Stage 2 works of the Northern Hospital Expansion Project have come to an end, as our staff prepare for their move into the new ‘Main Ward Block’ in May.

Kathryn Bartho, Director of Operational Readiness for the project, is excited about the coming weeks as she works with staff towards operational readiness.

“We are now in the final stages and adding the finishing touches in preparation for the opening of the Main Ward Block – Wards 19, 20 and 21,” Kathryn said.

“This week, we have completed handover from the capital team to the operational teams including keys, remotes and access.”

“Over the past few weeks, for operational readiness, we have undertaken COVID-19 walk-arounds, to ensure spaces have COVIDSafe protocols in place, completed OHS checks and hand hygiene checks. Staff have also completed a walk-around with Allied Health, as well as biomedical engineering and engineering – getting them to test and tag equipment,” Kathryn said.

The team are also working on getting the equipment in for the new concierge area and Orthotics workshop, located on the ground floor.

Over the next week, staff will be conducting audits of each patient area, in particular all the patient zones.

“We are checking that we have got all the relevant equipment and each space is ready for patients, for example; beds, mattresses, soap, hand towels etc. We have consulted with infection prevention, as well as organised sheets and linens trolleys for the day prior to move in,” Kathryn said.

Pharmacy will be stocking the medication rooms, and assisting with the transition on move day. Nursing staff, PSAs and ward clerks are undertaking training on the new Rauland system, which are the new workflows terminals.

“There is a workflow device in each of the rooms and you can trigger a message/request for a task to be completed across multiple disciplines on the ward. For example, you can notify the PSA to complete a room clean if the patient has been discharged, or, as a nurse, you can set rounding reminders at either one hour or 15 minutes etc. This triggers a message to your allocated phone,” Kathryn explained.

The move preparation is progressing well, and the team is aiming to have the majority of preparation completed by the start of next week. Kathryn explains how the collaborative effort to prepare for the move really reflects one of our Northern Health values of ‘together’.

“There has been a huge amount of collaboration with this. This has been a huge project with operational and capital teams working incredibly hard. From an operational readiness perspective, we have had input and training completed with a super user model lead by the NUMs and senior nursing staff, which has then been rolled out to end users including the nurses, PSAs and ward clerks. They have all done an amazing job at learning how to use the new equipment,” Kathryn explained.

“We have also had the opportunity of completing code simulations, which the team have worked really hard on and continued a collaborative approach giving valuable feedback and key recommendations. Emergency management and security have had key contributions and provided education to the staff on area warden training, evacuation plans, and code responses.”

“There is a lot of behind-the-scenes tasks, for example, supply has been amazing doing all the store rooms, allocating where shelving and stock go, working together with the NUMs to make sure everything is set out in the right spot, barcoded and getting the supply rooms stocked.”

“The support services team have organised all the bins, sharps bins, linen trolleys etc. We continue to engage and present at key team meetings across all disciplines including Heads of Units, team huddles, Allied Health, PSA meetings, ward meetings etc. We have also completed tours with multiple teams. COVID-19 has been an additional complexity in the preparations, having said that, everyone has done an amazing job.”

Featured Image: Kathryn Bartho in one of the new high dependency units in Ward 21