Medical Orientation
Teaching, Support, Admin
Rosters
Sick Leave
It is ok to call in sick if you need to.
Call the HMO On Call Support number on 5454 7556 and email Louise Archbold (ED HMO Coordinator) on larchbold@bendigohealth.org.au.
The HMO On Call operates between 06.00 – 22.00 every day of the year.
However there is one exception. If you are working nightshift in ED and need to call in between 22.00 – 23.00 for a shift that night, please call the Duty Consultant on 5454 8104. This is the only time you would call the ED Duty Consultant.
Repeating as above, if you are unwell or unable to cover your shift because of an emergency, please call 5454 7556 HMO On Call Support.
Please consider the impact on patients, stress levels of your colleagues and the department when determining your threshold for calling in sick. Giving less than 2 hours notice is almost never acceptable and this is stipulated in the award.
Lowering your threshold to call in sick on weekends, when it suits your social life, towards the end of the rotation or towards the end of the year is not professional and does not reflect your responsibility to the community, your colleagues and your position in society.
You are allowed to call in sick with at least 2 hours notice on 3 occasions before a medical certificate / stat dec for personal leave is required. There is a PROMPT policy on the intranet for your reference. A medical certificate/stat dec cannot be signed by a colleague and BHCG medical certificates are not accepted unless there is an attendance to ED which is fully recorded and signed off by an ED consultant.
Roster Swaps
You can only swap with someone at the same level as you eg interns may only swap with interns.
You will be paid for shifts on the original roster. If you arrange your own swaps and do more than 76 hours in a fortnight you will NOT be paid overtime.
Di Price the ED Secretary and Consultant Dr Mazdak Mansoury currently oversee rostering of medical staff in ED. Please note the process for roster swapping for all levels includes emailing both of them and the person you are swapping with.
Teaching
In addition to on the floor teaching and clinical experience the following formal teaching program occurs within the department.
The ED teaching program is held on Thursdays at 0800 - 1230 in the ED education room. Everyone is welcome to attend.
HMO Teaching is on Wednesdays at 4:30pm and both HMOs and interns expected to attend when rostered on the floor. You are also welcome to attend on days off, this is obviously not compulsory. There is now also an option to watch teaching from home on your laptop, tablet or smart phone. Follow this link for instructions.
Interns should also attend the hospital intern teaching (Tuesday 12:30) even when rostered on the floor.
Your Health
Breaks
It is important to have a break off the floor during your shift. This ensures you're not hypoglycaemic and gives you a chance to clear your head so you can continue to be a high functioning medical practitioner! Just let the duty consultant know when you are going on a break and where they can find you if there are any urgent problems.
Blood exposure
This is a real risk in the ED. Please make sure you use univeral precautions and particularly wear gloves when you are using sharp instuments or needles. It is important you report any of these incidents to the duty consultant so we can make sure you get adequate first aid and get appropriate followup.
Support
If there are specific or general difficulties you are experiencing during your time in ED, we encourage you to mention them to either of Kiran Veera or Ben McKenzie as Directors of Emergency Medicine Training, Liam Hannon as intern supervisor or Druv Mori as HMO supervisor. They can all help regardless if you are intern or HMO or a registrar. They are happy work through any issues, be an advocate for you and help you with getting in touch with the right people. Any of the consultants can also be approached in this capacity. Also remember about the resources listed in your JMO passport or available on the Medical Portal of the intranet (eg search "support" in Prompt). ACEM can be contacted directly if you are not getting the support you need from the ED or the Hospital.
Grievances and Complaints
If there is something or someone that you are not happy with let us know about it earlier rather than later. This could be through the supervisors of training above, your mentor (registrars will have one allocated), the Director of the department who is very happy to be contacted directly, or through human resources - here is the link for the PROMPT Staff Grievance Resolution Protocol.
ACEM trainees
ACEM trainees should also be aware of the following policies (which are also a valuable resource for all medical staff).
Discrimination, Bullying and Sexual Harassment Policy
Procedures for resolving Discrimination, Bullying and Sexual Harassment Complaints
Assessments
You will have a minimum of mid term assessment and end of term assessment. These are an opportunity to both give feedback about your progress and also to receive feedback about us from your experience in the ED. These are done by the different term supervisors but feedback you receive is based on a consensus from the consultant group using their observations and feedback from any other department staff.
Time Sheets & KRONOS
Kronos, an electronic clock-on-clock-off system, is used for staff of all seniority - make sure you clock on and clock off.
Should there be a problem with Kronos (it fails to accept your swipe or you forget to swipe on or off for a shift) please email the ED Admin Manager Di Price.
Riskman
If you feel there has been an adverse event at work either clinically to a patient or involving risk in the work place then you can log these incidents using Riskman. The icon is on the desktop and your login is the same as for your email/computer login - select Bendigo Hospital as your site. If you have trouble doing this then ask the ANUM on your shift or one of your colleagues.