NSW Health WSLHD Safety & Quality Account 2020-21

A workplace culture that drives safety and quality

Staff Member of the Year Awards

Allied Health Professional of the Year –Christine Vo Christine has been recognised by her peers from all professions for her dedication, professionalism and provision of exceptional service delivery to the patients and families of Westmead Hospital. Christine’s work included the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Communication Vivas at Westmead Hospital, a joint initiative between medical staff and social workers which involves simulation training and an assessment/evaluation process to improve communication and confidence of senior staff in intensive care. Christine has also provided teaching and training on social work practice in COVID times to her peers within Westmead/Auburn Hospitals and the broader social work community through the Australian Association of Social Work and has published practice implications in service delivery within a pandemic environment. Corporate Services Professional of the Year –Katy Martin Katy Martin was awarded the 2021 WSLHD Corporate Services of the Year Award for the dedication to safety and quality in Blacktown and Mount Druitt hospitals. Katy and the team have been described as the ‘backbone of the hospital’ for their day-to-day work in keeping the hospital clean, moving patients throughout and ensuring there is always an adequate supply of PPE and other medical supplies. Katy has been recognised for the excellent management of COVID-19 PPE supplies that supported Blacktown and Mount Druitt hospitals, local aged care facilities, the COVID-19 testing bus, Devitt Street apartment complex, Wentworth point and Qudos Bank Arena vaccination centre. Katy developed mechanisms to ensure effective communication with her team and equal distribution of supplies was maintained during the pandemic to help staff feel safe at work.

Nurse of the Year –Anandhi Murugesan Anandhi joined the Western Sydney Diabetes team as a transitional nurse practitioner in 2019 to coordinate and lead the set up and running of the Mount Druitt Community Health Diabetes Clinic. Anandhi has been involved in a new model of care upskilling GP VMOs together with endocrinologists and helped coordinate the data collection required for the formal evaluation undertaken by the Agency of Clinical Innovation (ACI).

Doctor of the Year –Dr Shopna Bag Dr Shopna Bag was awarded the Doctor of the Year Award in recognition of her leadership in the role of Director of the Public Health Unit in WSLHD. Shopna is an extraordinary leader whose example of expertise delivered with care and compassion has stood out over the past year - particularly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Shopna consistently demonstrates a commitment to understanding the local western Sydney community and empathy towards all staff, patients and carers.

Staff member of the year: Multicultural Health–Dipti Zachariah Dipti Zachariah is a leader and community development professional with over 20 years of experience in multicultural health and population health. Dipti is a team leader for the Multicultural Health, Priority Populations Integrated and Community Health team and was awarded staff member of the year at the Multicultural Health Communication Awards in 2021.

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