This year, the Agency for Clinical Innovation’s Rural Health Network (RHN) marks its 10th anniversary, celebrating a decade of working together to improve the experience and delivery of healthcare in rural, regional and remote NSW communities.
The RHN works with clinicians, health managers, consumers and partners, including the Regional Health Division of NSW Health, to:
- identify ways to improve services and outcomes
- develop innovative solutions to challenges
- support the coordination and implementation of models of care that meet the needs of rural, regional and remote communities.
The network, led by the RHN Executive Committee with ACI Network Manager Shellie Burgess, has a growing membership of more than 750 people. This includes clinicians, consumers, carers, researchers, and health managers from NSW Health, the non-government sector, and Aboriginal health and community organisations, who work together to amplify the rural voice across the health system.
RHN Co-chair Viki Brummell, Manager of the Hunter New England Local Health District Aged Care & Rehabilitation Services Clinical Network, explains that the RHN Executive Committee members work as clinicians or managers in rural, remote and regional health across the state, in different fields.
We are rural residents ourselves, so we also bring our lived experience to the table. The RHN's role is to bring that perspective to a wide range of ACI projects and advocate for the rural voice.
RHN Co-chair Dave Karlson, Director of Business Governance for the NSW Rural Doctors Network, says: "Often the RHN has shown that to make positive change, it's most important to know the issues at a local level and work with people at a local level to collectively develop change that will deliver and stick."
For Richard Cheney, former network Co-chair and now ACI Executive Director, CATALYST, the establishment of the Regional Health Division and the NSW Regional Health Strategic Plan 2022–2032 present exciting opportunities for the RHN over the coming decade.
“The rural health lens has now been picked up by the Regional Health Division, so we have an opportunity to work with them and find our own bespoke role. The RHN has the power to innovate, pilot and test out models and guidelines to meet that strategic intent – as we have in the past with multipurpose services and telehealth – which can then be picked up and rolled out across the regions.”
How the Rural Health Network has made a difference
The RHN has made a difference through many initiatives over the past 10 years, both at the ACI and at a system level. Here are 10 of the Network's most significant contributions.
- ACI Rural Innovation Awards
These awards celebrate successful innovative projects in the rural health sector. Since 2013, more than 60 winning projects have demonstrated the breadth of innovation in rural health, recognising teams from oral health, NSW Ambulance, community mental health, human resources, community engagement, integrated and chronic care teams, as well as inpatient specialties. Read about some of the past winners, including an Aboriginal community-led stroke education project in the Tamworth area, and the Virtual Allied Health Service (VAHS) supporting patients in Western NSW. - The annual Rural Innovations Changing Healthcare (RICH) Forum
Since 2014, the annual RICH Forum has showcased innovation occurring at the grassroots levels of rural, regional and remote NSW; and providing a platform to network and share progress. The 10th annual forum was held this month. - Improving the rural patient journey initiative (2019–22)
This important initiative aimed to support people in rural, regional and remote communities facing long hospitalisation, including: improving access to resources for patients, carers and families; early identification of rurality to improve care planning; and developing a consistent approach to meeting the social, emotional and practical needs of rural patients, carers and families. - Supporting the Friendly Faces Helping Hands Foundation The RHN supported updates to the website for this not-for-profit organisation that is committed to linking rural residents to major city hospitals and helping them access health services they need.
- Showcasing rural health projects
The network has encouraged knowledge sharing and collaboration across the health system, with more than 150 rural health projects shared via the ACI’s Innovation Exchange. - Collaborating with multipurpose services
The RHN has strong connections to multipurpose services (MPSs) across the state, working to improve the quality of life for residents who call them home. Rural teams have challenged the clinical and acute-focused system to adopt an approach to aged care based on lifestyle, nutrition, recreation and leisure. - Developing the Principles of Care for Living Well in Multipurpose Services (2015–19)
These principles developed by the RHN for multipurpose services led the way for quality of life in aged care, and have since been incorporated into the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare accreditation standards and Aged Care Quality Standards. - Developing a Rural Health Matrix (2015)
This matrix was developed by the RHN to ensure a rural health lens was applied to models of care and guidelines produced across the ACI, ensuring that considerations such as access to services and specialised roles were accounted for. - Contributing to the NSW Telehealth Guidelines (2014)
These guidelines were developed to support remote access to healthcare before the establishment of NSW Health’s current Virtual Care program. Guidelines and findings are now being incorporated into virtual care across the state. - Developing the NSW Rural Aged Care Hospital Avoidance Compendium (2014)
Working with the Aged Health Network, the RHN developed this resource to support older rural community members to remain independent for longer.
“I look back over the past decade and the achievements that this network has made are remarkable, not only for the ACI but the whole system,” says Richard. “The people, the clinicians, the clients and the carers of rural health are just so thankful for everything the RHN executive and members have achieved. I know the next 10 years are going to be even better.”