Belinda Henderson1,2
1Infection Control Advisor to the Chief Health Officer, Queensland Department of Health
2Past President, ACIPC
Whilst we are not yet post-pandemic, most infection prevention and control staff are sleeping a little easier than we have in the last couple of years. We wait and prepare our whole professional lives for a pandemic and the SARS CoV2 pandemic response highlighted challenges and complexities that we perhaps didn’t anticipate. It has challenged our resolve, pushed our capacity to respond, and encouraged our learning. More importantly it has highlighted our clinical expertise, value, attitudes, and incredible resilience during this unprecedented time. The focus has remained on keeping our patients, staff, and communities safe.
As I reflect on the chaos of the last couple of years, I encourage my peers and colleagues to not let this crisis go to waste! Take this amazing opportunity to enhance your program, increase the profile of your team and the incredible work undertaken, measure your productivity, redesign, enable improved capacity for routine business and to flex up and flex down in response to outbreak – yes write a business case.
Infection prevention and control leadership has been pivotal to the National and International response, it is timely that we discuss, promote, and acknowledge infection prevention and control as a speciality and the impact we have on the delivery of complex care across the system. Regardless of location: far north, remote, regional, metro, primary care, public health, RACF, disability, private or public hospitals we have collectively worked tirelessly to keep our communities safe.
Biography:
Belinda has over 23 years’ experience as an Infection Control Practitioner and is a Past President of the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control (ACIPC). She is currently working for the Queensland Department of Health as the Infection Control Advisor to the Chief Health Officer and her substantive role is CNC infection control at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. Belinda provides clinical expertise on many National and International groups including AHPPCs National Infection control expert group (ICEG), ACHQS HAI program, ACIPC education and credentialing and professional standards, Queensland’s Statewide Infection clinical network, and she has recently completed the WHOs GOARN leadership program. Her qualifications include a Masters of Advanced Health Practice in Infection Control, she holds Expert level credentialing and is a Fellow of the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control. And more importantly she claims to be a dugong whisper enjoying a weekend paddle on the beautiful Moreton Bay.