Auburn Hospital puts safety and quality on display at 2021 AQuAs

The AQuAs, or Auburn Quality Awards, have been held to celebrate the incredible efforts staff at Auburn Hospital make to improve safety and quality of care for patients.

The awards, which have been running since 2016, were held on Thursday 18 November in the hospital’s outdoor courtyard.

Finalists were invited to attend the ceremony, while the rest of staff watched via a live stream with cupcakes delivered across the hospital to ensure they could celebrate with the people in attendance.

Three project awards were present – including “Baby Steps”, a program aimed at helping women form western Sydney gain faster access to high-quality care earlier in their pregnancy.

Auburn Emergency Department’s won an AQuA for their work “Elevating the Patient Experience” as did “Sharing Dignity: An Integrated Approach” – the provision of period products to women in need at Auburn Hospital through a formal partnership with Share the Dignity.

The AQuA People’s Choice Winner was “Don’t Forget Me, Take Care of Me, Take Me Out” – a program to implement best practice of peripheral intravenous cannula care and management.

This year, new awards were introduced to recognise the amazing achievements of individual staff as well as a Department of the Year Award:

• Nurse of the Year: Bo Fu
• Allied Health Professional of the Year: Nicole Odewahn
• Midwife of the Year: Helen Mou
• Corporate Services Professional of the Year: Heidi Engelbrecht
• Doctor of the Year: Dr Kerf Tan
• Manager of the Year: Joint winners Carlos Chavez and Miao Shui
• Department of the Year: Auburn Hospital Emergency Department

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Finally, special Pandemic Awards recognised those who went above and beyond in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic including:

• Samuel Liu
• Jamie Jones
• Jennifer Celkys
• Kristina Roberts
• Mi Jeoung
• Bo Fu
• Kellie Hottes

“The AQuAs are an amazing annual event that recognises the hard work and dedication of our staff,” said Sally Henderson, quality and accreditation manager at Auburn Hospital who also helped organise the event.

“The projects submitted were all of amazing quality and really focused on the improve the patient and carer experience at Auburn Hospital.”

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“Congratulations again to all our award winners and finalists on their projects and work. The incredible efforts you have made during a challenging year are truly appreciated – and embody the quality and safety of care being delivered at Auburn Hospital,” said Amanda Green, acting general manager of Auburn Hospital.