Ward 2G at Sunshine Hospital has successfully opened this morning, following the Go/No Go decision made in our Command Centre meeting yesterday.
This meeting was particularly important as it was the first time our COVID-19 leadership worked through the checklists under our new Surge Management Plan, covering the four key areas of Logistics, Operations, Workforce and Quality and Safety. The process went smoothly and is exactly what will be required for the Incident Management Team to assess surge readiness across all areas of our hospitals, should that be necessary in the coming months.
After several months of planning and implementation, I am increasingly confident about our COVID-19 readiness and would like to thank you all for your hard work.
Tomorrow, I look forward to giving you details about our new PPE Focus Group, which has been established to oversee all aspects of our PPE strategies. Ensuring continuous and adequate supply of PPE for our staff is one of the biggest challenges we face in our COVID-19 preparations, and it’s also one of our top priorities.
Thank you for reading.
Regards
Natasha
Covid-19 Daily Summary
• Respiratory Assessment Clinic presentations yesterday: 76
• Numbers of individuals tested for COVID-19 at Western Health to date: 3322
• Numbers of individuals tested positive to date: 71
• Numbers of current inpatients with COVID-19: 5
Flow charts and pathways for COVID-19 patients
Clinical leaders have finalised the pathways and flow charts for patients under investigation of COVID-19.
These complement existing procedures for allocation of single rooms at Western Health. Click here to read the full details.
Education about these pathways is being provided to medical and nursing staff today and tomorrow, and infection prevention staff will be available to answer any questions over Easter.
Opening of 2G
Ward 2G at Sunshine Hospital opened today to create additional inpatient bed capacity at Sunshine Hospital. Since the opening of the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital last year, wards 2G and 2H have been heavily refurbished to create two modern 28-bed wards. Initially, only ward 2G will be opening at 16 beds as part of a strategy to be ready for any potential influx of patients over the Easter period.
Ward 2G has 12 single rooms, including two negative pressure isolation rooms, and will be predominantly staffed by nurses from 3F with experience in respiratory (including IRCU), infectious diseases and general medicine.
The ward will report through the Division of Emergency, Medicine and Access and the Acting Nurse Unit Manager is Dylan D’Roza.
Innovation ideas
An email address has been set up for staff with innovative ideas about how Western Health and the DHHS can address the challenges of coronavirus. Your emails will go directly to our CEO Russell Harrison.
You might have ideas about how your area could be working more efficiently, or ways we can better support you and your colleagues? Or perhaps you have contacts who could supply PPE to boost stocks statewide?
Please send your ideas to innovationideaforcovid@wh.org.au
Russell or another member of the executive team will review your idea and, if appropriate, this idea will be sent to DHHS for consideration.
PPE processing
A reminder to all staff who use PPE that our reprocessing program has begun this week.
Three labelled containers are being delivered to all wards, which will be used for the following:
• N95/P2 masks
• Surgical masks
• Isolation gowns
We ask that staff start disposing of their masks and gowns into these containers as soon as the containers arrive.
The discarded PPE will be collected throughout the day by support staff.
The option of being able to use reprocessed PPE – that is cleaned and steralised – could become important in the coming weeks and months if the COVID-19 outbreak escalates.
Scrubs
Just like PPE, Western Health-issue scrubs are in limited supply. We would like to remind staff that if you do not normally wear scrubs, it is not necessary to start doing so now.
For staff who do need to wear scrubs, we ask that you only take one pair at a time, and that you return them for laundering promptly.
For those not working in high risk areas, you can purchase your own scrubs. Please look up Stay Safe – Work Clothes in the Quick Reference Guides section of our coronavirus microsite.
Restricted RAC hours over Easter
The opening hours of the Respiratory Assessment Clinic at Sunshine Hospital will be restricted over the Easter long weekend.
• Friday, 10 April – Monday, 13 April:
10am-6pm (public and staff)
From Tuesday, 14 April, the Respiratory Assessment Clinic hours will change to:
• Monday-Friday:
8am-10am (staff only); 10am-6pm (staff and public)
• Saturday-Sunday:
10am-6pm (staff and public)