Who we worked with
Metro South Health, Queensland Australia
What we did together
What does Brisbane’s public health care system and Creative HQ have in common? How about using the power of innovation to improve people’s lives.
At the heart of every great initiative lies a story of purpose, determination and a quest for change. Our recent chat with Michelle Padget, Assistant Director of Nursing, Clinical Improvement Unit and Georgia Hellen, Project Officer, Clinical Improvement Unit, Metro South Health took us on a journey of their experience with Creative HQ’s Masterclass in Innovation.
Let us introduce you to Metro South Health (MSH), one of the largest Hospital and Health Services in Queensland, Australia, responsible for the public health of over 1.2 million people across Brisbane’s southside, Logan, Redlands and Scenic Rim regions.
MSH has more than 13,000 employees and provides specialist health care to 23% of the Queensland population.
That’s a lot of employees to train, patients to care for and processes to improve – and that’s where innovation takes place.
The Opportunity
The team wanted to address challenges with both MSH’s internal processes and the broader healthcare system. Using Creative HQ’s 7-tiered Innovation Masterclass as the foundation, the improvements they’ve focused on have been to:
Enhance Outpatient Services:
- Implementation of innovative strategies in outpatient services, including designing a patient portal for increased empowerment and control, including tailored support for First Nation patients.
Streamline Operations:
- Evaluation and improvement of MSH processes to ensure efficient and effective healthcare delivery.
Metro South Health worked with Creative HQ to help address these challenges – enabling them to redefine many of their internal processes and, most importantly, embed sustainable innovation practices into their organisation that will have a positive impact for all stakeholders.
The Creative HQ approach
Metro South Health was looking for a programme that provided true empowerment for building its team’s capabilities.
The goal was clear: to establish a self-sustaining innovation programme that would equip the team with the skills to drive continuous progress and cultivate a culture of innovation and growth.
MSH sought out programmes with a “train-the-trainer” approach. One of the key factors that set Creative HQ apart from other providers was its comprehensive and immersive nature.
“There was really no other provider who had that level of face -to -face training”, says Georgia. “Most other providers offered 10 hours of training and that just wasn’t enough. This kind of subject matter really needs time for you to learn, embed the skills, and feel confident to then implement and teach them.”
Creative HQ’s ‘T7 Masterclass’, is one of our 40-hour intensive innovation programmes designed to help organisations and teams develop a strong innovation capability. It focuses on building growth mindsets, enhancing problem-solving skills, and fostering a culture of innovation within an organisation.
Reflecting on the Journey
When asked about their favourite aspects of working with Creative HQ, Georgia and Michelle noted the lasting impact of our partnership, emphasising the freedom to experiment and grow, with a support system from our wonderful facilitation team.
“They really worked to help us make the most of our time together. I appreciate that about them. I’ve been able to continue to reach out to Colin and to Alex after the programme. They’ll still help me with my work and answer any queries around some of the workshops I’ve been running. That ongoing, lifetime relationship is gold,” says Georgia Hellen.
“It was hands-on, it really pushed you to stretch your mind. It challenged you, although I loved it even when it was tough, because that means you’re learning and testing concepts to new heights,” says Michelle. “It’s probably the best course I’ve done, ever. And I really mean that.”
The result – and the joy of collaboration
This shift in mindset has had a tangible impact on the organisation’s projects and initiatives. Michelle shared that, “the team has used Creative HQ’s methodology quite a few times now and has seen some good outcomes such as the prototyping and experimentation happening in the spinal injury unit.”
Moreover, the team has been able to integrate the innovative methodologies into their daily work, using tools like Miro to facilitate remote collaboration and engage a wider range of stakeholders, including primary care providers and consumers.
“People really respond to the tools and the methodology of engaging. We’ve been able to get really good engagement online with Miro, so now we’ve got the tools to get a lot done remotely, which I think is a big change in the way that the CIU worked in the past,” says Georgia. “And now we’re ‘tooled up’ to be able to run these organisation-wide programmes.”
Here’s what Metro South Health had achieved as a result of this programme of work (so far):
- Redesigning Healthcare Spaces with a focus on redesigning the spinal injury unit to improve patient care and outcomes.
- Revolutionising Neurology Care with the introduction of a shared care model in the neurology unit, involving collaborative efforts with consumers to improve patient specialist and GP coordination.
- Successfully adapting MSH’s innovation methodology from the spinal injury unit prototype development into an ongoing learning process.
- Applied innovation methodology across 5 Metro South Health organisational streams in improvement sprint.
- Successfully implemented approximately 50 solutions through organisational sprint programme.
- Implemented the ‘How Might We’ approach to help shift team mindset from barriers to possibilities.
- Embedded an innovation strategy which connects leadership research perspectives and ground-level healthcare network engagement.
- Refreshed focus on improving team culture (pre-activating many of the new initiatives) to improve the chances of success for new projects and changes at Metro South Health.
The collaboration between Metro South Health and Creative HQ has been an amazing journey, one that has empowered the organisation to challenge traditional thinking, embrace experimentation, and drive meaningful progress in the healthcare sector.
“I love the methodology,” says Michelle. “And with the continuous support we received while designing the workshop, [collaborating with her colleague spinal topics], we were able to refine our methodology, ensuring the quality and effectiveness of our work.”
Reflecting on the course impact, as Georgia put it “the permission to try new things, fail and try again, knowing you’ll be supported and that overall, you are making huge progress.”
What we loved most about talking with Michelle and Georgia is their clear passion for patient-focused and innovative models of care. It’s meaningful mahi and we’re honored to have played even a small part in their journey. We believe their organisation mindset shift will be pivotal in cultivating a culture of innovation and adaptability, positioning Metro South Health as a leader in the transformation of healthcare delivery. Stay tuned.
