Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

While there are many rewards to working in a regional Hospital and Health Service, there are also some key challenges and considerations. Being aware of these considerations upfront can help make it easier to adapt to different ways of working. Many of the communities are extremely remote and located in areas that require significant travel. Many services are delivered far from home and healthcare is not available in all communities, which can create challenges to ensuring equitable access to healthcare across the region. The remoteness of these communities can also impact the coordination of services between providers within your HHS and externally due to constraints in technology and information systems. The remoteness can also present challenges in recruiting and retaining a sustainable workforce due to high rates of turnover.

Compared to metropolitan areas, the region also experiences some of the highest socioeconomic disadvantage in both Queensland and Australia, including:

• a lower life expectancy

• higher rates of chronic disease

• increased likelihood to engage in risky behaviours such as drinking and smoking.

A Guiding Principle is a concept or value that underpins and provides a strong influence when making a decision, considering a matter or developing a solution. Guiding Principles explain what good healthcare should look and feel like for patients and should therefore be used to underpin all decisions and matters relating to how healthcare is designed and delivered by your HHS.

The Line Manager's Toolkit can help answer some of these questions but for more detail specifically for your role (depending whether it’s a clinical, operational or administrative leadership position), please see your job description or talk to your people-leader. Ultimately, you’re accountable for your team delivering so ensuring they do that safely, responsibly and professionally is a key part of your role.

There are plenty of resources designed to help you and make managing just a bit easier, but finding what you need when you need it can be tricky. The Line Manager's Toolkit provides an overview of the health systems you have (or will have) access to, what you can find and how to find it. If in doubt, please contact your people leader, HR or Finance for help.

Recruiting staff to regional and remote areas, particularly with specialised skills, is consistently a challenge and will often involve high turnover rates.

Our Queensland Health recruitment process involves a number of steps, particularly to ensure we hire people who are qualified, suitable and safe for roles in a Hospital and Health Service, however, this can make the process lengthy.

One of your key responsibilities, as a people-leader, is to ensure your team is appropriately resourced and recruitment is a key aspect to that.

For further support, please contact HR with any questions.

Initially, it can feel hard to lead a team that you used to be part of (and it’s probably challenging for your team members too). They’re working out where they stand with you. The reality is that the dynamics have shifted and they now probably see you as ‘the boss’. Part of the shift might be them showing you (and your role) respect. At the end of the day, you will need to manage the performance of team members which is hard to do with people you socialise with. If you’re comfortable to do so, have an open conversation about what’s changed or needs to change. Part of it is accepting that your relationships won’t be the same – and consider reaching out to connect with other line managers who might be feeling similarly to you.

When you're managing, you're planning, organising, staffing, coordinating and monitoring. When you're leading, you're influencing, motivating, creating, coaching and inspiring. Both are part of your role, and over time you'll find a balance between spending time in each.

First, most line managers in most organisations around the world say they feel this way – so you’re not alone! It can be hard to tell which meetings are important and sometimes attending and asking questions is a good way of finding out why you’ve been invited. Someline managers have started to schedule 30-minute meetings instead of defaulting to one-hour meetings. Others block out time in their diaries to get their other work done. If you have direct reports who want to develop and stretch themselves, there may be aspects of your role you can delegate. It’s not a simple answer but seeking clarity on the purpose of the meeting, why you’ve been invited and how you can best contribute is a good start.

Our diverse workforce is one of our strengths as a health service – it means we're more reflective of our diverse communities, it helps us see things from different perspectives and bring our strengths to Queensland Health. The first step in focusing on diversity and inclusion is to ensure we have a diverse workforce. As a leader, ensuring your recruitment processes are rigorous and fair will avoid hiring 'like me' and ensure you get the best person for the role. The second step is that everyone feels included, respected and valued in their roles. This means that you seek out and listen to all perspectives (both loud and quiet), help the team to respect and value each other's perspectives, embrace learnings from other/previous workplaces and ensure the team has channels to discuss, challenge each other and solve shared problems.