March 2023
The Minister for Health and Ambulance Services joined members of the Queensland emergency healthcare community to celebrate the latest recipients of the Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMF) research grants, at the 2023 EMF Grants Award Ceremony.
The celebration on Wednesday 8 March 2023 recognised 28 research projects which received more than $2.2m in funding from EMF during 2022-23.
In congratulating grant recipients and researchers, The Hon Yvette D’Ath thanked emergency healthcare workers and EMF for their dedication to improving healthcare in Queensland and highlighted the importance of clinician-led research in leading positive change in the system.
“We know what the problems are, we know what the challenges are, but we need the solutions, and they need to be solutions not just for the short term, but to set us up for the decades to come.
“It’s about focusing on innovation in our system and making sure we are supporting you (clinicians and researchers) in that innovation, and that’s why the work with EMF is so important.
“EMF provides clinicians with a voice to show what works and how others can make it work too.”
In highlighting the important role EMF plays in fostering research in emergency medicine, Minister D’Ath voiced the Queensland Government’s continued support for the foundation, confirming the renewal of EMF’s funding for the next three years.
EMF Board Director and immediate past Chair, Dr Kim Hansen, joined the Minister in commending clinicians going above and beyond to seek improvements in emergency care delivery and patient outcomes.
“We know that clinician-led research is critical to inform new and improved systems and processes to address these issues, and the dedication our clinicians have to drive these changes is phenomenal,” Dr Hansen said.
In addition to congratulating grant recipients, attendees at the ceremony heard from past EMF-funded researchers Dr Daniel Bodnar, Deputy Medical Director of the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS), and Dr Amanda Harley, Clinical Nurse Consultant from Children’s Health Queensland and Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH).
Dr Bodnar and Dr Harley highlighted the impact EMF funding had on their research careers as practicing clinicians, from encouraging them to embark on the research journey to translating research outcomes into improved patient care.
Following the Grants Award Ceremony, EMF held the 2023 Symposium “Improving Patient Flow in Queensland Public Hospitals.”
The symposium heard presentations from researchers investigating contributing factors and potential solutions to improve patient flow in Queensland public hospitals, with research projects funded by EMF and Queensland Health’s Health Improvement Unit at Clinical Excellence Queensland.
Attendees at the Grants Award Ceremony and Symposium included representatives from some of the EMF’s founding members, including Dr Stephen Gourley, President-Elect of The Australasian College of Emergency Medicine; Dr Maria Boulton, President of the Australian Medical Association Queensland; and Dr David Rosengren, Chief Operating Officer of Queensland Health.
About EMF:
EMF is a non-profit organisation which funds innovative, evidence-based emergency healthcare research. EMF supports research that will improve clinical practices to save lives as well as deliver significant economic benefits to the healthcare system. EMF was established in 2007 with the support of the Queensland Government, Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation Queensland, Together Queensland (formerly Queensland Public Sector Union), Australian Medical Association of Queensland, and the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.
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