Big smiles at WSLHD’s Oral Health Care annual awards

18 Aug, 2023, 5:47 pm18 Aug, 2023, 5:47 pm Jessica Chahine

General Manager Award recipient Dr Bertha Power, and Dr. Josephine Kenny, Clinical Director for Oral Health

Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) celebrated excellence in Oral Health Care during its Oral Health Quality Awards Ceremony.

Dr. Josephine Kenny, Clinical Director for Oral Health, warmly congratulated dedicated staff for their outstanding commitment to providing top-tier oral health care.

Patient feedback consistently highlights the staff’s kind and respectful approach.”

The Oral Health Quality Awards Ceremony was held recently at Westmead Hospital and the winners are listed below.

Oral Health Team Quality Awards were presented for the following Quality projects which were carried out in the last 12 months:

Dr Neeta Prabhu and the Paediatric Dentistry team won the Transforming The Patient Experience Award for the project: Detecting Dental Disease in children from intra-oral photographs taken by parents.
Dr Jo-Yao Cheng, Tim Connell and Con Tsiavos, (Dental Informatics Unit team) won the Health Research and Innovation Award for the project: Improving Patient Engagement through SMS Technology.
Dr Herdeza Verzosa (Oral Health Education Unit) and Erek Sudhukar (Capital Works team) won the Patient Safety First Award for the project: Barriers placed in Open Plan clinics at Westmead Centre for Oral Health.
Dr Hayley Dixon (Clinical Support Unit, Oral Health) and Gabriel Chau (Pharmacy, Westmead Hospital) won the Keeping People Healthy Award for the project: Antimicrobial Stewardship Auditing in Oral Health.

Individual Quality Awards were also presented to the following Oral Health staff:

Exceptional Contribution Award was presented to Dr Herdeza Verzosa. The nomination for Herdeza was for her leadership in the transition of local sterilising in Oral Health to the hospital CSSDs.
Oral Health Young Leader of the Year Award was presented to Dr Jo-Yao Cheng. The nomination for Jo-Yao was for his strong commitment to the Oral Health service in WSLHD through his ability to take the lead on multiple projects within the service relating to digital health and information technology, and completing them successfully and within the required timeframes.
Bright SparQ Award was presented to Dr Hayley Dixon. The nomination for Hayley was for her lead role in the preparation of the Oral Health service for our first short notice accreditation assessment.
Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Dr Selina Leow. Dr Leow is a Visiting Dental Officer with the WSLHD Forensic Odontology service and also contributes to the WSLHD community as a volunteer buggy driver at Westmead Hospital.
Collaborative Team of the Year Award was presented to the Oral Health General Practice Department team. The nomination for the General Practice team was for their contribution to the significant reduction in Oral Health waiting lists and significant assistance with the increased voucher issuing required to meet their DWAU target.

Oral Health General Manager Awards:

Achieving Goals and Outcomes Award winners: The team to transition Westmead Centre for Oral Health Reprocessing to Westmead CSSD.
Education and Innovative Thinking Award winner: Tam Nguyen from the Oral Health Staff Laboratory, for his successful training of colleagues in laser welding laboratory procedures.
Providing Great Healthcare and / or Patient Experience Award winner: Dr Bertha Power for her ability to provide integrated care across multiple health services and produce a positive patient experience.
Living Our Values, Displaying Compassion & Empathy Award winner: Team providing oral health care to palliative care patient, which included Stacey Dyson (Staff Laboratory), Dr Hayley Dixon (Head and Neck Cancer Unit), Dr. Suhasini Ravi (Mt Druitt Hospital Dental Clinic), Maria Capilnean (Clinical Support Unit) and Kavitha Asoor-Palanivel (Clinical Support Unit). The nomination for this award was as follows: The team is nominated for their care of a patient who was at the end of their life. The patient was unable to eat or drink due to an oro-nasal fistula, which was very distressing for the patient and his family. The patient was hoping to be alive for the wedding of a family member. An impression was taken while the patient remained in his hospital bed, the laboratory produced an appliance to cover the fistula in 24 hours. The appliance was couriered to Mt Druitt Dental clinic where staff issued the appliance to the patient, who was then able to be involved in the family wedding.
Safety Award winner: Hayley Basso for her diligence in reporting issues with sterile consumable products. Her prompt reports and good record keeping have led to thorough investigations by the manufacturer to ensure safer practices to prevent such issues occurring again.

Kindness Awards were presented to: