Over the last financial year, again we’ve experienced strong growth in our services with emergency department presentations up 8.4% and hospital admissions up 4.6%.

At the beginning of this new financial year, we’ve needed to focus on our budgets to plan our activities and operations to support this continued growth.

As a significant public health care provider, we are entrusted with hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars each year to deliver patient care. It’s our responsibility to ensure that these resources are spent wisely.

I believe that there is still significant waste across our services that we need to address. We need to look in each of our areas to ensure that the work practices are appropriate and that we are eliminating waste – freeing up resources to maximize patient care and to live within our means.

I encourage you to share ideas within your wards and departments and speak with your Directors when you need support.

As an example – we have been hearing for months about the shortage of IV/syringe pumps across our sites. Each day at the Safety Huddle, we were told there were not enough available. Last week I walked around Northern Hospital and found that numerous pumps were locked away in ward cupboards. Software built within the pumps confirmed that over 100 pumps in clinical areas were not being used.

I encourage everyone to be considerate of others by sharing equipment that’s not in use.

Northern Health Payroll – My Pay

This week we have completed transitioning Payroll from Melbourne Health to Northern Health with minimal disruption.  This is a significant change for Northern Health that will provide improved quality and efficiency, as well as a better service for staff. Congratulations to the People and Culture and Finance teams for all the planning and work in making the change so successful.

I hope you all have a great week ahead.