Message FROM the acting Chief executive Dr Tamsin Waterhouse
message FROM the Chief executive Deb Willcox
As part of our preparations for a possible surge of patients with COVID-19, levels five and six of the Douglas Building at Royal North Shore Hospital have been rapidly refurbished to provide a new inpatient unit with over 50 beds. This work was undertaken at remarkable speed and completed in just over six weeks. The refurbishment required the temporary relocation of the NSLHD executive and administration staff to make way for the new unit. Thankfully because of the low number of cases of COVID-19 in NSW the new unit has not so far been required. Hopefully the wards will not be needed for COVID-19 patients and level five has been chosen as the new RNSH Drug and Alcohol Unit, which will relocate from the old building on Herbert Street. This is great result for our drug and alcohol patients whose current location does not meet contemporary standards. The district executive will relocate to a new interim location on level 14 of the Kolling Building from Monday 6 July. I would like to thank the district executive and administration staff for their patience and understanding during all these relocations. The success of containing COVID-19 in the community has meant we have been able to revisit the one nominated visitor policy across our hospitals and relax some of the restrictions. The restriction has been challenging for our staff, carers and visitors at a very difficult time. I would like to thank all those involved in keeping our staff and patients safe
and for those involved in revising the policy. The new policy will allow more discretion in allowing visitors to see our patients and I know it will be welcomed by many of you. The relaxation of restrictions has also enabled us to revisit some of the events we hold each year to recognise the incredible work of our staff. The NSLHD Quality and Improvement Awards will be held on Tuesday 28 July and the Innovation Awards on Wednesday 29 July. Despite COVID-19 there have been some excellent high-quality entries. To ensure we comply with current health advice, these events will need to be held in a different way to previous years. But I am really pleased we are able to ensure staff get the recognition they deserve. I am very much looking forward to celebrating these achievements with you.
Deb Willcox Chief Executive Northern Sydney Local Health District
2 NSLHDNEWS | ISSUE 12| 3 JULY 2020
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