Interviews from the Frontline

This International Nurses Day, we’re proud to spotlight the incredible work of Charlie McCall. As Assistant Director of Nursing – Navigation Projects for Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service, Charlie played an integral role in the creation of the Pop Up Palliative Care Service — supporting First Nations patients to return home and spend their final days surrounded by family, community and C...

Dr Kate Johnston knew from the age of 14 that she wanted to pursue a career in medicine — and she has spent her career turning that early ambition into meaningful impact.     Today, Kate is an experienced GP,  Medical Director of GP Partnerships and Engagement at  Gold Coast Health, and Deputy Chair of the Queensland Clinical Senate.  Along the way, she has made a significant contribution to patie...

In our first podcast episode for 2026, we take you behind the scenes with Queensland Health’s Chief Allied Health Officer, Liza-Jane McBride. Find out how the girl from Charters Towers almost became an engineer before finding her way into physiotherapy, why she decided against sports physio after a season with a UK football club, why she moved into leadership and what role funny cat videos play in...

Professor Brian Dolan is the originator of the #Last1000Days global social movement to value patients’ time. Originally from Ireland, he is a dual-qualified emergency and mental health nurse and is Honorary Adjunct Professor of Innovation in Healthcare at Bond University on the Gold Coast.    Following his keynote presentation at our Last 1000 Days meeting, Brian joined us to record a podcast inte...

On this R U Okay Day, we take a look back at a snippet (7 minutes) of our podcast interview with Dr Liz Crowe sharing some of her tips to help us fill our tanks, feel less stressed, create space to look after our wellbeing, and be more engaged.  Liz spent 25 years as a social worker, predominantly in paediatric intensive care and critical care and during that time developed a passion for clinician...

Professor Ian Scott is a familiar face at the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH). For 28 years he was the PAH’s Director of Internal Medicine before stepping down in 2024. During that time, he’s seen many changes, taken on a variety of leadership roles and led many important clinical projects. As Ian steps into the next chapter of his life – combining semi-retirement with a part-time role focused o...

Dr Rizsa Albarracin grew up in abject poverty in a remote jungle in the Philippines. At age 12, she left her village on her own to pursue an education in the hope of breaking the poverty cycle and seeing the world. Fast forward a decade or more, a medical science degree, a PhD in Vision Neuroscience, world travel and a new-found passion for climate change, and Rizsa landed a job with Queensland He...

As a young girl, Liz Wilkes didn’t like the sight of blood, so when she told her parents she wanted to be a midwife, they ‘never imagined in a million years it could happen’. But the girlfrom Taree, on the NSW mid north coast, followed her dream and pursued a career in midwifery.   That career has taken Liz from the Hunter Valley to London and now Queensland, where she became Queensland Health’s f...

As a clinician leader, Dr Kellie Wren wears multiple hats, her newest being Chair of the Queensland Clinical Senate. We spoke with Kellie about why she took on the role of Chair and what she hopes to achieve during her time in the job.    As the daughter of a plumber and a seamstress, Kellie also shares with us the moment she declared she wanted to become a doctor, why she chose anaesthetics and,...

As an Aboriginal child born in 1966, Dr Louis Peachey says the idea of going to medical school was ‘never on the cards’. But life had other ideas, and he became the first member of his family to not only attend university, but to become a medical doctor. In 2021, Dr Peachey was awarded Life Membership of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine. We spoke with Dr Peachey about how he end...

Rural Generalist Dr Emily Moody wears many professional hats – Senior Medical Officer at Boonah Health Service, West Moreton Hospital and Health Service, Co-Chair of the Queensland Rural and Remote Clinical Network, and Chair of the Queensland Clinical Networks Executive, to name just three! Originally from Cairns, Emily spoke to us about her many roles, how she finds balance between work and a yo...

Professor Clair Sullivan is a passionate and experienced endocrinologist who is a leader in digital health for Queensland. We spoke with Clair about how she found herself in digital health. And, on the back of the Senate's 'Transforming Flow' meeting, Clair talks about the new study she has co-authored about why access block is not all about the emergency department and the need to understand the...

Even as a young graduate nurse, Jed Duff was always trying to influence change and implement evidence-based practice when he saw opportunities for improvement. But when he couldn't find evidence to fix the problems he came across, Jed decided it was time to start creating his own. This was the beginning of his successful research career. Professor Jed Duff is now the Chair of Nursing for Queen...

Leia Barnes is one of only a handful of consultant vestibular physiotherapists in Australia and is passionate about the world of  ‘dizziness and balance’. So when a call for ideas to reduce pressures on the Emergency Department came across her desk, Leia came up with ‘Dial a Dizzy’, a telehealth hotline to help clinicians across Queensland diagnose and treat vertigo. Dial a Dizzy gives patients th...

Jenny Timor has worked with some of the most vulnerable people in her community, from First Nations youth detained in the police watchhouse, to people living on the streets.  And now as Coordinator of the Indigenous Youth Team for the Mackay Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service, Jenny is working with young people experiencing severe turmoil who are 'running to stand s...

Dr Lachlan McIver grew up in the small rural Queensland town of Millaa Millaa. A family tragedy led him to a career in medicine, and medicine has since taken him on a journey from working in Queensland hospitals to some of the most remote and underprivileged countries around the world. Lachlan is now in Geneva as the Tropical Diseases and Planetary Health Advisor for Doctors without Borders. We sp...

Sepsis is a global health emergency. And diagnosing it is like 'trying to find a needle in a haystack', according to Intensive Care Physician and Digital Sepsis Clinical Lead for Clinical Excellence Queensland, Dr Paul Lane. Paul is hoping to change that with the help of artificial intelligence. Paul is leading a team that is developing an artificial intelligence model that could support d...

Dr Allison Hempenstall was first introduced to life on Thursday Island and the Torres Strait during a rotation as a junior doctor. This experience fuelled her interest in remote health and before long she was 'hooked'! Allison returned to the island as a rural generalist, spending a number of years working one-on-one with patients before turning her focus to the health of entire communitie...

As a long jumper, Bronwyn Thompson made it to the top her her game, representing Australia at the Commonwealth Games and the Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympics. Among her many career highlights is making a come back to win gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne after being told she'd never jump again following a knee injury. Bronwyn's 'I'll prove you wrong...

Professor Ted Weaver has been an obstetrician and gynaecologist for more than three decades and still finds the process of pregnancy and birth ‘endlessly fascinating’. Throughout his career, he’s developed a number of maternity units on the Sunshine Coast, along with building his own private practice. He’s held the prestigious role of President of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ob...

As a young registered nurse, Josh Stafford took a six-week contract in the Far North Queensland town of Aurukun to make a bit of money. But by day 3 on the job, he'd fallen in love with it and knew this was the type of nursing he was meant to do. So while money took him there, it was the people, the diversity, the freedom and acuity that has kept him nursing in remote communities for close on...

Dr Tony Brown has had a long and distinguished career as a rural generalist. From general practice principal in rural Victoria, to Executive Director of Medical Services in Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service (HHS) and now Chief Executive for South West HHS. We spoke with Tony, a former member of the Senate Executive, about his career in rural medicine and what drives his life’s mission to...

In part 2 of our two part green shoots podcast series, we talk to 4 healthcare leaders about initiatives aimed to improve access to care for Queenslanders and support our system to be sustainable into the future. Presented as part of the Senate’s Reimagining Healthcare meeting series, we talk to:  Dr Mark Waters, Rapid Access Specialty Care Mr Matt Page, eConsults (starts at 5:10) Dr Kim Hans...

There are so many great projects underway across Queensland Health to improve access to care for Queenslanders and support our system to be sustainable into the future. And we’re thrilled to bring you a snippet of just a few of them in a special two-part green shoots podcast event. Presented as part of the Senate’s Reimagining Healthcare meeting series, the series features short interviews with 8...

When you think of the Queensland's Health Contact Centre (HCC), you might only think of 13 HEALTH. But the centre provides so much more than that. We spoke to the Health Contact Centre's Executive Director Victoria Chalmers to find out just how many services it provides (you'll be surprised), its role during COVID-19 and how the and how the HCC quickly responds to the needs of Queenslanders and th...