HARCOURT VALLEY PRIMARY SCHOOL CHOIR Performances in all units

Dec 11

CHILDRENS CHRISTMAS PARTY Chewton Swimming Pool & Reserve

Dec 13

ORIENTATION Dec 16

OP THEATRE CLOSES Until Jan 27

Dec 18

CRC RECEPTION CLOSES Until Jan 3

Dec 25

PHYSIO OUTPATS CLOSES Until Jan 11

Dec 25

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

VOLUME 4 ISSUE 3 DECEMBER 2009

In a world where change seems to be endless and technology seems to be moving us away further from each other, it is easy to become confused when you look at all the discussion at Christmas on commer-cialism, religion, violence and so on. You could easily, if you let your-self, fill up with overwhelming despair. Then I reflect on a few simple things that occur in a hospital; where a kind word is offered without prompting, care given beyond what is asked for and respect offered without judgement, and I take heart and see the strength of what is good in humanity still burns brightly. Just like the lighthouse in the storm we all can take comfort from the joy of Christmas because we can take the time to reflect on what is good about mankind; what makes each and every one of us a good person, one of a loving couple, part a close knit family and a close community. There are brief moments when we experience some level of sadness and we recognise that there are those who are not able to share this with one other. I ask you all not to let this overshadow you with despair because it is this awareness, and knowledge that we care and feel, that brings understanding of the richness of the Christmas spirit. It shows our enlightenment and the courage of the human spirit and how we invite all others to be part of our community. Give yourself the permission to sing carols loudly, and allow yourself to

have the sun shine brightly, have a drink, enjoy food and good com-

pany and let all that is Christmas give you comfort in all that is good in

our humanity. Permit Christmas to comfort you and fill your world with

joy throughout the holiday season. I seek not to sit in judgement of

your god, your social status or of who you are, rather I ask us all to

celebrate and make ready for

the coming of a new year.

May it be a better one for every

one.

FROM THE CEO’S DESK

Helen Minkevicius has accepted the position as Acute Unit Nurse Unit Manager and will commence this role on 4 January 2010. Helen comes from the Senior Project Manager role at Castlemaine Health with a strong background in clinical nursing. Castlemaine Health has had three graduate nurses this year. They are finishing officially in January. Two have expressed interest in remaining at Castlemaine Health. Four new graduate nurses will be commencing in January 2010 Our third midwife student has almost completed her student year. She intends to remain at Castle-maine Health on completion of her studies. Helene Brown is our midwife student for 2010 and she will commence her studies in January. The midwifery student program has been an enormous suc-cess. Initial registration of overseas nurses - five overseas nurses completed their time at Castlemaine Health on 4 December. The program has been very successful. It has been a wonderful learning op-portunity for our staff to interact with overseas nurses This is a very busy week for our Recreational team. Carols by Candlelight are held over three eve-nings on Penhall, Thompson House and Ellery House. A wonderful time is always had by all. Maree Matheson PA to DON

NEWS FROM THE DIRECTOR OF NURSING

2

New Equipment for Theatre

Some of you will already know what a Force FX Electrical Generator is. For those of us who don’t, it is used on a daily basis with almost every surgical case performed in our Op Theatre. It stops blood ves-sels bleeding within the surgical site and is a vital piece of equipment used in all operating suites. The current unit we have is over 15 years old and requires upgrading to more improved technology. We are delighted that our submission to the Collier Charitable Fund has been successful, and that as a result of a grant from them, we will be purchasing a new unit in the near future.

GOLDEN BUNDLEGOLDEN BUNDLE Congratulations to Max Culpitt Morgan, pictured with his mum Bree Culpitt and dad Stephen Morgan receiving the December Golden Bundle Award from Rob Waller of Waller Realty and hospital CEO Graem Kelly.

At the beginning of the year to facilitate more efficiency several committees were merged. One exam-ple of this is the merger of the Continuum of Care and Clinical and Risk Management committees. The result has been a small committee membership supported by staff throughout the organisation who undertake audits, reviews and projects to report to the committee. As 2009 draws to a close the following includes a brief summary of some of the committee’s achieve-ments:

New Procedures approved – 9

Procedures reviewed – 30

Forms approved/reviewed – 6

Documents/resources reviewed – 9

Overseeing of the Long Stay Older Person Project -(now known as the Aging Well-Living Well Pro-ject). This is a long term project which aims to improve care for older people. One area of work cur-rently in progress is the review of admission and referral procedures within the organisation.

Review of adverse clinical events and medication variances-all are individually assessed and re-ported to the committee to ensure steps are taken to ensure there is reduced risk of reoccurrence. This year the majority of adverse events have been fractures.

Wound care-there has been new wound care products trialled and approved for use throughout the organisation.

Review of best practice and risk identification information from external sources-key information sources have been identified and regularly reviewed (including the newsletter Riskwatch for example) so that we can learn from other organisations. An example of an outcome this year was review of war-farin management which resulted in new care plan formats and introduction of a new system for check-ing of blood test results with the residential low care.

New formulary items(new medicines)-several have been approved through recommendation and evaluation of the benefits through the committee. Outcomes this year has been the inclusion of Desflu-rane (anaesthetic medication) and Granisetron (drug to reduce nausea).

Evaluation of customer satisfaction results-results of the ongoing Victorian Patient Satisfaction Monitor, Midwifery and Community Aged Care Satisfaction surveys are analysed with action plans de-veloped for identified issues and decreased results. An example being increased education provided on privacy principles following a comment within the VPSM survey results.

Bright Ideas follow up-as a result of a bright idea the committee implemented that a midwife be in-cluded in the Golden Bundle Award newspaper picture (when practical) instead of executive staff. Regular audits are scheduled (approximately 45 for the year!) and reported as attended. Any audit re-sults (including benchmarked results coming from the Department of Human Service or the Australian Council of Healthcare Standards) that come in below the KPI level set are followed up with an action plan and repeat audit schedule. This has seen additional work completed in relation to decreased audit results in the areas of falls and pressure ulcers. These areas will be a focus for improvement next year. The above represent a summary of the majority of the work completed. All staff can access the min-utes on the Intranet on the Committees Page and I would encourage you to do so, especially if you work in the clinical areas. I would like to congratulate all members of the committee on great work achieved this year and wish the committee all the best for next year. Merry Christmas everyone and all the best for 2010! Chris Mitchell Quality Projects Manager

SUMMARY OF THE CLINICAL SERVICE COMMITTEE

3

Infection Control

4

SAFETY BRIEF

The following excerpts are taken from the latest edition of Safety Brief, which can be found on the occ health and safety page of the hospital intranet . Bushfire Preparedness Discussions have continued to take place on the possible risks

posed by the upcoming bushfire season. The expectation from

the Authorities is that this season may well be worse than last

and, as such, organisations and individuals need to plan and pre-

pare for the worst (hopefully, everyone who lives in a high risk

bushfire area, have been actively preparing their own proper-

ties). Meetings have continued to be held with representatives

from the CFA, Department of Health, Mt Alexander Shire and

the Department of Sustainable Environment.

All staff are reminded that the decision has been made that in the event of an immediate threat from a bushfire,

the organisation will adopt a “stay and shelter” position as opposed to relocation (evacuation). This decision, to

stay or go, has been made following various risk assessments of our situation and after careful consideration of

all the known facts.

Several procedures and protocols have been developed and were tested by the way of a full evacuation drill in-

volving the Resident’s from Spencely & Penhall Hostels. A second evacuation drill was completed involving

Thompson & Ellery House. These procedures will be available from the intranet in the near future, following a

final review following this last evacuation exercise. Engineering have completed an excellent job of clearing

away rubbish, undergrowth and non-native vegetation on the northern end of the grounds and around the three

houses at the top of the hill.

CODE RED (Catastrophic):

If you live in a bushfire prone area the safest option is to leave the night before, or early in the morning.

EXTREME: The safest option is to leave early in the day if you live in a bushfire prone area and your Bushfire Survival Plan is to leave. Only stay if your home is well prepared, well constructed and you can actively defend it.

SEVERE: The safest option is to leave early in the day if you live in a bushfire prone area and your Bushfire Survival Plan is to leave. Only stay if your home is well prepared and you can actively defend it.

VERY HIGH: If you live in a bushfire prone area and your Bushfire Survival Plan is to leave, the safest option is to leave at the beginning of a day.

HIGH: Check your Bushfire Survival Plan

LOW–MODERATE:

Check your Bushfire Survival Plan

National Fire Danger Rating Scale Victoria recently adopted the new nationally agreed Fire Danger Rating scale (see below) to help communities un-

derstand information about fire danger. This revised fire danger rating scale includes a Code Red or Catastrophic

rating. On days which are deemed to be Extreme or Catastrophic (such as Feb 7th this year), pre determined plans

are to be implemented in preparation of a possible bushfire impacting the facility.

Compulsory training for next year has been finalised and we will be informing managers of the re-quirements early in the New Year. They will be required to ensure staff are made aware of what edu-cation needs to be undertaken by the end of June 2010. We have tried to limit sessions to the most important topics and are continually reviewing new ways to assist staff to access the sessions eas-ily. This is a difficult task and I know that you all understand the difficulties catering to a busy 24 hour organisation. Thank you for your interest and we look forward to seeing you at sessions next year. Sessions on ‘Advance Care Planning’ are underway in all clinical areas and the interest from the staff has been great. So make sure you go to one of the sessions over the next few weeks. These ses-sions will be of interest to all staff and not just nurses as planning for the future is just as important for ourselves and our families as well as our clients. All are welcome. The year is ending and plans are well underway for next year. We have had several education ses-sions in December with outside presenters all keen to impart their knowledge before Christ-mas. Thank you to all who have attended sessions we have organised this month and throughout the year. In the coming weeks we will be encouraging you to give us feedback and to give us ideas on what you would like for next year. The topics we choose and organise can only be as good as your input, so please have a think and provide us with some feedback. Nursing Education Programs Our team would like to take this opportunity to again thank all staff for their enthusiasm and friendli-ness towards our students and graduate nurses. Your input has helped us build up an organisational reputation for being friendly and helpful to all students as they complete clinical placements here at Castlemaine Health. Best wishes for the Christmas season. Stay happy and healthy (and safe) From the Staff Development team Evita Ferguson (HR), Andrew Lewis, Fiona Moait, Helene Gerber and Linda McKenna

EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIT

5

I want to take this opportunity to thank all staff again for their patience, perseverance and persistence while we work through the implementation of the Oracle Finance/Supply system. It is also a useful time to reflect on what else has been achieved that have impacted our processes. Along with the new financial system we have changed the name of the hospital and changed over bankers to the Bendigo Bank. Supply have reviewed the stock items and culled a number of items. Those in the Aged Care area have continued and almost completed the implementation of Manage-ment Advantage. We have introduced an on-line ordering system throughout the organisation (Oracle). Theatre, Acute and Rehab are now working towards looking after their own imprest. If you feel tired at this time of year you probably deserve to feel tired. With a new Patient System and Rostering System still to come there is still more work ahead. Take this time to reflect on what has been achieved and on the tremendous effort made by so many. Thank you to my excellent team for their help and support during all the changes. I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a very happy New Year.

Geoff Vendy Director of Finance

ORACLE FINANCE/SUPPLY SYSTEMS

6

THE HOSPITAL CHRISTMAS QUIZ

I wouldn’t like to suggest that anything about our Castlemaine Health is trivial, but just how good is your background knowledge of the various parts of our beloved hospital? 1. What is the missing word: “To provide the most _________ and efficient physical, emotional and social care possible to those for whom we are responsible.” 2. What project had its official opening by The Honourable Bob Cameron on 31st October 2008? 3. Goodness knows how many times you may have walked past them or on them - what colour is the carpet on the stairs up from Reception in the main hospital building? 4. If you have applied an adequate amount of alcohol hand rub to all surfaces of your hands, at least how many seconds should it take to dry? 5. What is the 3rd part of the 3 bite rule? 6. Where in the hospital is the Christmas tree shown on the front page of this newsletter? 7. On the 1st of which month this year did our Smoke Free policy come into effect, and are there any exceptions? 8. The Castlemaine District Hospital was located in which street from 1939 to 1995? 9. The Geroe Acute Unit was named after Dr George ______ Geroe. 10. How many requests for information did the hospital receive under the Freedom of Information Act, during the 2008/2009 period? 11. What devilish number do you dial to access your voicemail? That’s pretty easy so how about which numbers you then press to check new messages, review old messages, delete, and repeat messages? 12. Where is this artwork (pictured on the right)? Extra points for naming the work and the artist. 13. How do you spell “asbestos”? Just kidding. When did Connoly Rehab move to Tolstrup this year? 14. Another picture question. You can see Santa’s bum disappearing into a fire-place in Thompson House later in this newsletter. Where else in the hospital can you see a similar view of Santa, but upside down (at least until after Christ-mas)? 15. Just what does imprest mean, in this hospital, anyway? a) Something impressive. b) a system for supplying a fixed number of a known list of items. c) a system of supplying any number of any re-quired items. d) I want it to be c but I suspect its not. Answers are on the back page, but see how many you can get before turning there! Answers are ar-bitrarily defined by the author, and no discussion will be entered into, unless its over a cup of tea and involves chocolate biscuits. Its for fun, after all!

Carols by Candlelight another success

7

We are truly fortunate to live in a community which combines a wide talent base with a genuine en-joyment in sharing. Once again, both musicians and audience had a ball at our traditional Carol con-certs, held in three installments in Penhall, Ellery and Thompson House, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 8-10th December.

David Brennand (our previous head of Engineering) directed the musicians and audience, and gave the benediction. The Thompson Foundry Band put in their customary excellent show, ably accom-panied by audiences not shy about putting their best vocal foot forward, if you’ll pardon the mixed im-age. The Blenders, a women's singing group from Castlemaine, accompanied by harpist Allen Evans sang for the Penhall evening, the Castlemaine Singers treated us at Ellery, and David Brennand with

friends Anne and Roz sang a few solos them-selves, accompanied by David’s mandolin.

Each evening ended with a won-derful supper, and a chance to mingle and chat. Thanks to Lyn and the Rex Team again, and all the staff who help our residents

enjoy these func-tions.

“My old man said follow the band”… it’s a popular misquote, but we all had a lot of fun doing exactly

that. David, Anne and Roz are on the right.

Harpist Allan Evans delighted the Penhall audience.

Allan plays harp, flute, whistles and sings with the

group Shanachie, which recently won the Paddy

O’Neill Young Award for 2010. Here he accompa-

nies The Blenders (left) at Penhall.

Penhall residents singing along.

8

The Ellery audience and guests.

Carols continued...

Heather Harris & Ralph Street

setting the finishing touches to

the post-vocal feast at Thomp-

son House.

Spot the elves in the crowd at Thompson House.

The Castlemaine Singers caroling at Ellery House.

There goes Santa.

An irresistible overheard pun:

The big guy in the red suit is coming and already I'm shedding a tear. I'm just too santamental.

Comfy chairs in the back row.

Thompson House’s “touchy feely” Christmas table.

9

SCHOOL VISIT

Friday 11th December saw visitors from the Harcourt Valley Primary School performing a group

of songs from yesteryear (and a final Christmas carol) at all our residential units. The primary

school children also spent some time conversing with the residents after the performance, about

the songs themselves, and the memories that they evoked.

Our grateful thanks to Katerina Hood and her students for

their work in putting this visit together, and particularly for

the thoughtfulness in taking the time to chat afterwards.

10

December is the month for Christmas activities around the units and here is even more evidence that we are blessed with a generous community who don’t forget our elders at this time of year and come in droves to share the Christmas spirit.

More Snippets from the Recreational Team

A Christmas movie starring Jimmy Stew-art at the monthly Metcalfe movies run by the shire for senior citizens. A beauti-ful afternoon tea was provided.

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES –

Salvation army band will perform at all units nearer to Christmas. Winters Flat Prep and one class come to visit residents at Penhall on Wednesday 16

th Dec.

This year’s annual St Marys Christmas pageant and afternoon of performance for senior citizens rather strangely included a tap dancing gorilla, along with a more traditional Princess.

one of the residents from Penhall catches up with a friend at the St Marys concert.

There are few things more Christ-massy that the children’s pageant.

11

Christmas is about celebration, not deprivation so is it possible to have a great festive season without getting

to 2010 and feeling like all your clothes have shrunk in the wash?

Research shows us that many of the situations around Christmas encourage us to eat more; long meals,

fridges full of leftovers, plates full to the brim, too many nibbles at parties, and its too hot to exercise!

Here are 12 tips to survive Christmas from your friendly Dietitians at Castlemaine Health...

Watch out for those food traps – such as lots of dips, nuts, cheeses, cabana – position yourself away

from the platter!

Pace yourself – go easy on each course and try to eat a little slower

Don’t be afraid to leave a little on the plate – take note of when you feel full

If you know you are going to have a big evening meal – have a smaller lunch of fruit or salad to balance

out the extra food later

If you really want to taste something delicious as its too good to pass up then try the 3 bite rule – 1 to

taste, 1 to enjoy and 1 to say goodbye

Watch out for those extra drinks –alternate an ice cold water between drinks and use diet mixers in-

stead of sugar laden ones

Offer to drive someone and don’t drink much

Drink some water with your meal or have an extra salad to fill you up

Go for a walk after eating rather than a sleep – you will feel better!

Watch out for buffets as they can be a licence to overeat

Dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants so buy individually wrapped ones and enjoy slowly

Indulge in some lovely frozen fruit over the Christmas period- try freezing cherries, strawberries, or-

anges, bananas or grapes for a lovely refreshing treat

But most of all have a safe and happy Christmas, and if you over-induldge be kind to yourself

and set some realistic goals in 2010.

From Sally, Jana and Emma – Dietitians

EAT, DRINK & BE HEALTHY - TIPS FOR SURVIVING THE FESTIVE SEASON

THE BACK PAGE

Dashing through the bush, in a rusty Holden Ute, Kicking up the dust, esky in the boot, Kelpie by my side, singing Christmas songs, It's Summer time and I am in my singlet, shorts and thongs Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day, Hey! Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut !, Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute. Engine's getting hot; we dodge the kangaroos, The swaggie climbs aboard, he is welcome too. All the family's there, sitting by the pool, Christmas Day the Aussie way, by the barbecue.

Oh! Jingle bells…. Come the afternoon, Grandpa has a doze, The kids and Uncle Bruce, are swimming in their clothes. The time comes 'round to go, we take the family snap, Pack the car and all shoot through, before the washing up. Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day, Hey! Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!, Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute. Traditional/Colin Buchanan © 1992 Rondor Music.