The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, VIC Videos

What’s the gossip? 🗣 This week is Speech Pathology Week. The theme is “Communicate your way”. At the RMH we have many talented speech pathies, but many more talented patients who use assistive devices, implants and technologies to communicate. Some of them simply have a communication disability and don’t have to use assistive devices or implants, but are working hard with our speech pathologists to help them communicate more effectively, one day at a time. There are 1.2 million Australians living with a communication disability. At the RMH, we value our staff, patients and members of the community who are living with a communication disability. Our speech pathologists work tirelessly to raise awareness of speech disorders among our staff members, and work with our patients and consumers to lead meaningful, productive lives with a communication disability, or even overcome the communication disability altogether. You can meet some of our friendly patients and one of our speech pathologists, Sinead, in this video.

Joanne's life with a new kidney
An update from Joanne ✨ You might have heard the story of the RMH patient Joanne this week. Joanne was on her way hospital for a kidney transplant recently - a call-up she had waited four years to receive. Full of excitement and anticipation, things were going well - until she ran into a three-hour traffic jam. So what did she do? She called ABC Radio (after calling us, of course) to share her story. “This should be the best day of my life and it's turning into one of the most stressful," Joanne told host Raf Epstein. After being reassured by our transplant team that her kidney would still be here when she arrived, Joanne eventually made it to the RMH and is now recovering. And she couldn’t be more grateful for the love and support she has recieved since - from staff here at the RMH and the wider Victorian community too. “I feel like the cat that got the canary,” she said. Wishing you all the best for your recovery, Joanne! You can read Joanne’s story on the ABC's website: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-23/kidney-transplant-traffic-delay-fears-joanne-curdow-rmh/104256994

How to use the CBORD menu ordering app with Bridget and Aimee
Our menu has gone digital 📱 Did you know when you come to the RMH, you can now choose what you will eat through our electronic menu? Our CBORD Patient app can be used by you or your loved ones to order your meals. All the foods available during your stay on the app have been specifically chosen for your treatment and recovery, but the menu just gives you a little bit more freedom to choose meals that align with your tastes and preferences. Our Dietitians Aimee and Bridget show you how to set up a CBORD account to order your meals on this YouTube video. If you have a planned surgery coming up, you can watch it before you arrive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4qfgzCd7o4

A HUGE thank you to everyone who went dry this July or supported our RMH team. We’re proud to share that we’ve raised over $44,000! Your amazing contributions will go directly providing the best care, treatment, and support for RMH cancer patients. Dry July might be over, but you can still donate until the end of August. Head over to https://www.dryjuly.com/rmh to learn more and donate

Hospital care in the comfort of your own home
Hospital care at home is hospital-level care delivered in the comfort of your own home. Our health professionals come to you via our RMH@Home program. Care is provided by our experienced team of medical, nursing and allied health staff. A range of hospital services can be delivered in your home including: - care while recovering from surgery - care for infections and wounds - care for a range of chronic diseases - care for ageing-related medical conditions - rehabilitation - cancer care Watch this video, produced by the West Metro Health Service Partnership, on the benefits on accessing care at home. For more information, please speak to your treating team or visit our website to learn more about RMH@Home: https://www.thermh.org.au/your-care/ongoing-care/rmhhome

Hospital care at home is hospital-level care delivered in the comfort of your own home. The RMH can deliver this service to eligible patients via our RMH@Home program. Health professionals will visit you regularly – how often will depend on your care needs. For more than 25 years, hospital care at home has been helping people recover better in their own surroundings. This service cuts out the need for transport to and from the hospital as well as wait times, which can be beneficial to carers as well. Hospital care at home services will vary depending on your health service. Find out more about the RMH's Hospital@Home program: https://www.thermh.org.au/your-care/ongoing-care/rmhhome This video was produced by the West Metro Health Service Partnership.

What is RSV? It has been in the news a bit lately, and is a common cause of respiratory infections. A/Prof Megan Rees explains what RSV is, and which groups of people it can be particularly serious for if they become unwell. RSV vaccination is available nationally this year for the first time. It is recommended for all adults aged 75 years and older, and adults aged 60 to 74 years old who are First Nations peoples or who have medical conditions that increase their risk of severe illness. The RSV vaccine is not funded under the National Immunisation Program. Visit the Better Health Channel for more information about RSV: betterhealth.vic.gov.au/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv

Driving tired? Wake up to yourself
Your forty winks can save lives. 😴 Did you know fatigue accounts for approximately 16-20 per cent of all fatal crashes in Victoria each year and accounts for 25 per cent of hospitalisation cases admitted to Alfred Health and the Royal Melbourne Hospital? Lack of sleep dramatically affects a person’s ability to drive safely and continues to be a significant cause of road trauma. Research has shown that people who only sleep for four or five hours may experience a four times higher risk of crashing. Hitting the hay and getting a good night’s sleep is one of the best things you can do before hitting the road. We’ve partnered with the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) to remind you to get your 8 hours of shut eye before you hit the road. Because “Driving tired? Wake up to yourself”

Hospital care at home by the West Metro Health Service Partnership
We'd like to tell you about the Hospital care at home service via this video, which is produced by the West Metro Health Service Partnership. The partnership brings together the RMH, the Royal Children’s Hospital, the Royal Women’s Hospital, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Western Health, Werribee Mercy Hospital, and the North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network. Hospital care at home is hospital-level care delivered in the comfort of your own home. The RMH can deliver this service to eligible patients via our RMH@Home porgram. Health professionals will visit you regularly – how often will depend on your care needs. For more than 25 years, hospital care at home has been helping people recover better in their own surroundings. Types of care available in the home A range of hospital services can be delivered in your home including: 🩼care while recovering from surgery 🩹 Care for infections and wounds 💊 Care for a range of chronic diseases 👵 Care for ageing-related medical conditions 🦽 Rehabilitation 🩺 Cancer care 🤱 Maternity care for women who had low-risk deliveries 👶 Paediatric care of medically stable children Hospital care at home services will vary depending on your health service. Find out more about the RMH's Hospital@Home program: https://www.thermh.org.au/your-care/ongoing-care/rmhhome

We’re over half way through Aphasia Awareness Month, and our friendly speech therapists want to let you in on a little acronym that helps them with aphasia patients. More than 140,000 Australians live with aphasia, which is what happens when there is damage to the parts of the brain involved with language. It can affect how you read, write, speak or understand language. It’s mostly caused by stroke, however it can also occur through a brain tumour, traumatic brain injury and certain types of dementia. Here at the RMH, our speechies use the “ALL EARS” principle to help them implement aphasia-friendly communication strategies. 👂ALL EARS👂 ✅Ask yes/no questions 🗒List multi-choice options 👀Look at facial expressions ⏰Extra time 😫Acknowledge difficulty/frustration 🗣Repeat back what you understood 🙋‍♀️See if they need anything before you leave One of our aphasia patients Paul has kindly shared his tips on how to approach a person living with aphasia. Check out his advice in this video.

Did you know it can take up to 40 bags of blood to keep someone alive after a major trauma accident? 40 donations. From 40 people. To save one life. That’s a lot of blood and blood products - including plasma and platelets. And what’s more - over 8.3 million Australians will need blood in their lifetime.​ This World Blood Donor Day we want you to know just how vital your donation can be. Director of Emergency Medicine at the RMH, Associate Professor Mark Putland, has a front row seat to the life-saving properties of blood. Whether it’s being used to save a life in our ED, during open-heart surgery, for cancer patients or providing people with autoimmune conditions with specalised blood products - blood is essential to the great care we are able to provide here at the RMH. Hear about how blood is used throughout the hospital - and how much - in the video below. And if you’d like to roll up your sleeve and donate, visit your nearest @lifebloodau centre today.

Please give to our Tax Appeal
Have you donated to the Royal Melbourne Hospital Foundation Tax Appeal? Now is the perfect time, because every gift made on or before June 30 will be matched. No limit, no conditions – every gift matched! With more people coming through our Emergency Department than ever before, we could face critical delays in timely access to our current single CT scanner. One CT scanner is simply not enough. We urgently need to raise $2.5M for a second CT scanner. This is a vital piece of equipment that provides rapid and accurate diagnosis for trauma and stroke patients. Please make a kind donation today to help secure another CT scanner. Because when life is unpredictable, our response isn’t. Donate now: https://royal-melbourne-hospital.giveeasy.org/CT

It’s International Men’s Health Week, which shines a light on the importance of men’s health, wellness and safety. Falls cause the most hospitalisations and deaths out of any condition we see at the RMH. While falls are mostly caused by older age and frailty, we do see a lot of fellas come in after a work injury, a drunken stumble or a DIY-disaster. These falls could cause a cut and graze, but we often see the worst of the worst injuries from even falls from a low height, leading to major disabilities and even death. Men - we want you to be safe and well. There are several different ways you can prevent falls from happening: 💪 Keep up strength training, especially as you age 🍺 Drink responsibly 🪜 Never go up a ladder without someone nearby 🪚 Avoid DIY projects in the rain Emergency physician Dr Mya Cubitt explains some ways you can prevent falls in this video.

Donate to the RMH Foundation 2024 Tax Appeal
Thanks to everyone who has made a donation to the RMH Foundation Tax Appeal. Haven’t donated? Now’s the time - your gift will be matched! Yep, that’s right - every gift made on or before June 30 will be matched. No limit, no conditions – every gift matched! You donation will help us get to our goal of $2.5m to purchase a second CT scanner for our ED. The powerful images generated by our ED CT scanner allowed us to pick up Brianna’s stroke in a matter of minutes - saving her and her baby’s life. Your support is truly invaluable. To make a donation, head to: https://royal-melbourne-hospital.giveeasy.org/CT

It’s Aphasia Awareness Month. More than 140,000 Australians live with aphasia, which is what happens when there is damage to the parts of the brain involved with language. It can affect how you read, write, speak or understand language. It’s mostly caused by stroke, however it can also occur through a brain tumour, traumatic brain injury and certain types of dementia. Aphasia can be very challenging for patients living with the condition, who are attempting to communicate, as well as their loved ones who are trying to understand. The good news is that aphasia can often improve with rehabilitation. Our speech pathologists work hard with aphasia patients to restore their language - patients just like Paul, who talks about his experience in this video. Our speechies are also working with departments to recognise this condition so we can better personalise care and support to our patients living with aphasia.

A Computed Tomography (CT) scanner is one of the most powerful diagnostic tools we have in the Emergency Department. A CT scan makes an image of every type of body structure at once - bone, blood vessels and soft tissue. These images allow our staff members to view the body’s internal structures in detail, thereby helping them to diagnose conditions in minutes, rather than hours. But one CT scanner is simply not enough. With more people coming through our Emergency Department than ever before, we could face critical delays in timely access to our current single CT scanner. We urgently need to raise $2.5M for a second CT scanner. This is a vital piece of equipment that provides rapid and accurate diagnosis for trauma and stroke patients. Please make a kind donation today to help secure another CT scanner. Because when life is unpredictable, our response isn’t. Donate today at https://royal-melbourne-hospital.giveeasy.org/CT

So, why does the flu make us feel sooooo … rubbish? 🤧 The flu is caused by the influenza virus, and if you’ve had it before you know it’s not just like a common cold. We asked our Head of Respiratory Medicine and Sleep Disorders, A/Prof Megan Rees, why that was the case, and why getting a flu vaccine each year is so important. One of the reasons we need an annual flu vaccine is the predominant strains change from year to year. “We have here in the Parkville precinct the WHO influenza reporting centre that helps the world decide which are the best vaccines from season to season,” A/Prof Rees said. ”This year the flu vaccine protects against four different strains of influenza.” Watch her advice in this video. Feeling rubbish? Please wear a mask and stay home to rest and recover.

Major construction now is complete on Parkville Station, which lies at the foot of the Royal Melbourne Hospital Parkville campus. Parkville Station is the second of 5 new state-of-the-art stations to be finished as part of the Metro Tunnel. The station will transform travel for thousands of medical staff, patients, families, students, teachers and researchers who travel to the Parkville precinct every day. Situated 32 metres below Grattan Street, the new station features entrances directly outside the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and The University of Melbourne. Take a look at the new station below. The Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Metro Tunnel project team would like to thank staff, patients and the RMH Parkville community for their patience while works were being undertaken.

It’s May, which means it’s officially flu season 🤧 And it’s at this time every year that we roll up our sleeves for an annual influenza vaccination. 💉 Did you know that an annual flu vax is recommended for everyone aged six months and over? Infectious diseases physician A/Prof Irani Thevarajan explains why in this video. She also discusses the ideal time to get vaccinated to make sure you have the best possible protection for the peak flu season. Vaccination is the first important step to help beat the flu this winter. 💪 You can also stop the spread by using good hygiene habits, such as sneezing into your elbow and washing your hands, and staying home if you are unwell. 😷 Speak to your local doctor or pharmacist today about getting your influenza vaccination, or visit the Better Health Channel website to learn more about immunisation against the flu: betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/flu-influenza-immunisation

Ever wondered what happens to plastic you recycle at the RMH? Recently, our Sustainability Officer Jacqui had the pleasure of visiting the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) that processes the RMH's commingled recycling (plastic, metal, glass, paper and cardboard). The MRF is very busy dealing with our recycling - we dispose of 13 tonnes of commingled recycling per month, which equates to 156 tonnes a year! The weight alone equates to eight buses. Jacqui said it was fascinating to see the technology behind how our recycling is broken down. “The machine in the video below uses light to detect the various different types of plastic and then uses air to shoot the plastic on to the corresponding conveyor belt before it is bailed,” Jacqui said. ”It was great to see how our products are recycled, from arriving at the MRF until they are bailed up to be processed back into resin (liquid plastic) and sold to manufacturing companies.” #WorldEarthDay 🌏