WHEN Liana Maumill first visited Princess Margaret Hospital, it was a lonely time: her mother checked her in then was told by nurses they would call “when I was ready to be picked up”.
She did not know that it would be the start of a long association with the hospital, which turns 100 this month, and her commitment to improving the experience for young patients.
“I like to say that PMH is celebrating its centenary, and I’m celebrating my half-centenary, and it is a good time to reflect on how far we have both come,” the South Guildford resident said.
A trip from Derby to Perth in 1987 renewed her links to PMH, when she arrived as an enrolled nurse to do a paediatric training course. She ended up staying 23 years, 15 of those on the ‘total care unit’ oncology ward.
“I loved how we had an opportunity to work with children and their families at a really difficult time, through this terrible, emotionally confront-ing diagnosis,” she said.
“Cancer treatment goes for a long time so it is satisfying to be able to help see them through it, from being a good clinician to sharing a joke, or reading to the kids... anything that makes their journey a bit easier.”
Experiencing the other side through her own two children further honed her skills, and revealed just how differently the hospital now treats families, as integral to a child’s care.
Ms Maumill now works on improving the “journey” through PMH, from re-establishing the very nurse training course that brought her to PMH so long ago, to co-leading the Four Hour Rule program.
“It is about streamlining processes to ensure children get in and get the care they need within the optimum timeframe, maybe as simple as reducing the wait for discharge by having their pills or crutches ready,” she said.
PMH will hold a centenary open day, from 11am to 3pm on Saturday, with free entertainment, a Teddy Bear Clinic, and access to a theatre, respiratory sleep lab and imaging centre.