After three years, countless meetings and a pandemic, Dr Alex Markwell's term as Chair of the Queensland Clinical Senate will end on 31 December 2021.
Clinical Excellence Queensland Acting Deputy Director-General Adjunct Professor Shelley Nowlan said Alex had been an exemplar leader of the Senate over the past three years.
“Alex's support and leadership throughout the pandemic has been exceptional and we thank her so much for all that she has done and wish her all the best for her next chapter," Shelley said.
"On a personal note I would like to acknowledge the professional collegiality that I experienced these last few months working with Alex.”
An emergency physician at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH), Alex started as Chair of the Clinical Senate in early 2019, chairing her first meeting, the Health and Wellbeing of the Workforce, in May. She has since Chaired meetings on low benefit care and maximising benefits of care, delivering the right care and support during the transition from paediatric to adult healthcare services, and connecting data to better inform individual clinicians.
Alex also initiated and helped design a bespoke leadership program for Senate members with two sessions delivered in 2019.
Alex's leadership throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has been exceptional. To ensure clinicians had the most relevant and up-to-date information to support them in their roles, she worked with the Senate team, Statewide Clinical Networks and CEQ Engage to establish the Frontline COVID-19 Advice emails. This email has since been sent 495 times to more than 17,000 subscribers across Queensland.
Alex represented clinicians at all levels of the state’s COVID-19 health response, while also keeping her finger on the pulse working in fever clinics, vaccination clinics and in her clinical role at the RBWH.
Alex chaired more than 15 online clinician information sessions about the virus and the vaccination rollout. She led a Senate meeting 'Innovation and transformation of models of care in response to COVID-19' and hosted numerous other online clinician feedback sessions.
Alex said it had been a wonderful three years as Chair of the Senate.
“I have had the opportunity to work with so many great people and we have achieved so much together,” Alex said.
“The Senate is in great hands with the incoming Chair, Dr Tanya Kelly, who I know will keep the ship steady and take the Senate to the next level.”
Dr Kelly will begin as Chair in January. Tanya is an experienced senior clinician (anaesthetist) and has held clinical leadership roles for the past 10 years, most recently as Director of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine and Clinical Director for Digital Transformation within the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service.
