Reflections on COVID-19 Response
November 2020
At the end of November, the Western Health Foundation hosted a series of webinars where members of the Western Health Executive discussed the issues facing Western Health during the COVID-19 pandemic and how the lessons learned are informing the reimagining of healthcare in Melbourne's west.
The webinars were facilitated by Suellen Bruce, Executive Director of People, Culture and Communications at Western Health. The People & Culture team, under the leadership of Suellen, provided immense support to staff throughout the COVID-19 response, ensuring that the wellbeing of staff was paramount to maintaining a safe, effective and positive workplace. Throughout the following webinars, Suellen and members of the panel provide insights into some of the behind-the-scenes work done to care for staff wellbeing.
Webinar 1: Focus on Aged Care Response
Residential aged care facilities across Melbourne were significantly adversely affected by COVID-19, with many residents and staff within these facilities testing positive to the virus. Dr Claire White and her team of geriatricians, alongside the Western Health Residential In-Reach team, provided critical support to 25 aged care facilities across Melbourne's west. Under extremely challenging conditions, the teams spent long hours in the facilities ensuring that care standards were met, infection prevention was being adhered to, education was provided to aged care staff, residents were assessed and resident wishes were being met. They also played an important leadership role, with the In-Reach model and the coordination that they introduced into the broken system around them being adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for replication across the state.
In this webinar hear from Western Health Chief Executive Russell Harrison; Head of Infectious Diseases, Dr Marion Kainer; Executive Director Nursing and Midwifery, Shane Crowe and Consultant Geriatrician and Clinical Services Director, Dr Clare White, as they discuss Western Health's aged care response.
Webinar 2: Focus on Emergency Department Response
Providing emergency care during the COVID-19 pandemic was a particular challenge for our emergency departments at Footscray and Sunshine hospitals which were surrounded by a number of hotspot postcodes. We were required to change the patient flow within our emergency departments in order to keep all patients and staff safe, while still providing best care. In response to the demand for COVID-19 assessment and testing, a Respiratory Assessment Clinic was set up at Sunshine Hospital. Western Health also managed a Respiratory Assessment Clinic at Sunbury, a drive-through testing service at the Melbourne Showgrounds, as well as a number of pop-up testing sites.
In this webinar hear from Western Health Chief Executive Russell Harrison; Director Footscray Hospital Emergency, Dr Ainslie Senz and Clinical Nurse Specialist Chantelle D'Souza as they discuss Western Health's Emergency Department response.
Webinar 3: Focus on Intensive Care Response
Situated within the main COVID hotspots in metropolitan Melbourne, Western Health's Intensive Care Units at Footscray and Sunshine Hospitals came to care for the most number of COVID positive patients across Australia. The outstanding outcomes for our ICU patients were largely due to the high standards of care delivered by the ICU multi-disciplinary team consisting of intensivists, Intensive Care registrars, nurses, physiotherapists, and patient services assistants. The ICU team, under the leadership of Associate Professor Forbes McGain, also developed the 'Iso Hood' to protect staff and patients through the COVID pandemic. The team is sharing this innovation across Australia and around the world, and is currently in the process of distributing 'Iso Hoods' to multiple Intensive Care Units.
In this webinar hear from Western Health Chief Executive, Russell Harrison; Head of Infectious Diseases, Dr Marion Kainer; Divisional Director Perioperative and Critical Care Services, Jason Plant; and Director ICU Sunshine Hospital, Associate Professor Craig French, as they discuss Western Health's Intensive Care Response.
