the SEM hospital family.

Making up the Wexford Unit, we have associate nurse unit managers Marilyn Lynch, Karen Jordan, Lorenie Marquez and Jo Cardiff, registered nurses Megan Oldham, Jessica Haigh, Beth Lewis, Amy Fairbairn and Melissa Baker, and enrolled nurses Jennifer York and Belinda Walker.

Almost half of the team led by Louise Gawler, nurse unit manager, consists of caregivers new to our organisation who have embarked on a journey to make perinatal mental health care more accessible to the CaseyCardinia region.

According to Louise, most caregivers of the Wexford Unit have either worked in perinatal mental health or in adult mental health and have a keen interest to work or study in this area. Perinatal mental health work is bidirectional which means that any therapeutic care given to a parent or primary carer can affect the infant. Conversely any work done with an infant can affect the parent or primary carer.

Department in the spotlight: Perinatal Mental Health Unit

It’s a field of mental health caregiving that can be very rewarding, explains Louise. “Watching families reach their goals through the support our team offers, is a wonderful experience to bear witness to.”

Louise says that the team works cohesively while still being able to offer specialised knowledge and experiences to their patients. “Each team member brings with them different skills, they respect that, and have started to tap into each other’s individual expertise. It’s a very special thing to be able to bring a team together and watch them grow,” she adds.

Perinatal Mental Health Unit team members (Back row L to R): Kim Bean, Karen Walker, Megan Oldham, Lorenie Marquez, Beth Lewis, Louise Gawler, Emina Music, Jessica Haigh, Jo Cardiff, Melissa Baker and Karen Jordan.

SCOOP In The Loop

Caregivers get boost to salary packaging cap

St John of God Health Care has been approved to raise the maximum salary package cap from $9,010 to $15,900 per Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) year for everyday living expenses such as mortgage, rent or personal loans etc. This increase stands separate to the meal entertainment allowance of $2,650, which when combined brings the total package to $18,550. In addition to those savings, novated leases can be packaged on top, using a combination of your pre-tax and post-tax pay.

The good news doesn’t stop there however – the change took effect from April 1, 2022, which means caregivers who already take advantage of salary packaging can accelerate their payments in order to use the entire cap for the FBT year. For those who have not already made changes to their current salary packaging arrangement with Maxxia, (St John of God Health Care’s only salary packaging provider), it’s still not too late to increase payments over a shorter period of time to maximise this opportunity. All you need to do is contact Maxxia for a new calculation.

New to SJGHC and/or salary packaging?

If you are new to SJGHC or have no idea what salary packaging is, you should first visit maxxia.com.au to learn more about how this salary option can benefit you. Another way to get advice specific to your needs and situation is to book an appointment with a Maxxia consultant. A link can be found on Cora.

Salary sacrificing in a nutshell

Ordinarily, your employer takes out income tax from your pay and deposits the remainder into your bank account. You then pay all your living expenses – including your

rent or mortgage, car repayments, insurances, groceries and utility bills – and if you’re lucky, have a bit left over. But with a Maxxia salary packaging account, your employer still pays you the same salary, but we help you pay those same expenses before tax is taken out. This means your taxable income could go down, your disposable income could go up, and with some of these expenses already taken care of, you could have more money for other essentials and surprises.

SEM Hospitals response to COVID nationally recognised

National

Recognised for development of its COVID Response Team, SJG SEM hospitals

among the top three organisations to compete for the NSCA’s Best Safety Leadership Program/Initiative award.

The nomination is assessed on the decisions and actions of directors, CEOs and/or executive managers to

Safety Council of Australia (NSCA) named St John of God SEM hospitals as a finalist at its annual National Safety Awards of Excellence Gala Dinner in November this year.

were ranked

St John of God Health Care’s EAP provider, Converge, has recently launched its wellbeing app, a tool that harnesses the latest digital technology to empower caregivers to take control of their health and is available on both Android and Apple platforms.

The app has a range of features that can assist caregivers in looking after their own mental and physical wellbeing. It also provides the tools for caregivers to seek support if needed.

Included in the Converge wellbeing app:

• Book free, private and confidential consulting sessions

• Ability to connect to your phone or fitbit

• Real-time data tracking using a personalised dashboard that monitors five different health areas: mind, heart, sleep, weight and activity

• Targeted feedback and insights library

• Daily check-ins and mood tracking

• Employee support (FAQs and email support)

To download the app, scan the QR code or search for “Converge International” in your app store. Code for SJGHC is STKOVJ.

Converge is St John of God Health Care’s EAP (Employee Assistance Program) provider of choice. It is a free and confidential counselling and support service available to caregivers and their immediate family members which

New health app for caregivers

provides access to qualified professionals including psychologists, social workers and management coaches who work directly with caregivers through one-onone appointments. Access to our EAP services can be done so without approval or referral from a manager or supervisor. Learn more about the most important person in your life:

make safety a business priority. To become a finalist, it must be demonstrated that a program or initiative is on an equal footing with other organisational goals and strategies, is integrating safety with other parts of the business, and either eliminates or significantly reduces psychosocial, as well as physical workplace risks.

Although the COVID Response Team initiative did not take out the top honour, SEM OH&S Manager Catherine Campbell acknowledges that the award nomination is still worthy of being promoted given the strong competition it was up against.

In an effort to source candidates for hard to fill positions, caregivers from St John of God Health Care’s recruitment team embarked on an international journey to key locations in the UK and Ireland and attended health care job fairs held in London and Dublin throughout October.

The recruitment roadshow was promoted through an intensive marketing campaign that went live on 21 September and included advertising, social media and content marketing, an upgrade to the recruitment sections of the website to support the applicant journey, radio and Spotify ads and the development of a range of materials promoting our hospitals and services.

Being based ‘down-under’, SJGHC has had to work hard to compete with global health care organisations to attract the right people. However with caregivers representing SJGHC run off their feet talking to potential caregivers, hosting meet and greets, conducting interviews and offering contracts, the recruitment drive appears to have been a success. Upon the team’s return home at the end of October, SJGHC had achieved the following results:

SJGHC goes to the ends of the earth for caregivers

• Expressions of interest (web and in person): 1,783

• Resumes submitted: 740

• Interviews conducted: 165

• Candidates progressing to conditional contract offer: 156

While the “on-the-ground” recruitment drive ended at the end of October, phase two of the process kicked off with an expanded and updated advertising campaign. Looking ahead, hospitals will be provided the following information:

• statistics revealing your recruitment progress against your vacancy per cost centre

• which caregivers have been selected for your hospital (once as they have signed a conditional contract offer we will then progress to NCAF with department manager)

• expected date of arrival.

In the meantime, Group Director Workforce, Carla Bonev and Director Workforce, Hospitals, Liz Spaull are focusing on:

• accommodation options (will partner with local geographies to do this)

• orientation and induction

• welcoming events.

St John of God South East Melbourne Hospitals

SEM caregivers join the campaign

As part of the recruitment drive, caregivers from around our SEM hospitals were asked to participate in a marketing strategy to encourage potential new caregivers to make the voyage to Australia to join our hospital teams. You can see their video interviews or read their contribution to the campaign, as well as watch marketing material on both Berwick and Frankston locations via the Pulse app.

We’d like to thank the caregivers from our SEM hospitals for volunteering their time to share their thoughts on their jobs, where they live and work and what they love about our organisations.

Simone Weremijenko: Physiotherapist Berwick Hospital

For Simone one of the things she loves most about where she works is, that despite Berwick Hospital being big enough to provide lots of opportunities, different experiences and variety in your work, it still manages to maintain a sense of community and a family feel. “You’re part of a team where everyone knows everyone,” she says, noting that even when members of the senior leadership team visit, their ability to recall caregiver names evokes a personal touch that’s often hard to replicate across large organisations.

This kind of compassion also extends to the promotion of work-life balance with Simone acknowledging that life outside work is not just supported but largely accommodated through flexible work hours and understanding. “I think one of the great things is, we strive to live that work-life balance and as your life outside work changes like having a family managers have been really supportive in changing your hours or days, or whatever you might want to do,” explains Simone. “And then when it’s time for you to come back to work they welcome you with open arms.”

Meg Evans – Nurse Unit Manager

Langmore Centre

While the St John of God Health Care values of respect, compassion, hospitality, justice and excellence were what initially attracted Meg to her role as a nurse unit manager, it’s the friendships, fun, laughter and

frivolity that she experiences regularly with her team that has kept her happily employed at St John of God Langmore Centre over the past six years.

“It’s definitely the people,” exclaims Meg enthusiastically when asked what she enjoys about working at St John of God Health Care’s newest mental health facility. “We have a really supportive, really fun sometimes silly at times team here. We definitely socialise outside of work sometimes a little too much. It’s just a lovely place to be.”

Monique Sverdvik – Nurse Unit Manager Frankston Rehabilitation Hospital

For prospective newcomers to Australia, the process of relocating and assimilating can be a daunting task but when you listen to Monique talk about her experience in recently joining St John of God Health, you can rest assured that being made to feel welcome at work will be the least of your concerns if you join the Frankston rehabilitation team. “I think when you walk through the doors of St John of God at Frankton, you really feel like you’ve landed in a safe space,” shares Monique. “The staff are warm and welcoming, and I’ve always felt genuinely supported by the people around me.”

Monique has only been working as a nurse unit manager with St John of God Frankston Rehabilitation Hospital for three months, however during that short time she’s experienced first-hand the ongoing support offered to new members of the team. “Being a new caregiver and manager at St John of God, I feel that I’ve been given an amazing opportunity to be part of an organisation that really promotes good mentoring and support of its new staff.”

You can check out the complete interviews on the 3 SEM websites, as well as view the interviews of our other SEM caregivers who were also willing participants of this project:

From Berwick Hospital:

• Kate Asker

• Cecile Muhal

From Frankston Rehabilitation Hospital:

• Jacob Goodingham

• Natalie Lyle

From Langmore Centre:

• Chapa HerathMudiyanselage

• Emily Fraser

Update on Chien

Unable to walk when seven-year-old Chien arrived at Berwick Hospital from Vietnam in 2019 to repair what is commonly referred to as clubfoot, the little boy who used to get carried everywhere by family and friends now ironically gets in trouble from his teachers for being a little too active.

For a child born in Australia, clubfoot is a condition that is often self-corrected with the use of orthotics from birth and rarely requires surgical intervention. However for Chien, who grew up in a remote Vietnamese village, the absence of medical treatment from a young age meant that his disability became worse as he grew older.

Being raised by his grandmother and living eight hours from the nearest city, meant lack of financial resources and access to medical intervention made it almost impossible for Chien to get the life-changing surgery he desperately needed.

Enter St John of God Berwick Hospital Orthopaedic Surgeon Professor Ton Tran who met Chien on a visit to his homeland of Vietnam at the beginning of 2019. After learning about Chien’s situation, Prof Ton was confident it wouldn’t take much convincing for CEO Lisa Norman to allow him to operate on Chien at Berwick Hospital.

With the support of assistant Mr Luke Bonato, paediatrician Dr Antoine Pinto, anaesthetist Dr Ash Das and SJG Berwick Hospital nurses, Prof Ton Tran undertook an eight-hour surgery to rearrange the bones in Chien’s feet and correct a hip dysplasia on November 30, 2019.

Fast forward three years and Chien, has not only learnt to walk, he’s doing well academically and enjoying riding his bike and playing with his friends. Recently with the lifting of COVID restrictions, Chien embarked on a threeday trek to his former hometown village in North Vietnam

where the discovery of his old rusty wheelchair which had been laid to rest under his house made the venture all that more rewarding.

The success of Chien’s surgery and the progress that he has made over the past three years is incredible ─ something that SJGHC is very proud to have been involved in. Chien will again return to the hospital in 2023 for further surgery on his right hip. We very much look forward to seeing him.

St John of God South East Melbourne Hospitals

Above: Chien (in green) pictured with his foster mum and brother in Vietnam

Above: A happy Chien after surgery with Professor Ton Tran, Orthopaedic Surgeon

Above: Prior to surgery, Chien’s friends would carry him around from place to place

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St John of God Health Care South East Melbourne Hospitals