Executive address

As Christmas approaches, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all an enjoyable festive season. For those of you who have upcoming leave, I hope you have a happy and safe holiday. For those of you working to ensure Queensland maintains healthcare service while others celebrate, we thank you for your diligence and commitment.

Healthcare across Australia is undergoing major reform. Nationally, this is a very difficult time for clinical education, with many competing demands as both national and state organisations change the way they fund and manage education. At a more local level, Queensland is facing many great challenges. The Clinical Skills Development Service (CSDS) has undergone a significant reduction in staffing while increasing the scope of programs it must deliver. CSDS is still in the process of moving to Metro North, where it will continue to support state-wide simulations and clinical skills development.

Similarly, the Skills Centres and Pocket Simulation Centres across Queensland have felt the impact of the reform agenda. The devolution to Hospital and Health Services will provide many challenges; however, it will also provide greater opportunities to deliver the training that is necessary to ensure our hospitals have the clinical and team skills that are crucial to patient care. I look forward to seeing the innovation that will emerge at each site, as a result of the current changes.

Finally, I would like to commend everyone on their professionalism and dedication to improving clinical skills development inside Queensland Health and across the country. To our clinicians, staff, and your families, thank you for your commitment to improving healthcare, I look forward to working with you all in the New Year.

CSDS Executive Director, Assoc Prof Marcus Watson

Newsletter Summer 2013

2Summer Edition – January 2013

New Course delivery system

On 1 July 2012 the Delivery Team launched the use of the course delivery system, incorporated as part of CSDS Central. This system encompasses:

• functionstomanageoureventandcoursescheduling• profilesofallCSDScourses• participantregistrationsandinformation• facultyscheduling,and• linkstotheCSDSwebsiteforonlineparticipantregistrations.

ThissystemhascreatedefficienciesandreducederrorsastheDeliveryTeamhavebeenabletoarchiveover11spreadsheetsandworkfromacentralisedsystem.Theteamlookforwardtotakingthisonestepfurtherwithcurrentscopinginplacetodevelopanonlinepayment function in 2013.StaffcanaccessCSDSCentralthroughourwebsiteat:www.sdc.qld.edu.au

Equipment updates

CSDSwassuccessfulintheproposaltoreceiveCommonwealthfundingforthepurchaseofadditionalsimulationequipmenttoimprovesurgicalthroughputinQueenslandpublichospitals.Thisfundinghasseenthearrivalof56newpiecesofequipmentincludingarangeoffullbodymanikins,virtualreality laparoscopic simulators, and ultrasound trainers. An expression of interest went out to all of the Pockets/SkillsCentresforuseoftheequipmenttoenablemodellingandpracticeofreal-lifescenarios,improvingtheeducationofsurgicaltrainees.

InadditiontotheSurgicalGrant,CSDShasbeenworkinghardtofulfilcommitmentsoftheHealthWorkforceAustralia-SimulatedLearningEnvironmentProgram,ofwhichapproximately99%oftheitemspurchasedhavebeenreceived.Theseitemswillthenberolledouttoallocatedsitesthatweresuccessfulinapplicationstoreceivefundingunderthisinitiative.Anadditional511piecesofequipmenthavebeenpurchasedandaddedtotheCSDSinventory.

Thebiggestadvancementforthecentreandsimulationequipmentoverthelastyearhasbeentheintroductionofwirelesstechnologytothemanikins.BothCAEandLaerdalhaveintroducedtheirequivalentsofthistechnology,andCSDShasinvestedinutilisingthisequipment.Thishasopenedupavenuesinregardstotheeaseofsetup,portabilityandusabilityforscenariosandcourses,forexamplepatientflowthroughoutdifferentdepartments.FeedbackhasbeenpositiveamongstalldisciplinesandPocket/SkillsCentresinregardstothenewadditions.

3Summer Edition – January 2013

Newpockets,andstaff,in 2012

Bowen- DebbieMcConnel,DrMichaelYoung, BenjaminLawrence

Gold Coast Newborn Care Unit-

DrPitaBirch,LizChappell

Ipswich Podiatry Department West Moreton-

ScottJen,SandraBarry

Mt Isa ED-

DrUlrichOrda,SabineOrda, AndrewMcCallum

QEII ED-

DrFemkeGeijsel,JulieHumphries, PaulineMagan

PAH PIP-

AllisonKielczewski

Proserpine-

PaulineMaude, ChristineMalloch

RBWH Department of Neonatology-

KarenHose

New Simulation Coordinators in 2012

Samantha Ward-

GympiePocket

Lauren Camilleri, Laura Irving-

TownsvilleSkillsCentre

Jesse Spurr -

RedcliffeSkillsCentre

Kendall Fitzwater-

MaterPICU

Beaudesert-

ElizabethCoe,JanineMcIvor

Cairns Anaesthetics Department -

DarrenArmstrong,JohnPurves, RebeccaMorris

PAH ED-

DrSeanLawrence, Andrea Thompson

Quilpie-

KatieDax,ToniMurrray

RBWH DEM-

DrMarkBaldwin

RBWH Radiology Department -

JohnClouston,DrMichaelCurley

Townsville ED-

Dianne Salvador

Gladstone-

MellisaWakefield

Pockets that will be established in 2013, and associated staff

4Summer Edition – January 2013

Christmas card

This year, CSDS’s Christmas card takes the form of a fast paced arcade-style game titled ‘Is that a Manikin in your Pocket?’ As part of this game, the player is given orders to supply simulation equipment to locations throughout Queensland. The player will need to correctly select items to fill each order and ship it off.

As orders are completed more orders arrive. The orders gradually get more complex and increasingly difficult to complete in the set time.

A leader board will be available in the main menu to compare each player’s scores with other players.

To access the Christmas card game go to:

http://www.sdc.qld.edu.au/fun

Announcements

Congratulations to both Dylan Campher and Shane Convine who recently celebrated their weddings. Dylan married Tabitha on 25 October 2012 at Glengarrif Estate, Dayboro Valley (pictured

below), and Shane married Monica on 1 November 2012 at Preston Village Chapel, Toowoomba (pictured to the left).

If you would like an announcement included in the CSDS newsletter, please email details to:

CSDS_Pockets@health.qld.gov.au