Influenza Campaign Success

This week, the Victorian Government’s Healthcare Association Infection Surveillance Coordinating Centre congratulated Northern Heath on exceeding the DHHS target for health care workers influenza program. We have achieved a Healthcare Worker Influenza rate of 87.1 per cent.

This recognises the excellent vaccination results and acknowledges the exceptional efforts our organisation has put into providing free flu vaccinations for our staff.

We have not only achieved outstanding results in the number of staff vaccinated, but also in the number of community members that have come through our flu clinic.

The 20,000 free vaccinations provided to our community helped our northern neighbours stay well this winter. In our flu clinic, we have seen families drive for hours to get their flu shot, as well as numerous overseas visitors. It’s pleasing that we are able to provide this protection to both our staff and our community.

People Matter Survey

We have recently received our 2019 People Matter Survey results and Michelle Fenwick and I have been presenting them to staff at forums over the past two weeks.

Over 1,600 staff completed the survey and provided feedback on what is working well at Northern Health, and also highlighted the areas that we need to focus and act on. The gap between us and similar major and tertiary health services is closing, particularly in the areas of engagement, diversity, psychological safety and role clarity.

Of particular note, this year has seen a significant decrease in respondents reporting they have experienced or are currently experiencing bullying. This has decreased by 48 per cent since 2016 when we first participated in the survey. We recognise there is still work to do in this space but are buoyed by these results.

We will be focusing on some core areas over the coming months, namely change management and recognition which you have told us we could do better. We will also continue to maintain and celebrate those areas we are doing well in, like learning and development, where we have recently launched our new initiative – Mentoring for Success. With 75 per cent of respondents indicating that intend to stay at Northern Health for the next two years, we are really pleased with Northern Health’s direction.

I hope you have a good week ahead.

Siva Sivarajah

Chief Executive