The network held its first rural face-to-face burn care workshop since the start of the pandemic. More than 50 participants from the Murrumbidgee Local Health District attended the workshop held in June at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital.

The workshop educated clinicians on early assessment and treatment for burn injuries. Attendees were grateful for the opportunity to network and interact in person and learn about the burn patient journey from acute injury to long-term rehabilitation. A key learning for attendees was that support from the Statewide Burn Injury Service and burn units is always available for burn care advice.

Presentations were delivered by:

• Dr John Harvey, Paediatric Burn Surgeon
• Siobhan Connolly, Burn Nurse and ACI Education Manager
• Anne Darton, Burn Therapist and Burn Injury Network Manager

If you would like to organise a similar workshop in your rural or regional area, please contact us.

Learn more or contact the Burn Injury Network.

New guide to support the deactivation of implantable cardioverter defibrillators

Updated guidance on the Deactivation of implantable cardioverter defibrillators at end of life is now available.

This clinical practice guide supports cardiac and device technologists and clinicians in hospital and community settings to:

• discuss deactivation of the implantable cardioverter defibrillator with patients and their families
• manage the deactivation process
• support a peaceful death.

The guidance is relevant across acute care, primary care and residential aged care settings.

New model of care for TeleECG

TeleECG (electrocardiogram) is a nurse-led decision support service to manage acute coronary syndrome in rural emergency departments. A clinical trial was successfully conducted in the Hunter New England Local Health District.

A NSW TeleECG model of care has been published following wide consultation.

Forums will be held with local health districts to discuss the new model of care.

Updated guidance for cardiac monitoring

The revised Cardiac monitoring of adult cardiac patients in NSW public hospitals clinical practice guide is now available. The guide supports decision making about safe transfer and discharge after a cardiac event or procedure. It replaces the NSW Health guideline GL2016_019.

A poster is also available as a quick reference for clinicians.

Learn more or contact the Cardiac Network.

Congratulations to the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD) Public Health team who were awarded the ACI Rural Health Innovation Award at the district’s recent Quality and Innovation Awards. The team was recognised for their Keeping People Healthy project.

The team partnered with the Department of Communities and Justice and Port Authority to increase the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine among at-risk communities.

Outreach vaccination clinics were held in 27 different housing locations and on the street, reaching homeless people and achieving one of the highest vaccination rates for social housing tenants in NSW. Sixty-four clinics were also held for seafarers, in partnership with the Port Kembla Terminals. The outreach program delivered 7,493 vaccines in three months and contributed to high COVID-19 vaccination rates in Illawarra and Shoalhaven.

Lea Kirkwood (second left), Director of ACI’s STEP directorate, with the ISLHD Public Health team at the awards ceremony on 5 June.

Learn more or contact the Rural Health Network.

A webinar was held in June for clinicians who provide care for people with a spinal cord injury.

The event is part of an ongoing learning process for clinicians that supports the Emotional Wellbeing Toolkit eLearning course. It was facilitated by clinical psychologist Annalisa Dezarnaulds and provided clinicians with an opportunity to consolidate learnings and discuss issues.

The program helps health professionals gain knowledge, confidence and an understanding of the psychosocial issues experienced by people with a spinal cord injury.

Find out more and contact the State Spinal Cord Injury Service.

World Stroke Organization Angels Awards

Congratulations to Lismore Base Hospital, Port Macquarie Base Hospital and Gosford Hospital on achieving Gold status in the latest round of the World Stroke Organization (WSO) Angels Awards. Congratulation to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital for being the first hospital in NSW to achieve Diamond status, with 89% of ischaemic stroke patients treated with thrombolysis within 45 minutes of arriving at the hospital.

Quarterly analysis of stroke data from NSW hospitals contribute to the WSO Angels Awards, as part of the NSW Releasing Improvements in StrokE (RISE) program. Sites that want to participate in RISE and the WSO awards can contact the Stroke Network.

Welcome to our new Allied Health Co-Chair

Our new and improved Transition Care Network web pages have been published, making it easier to find our useful resources and join the network.

Learn more or contact the Transition Care Network.

Palliative care animation available in three new languages

The virtual palliative care animation video is now available in three languages other than English:

• Arabic: الرعاية الافتراضية تجعل الحصوعلى الرعاية التلطيفية أمراً سهلاً
• Mandarin: 虚拟护理使姑息治疗更轻松
• Kurdish: Çavdêrîya elektronî gehîştin bi çavdêrîya paliatîf hêsan dike.

The English version also has the option to display the subtitles in these languages, available on the NSW Health YouTube channel.

You can add the video to your myVirtualCare waiting room from YouTube. For help to do this please contact us, or speak to your local health district's myVirtualCare clinic coordinator or virtual care or telehealth manager.

Learn from local health services using virtual care

Health services share their experiences using virtual care in our Spotlight on virtual care series. Read the feature story in this issue of Clinician Connect to learn more about the following services that are using virtual care:

• Family Metabolic Health Service from Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District
• Virtual Clinical Pharmacy from Western NSW Local Health District
• Virtual Multidisciplinary Feeding Clinic from Sydney Children’s Hospital Network.

Thank you to the services and local health districts for sharing your insights.

Information for consumers available

We have published a new page on Virtual Care Central to help consumer representatives and peer support workers quickly find key resources and learn more about virtual care.

Consumer representatives and peer support providers work in partnership with clinicians, and often discuss care options and how to access healthcare with other consumers.

If you are one of these key advocates for virtual care, or work with them, the new page is available on Virtual Care Central. Access is automatic for NSW Health staff, and will be provided to external consumer representatives and peer support workers who contact us.