Thank you to the clinicians, health managers, consumers and stakeholders who work with us to drive healthcare innovations across NSW.
Clinical network updates
The latest news, moves and events from our clinical networks.
Reducing stigma for people who use or have used alcohol or other drugs is vital to improving their health and wellbeing.
The new Alcohol and Other Drugs Care Charter helps health staff deliver safe, accessible, equitable and non-judgemental healthcare.
The Charter is an initiative of a partnership between the network and NSW Health, Network of Alcohol and other Drugs Agencies (NADA) and NSW Users and AIDS Association (NUAA). It was co-designed with clinicians and people who use, or have used, alcohol or other drugs.
The Charter:
- supports health staff to reflect on their work practice
- guides health services to make changes in their culture, processes and physical environments
- helps policy makers break down structures that can lead to stigma.
Farewell to Peter Cleasby
After more than a decade as a member, and nine years as co-chair, Peter Cleasby is stepping down from the network.
Peter retired from his distinguished career across NSW Health in 2023, which included roles in the Health Education and Training Institute and Central Coast Local Health District (LHD). He also held various voluntary positions, such as President of Palliative Care NSW and Vice President of Palliative Care Australia. Peter’s expertise, leadership and tenacity have been instrumental in driving clinical innovation in palliative and end of life care, for all people, in all care settings.
His numerous achievements at the network include the Blueprint for Improvement, the Clinical Principles for End of Life and Palliative Care Guidelines and supporting resources, and partnering on research projects to deliver improved end of life care outcomes.
We thank Peter for his years of dedication to the network and wish him well with his PhD and continuing university lecturing. Two new co-chairs have been appointed to the network this year, Dr Brian Fernandes, Palliative Care Physician at Royal North Shore Hospital, NSLHD; and Dr Pippa Blackburn, Co-Director, Palliative Care Services, Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD. They join our existing co-chair Dr Sarah Wenham, Executive Medical Director, Far West LHD.
The Institute of Trauma and Injury Management (ITIM) recently hosted the annual Trauma Leaders Forum, attended by more than 60 people, online and in-person.
Participants from NSW pre-hospital, major trauma and regional trauma services joined representatives from the ACI, State Insurance Regulatory Authority and Transport for NSW.
The forum is a critical platform for stakeholders to engage with each other, share insights and collaborate on trauma care delivery and innovation. This year focused on the NSW Trauma Verification Program, statewide coronial processes, and ITIM’s annual data reports and strategic priorities. Thanks to all who contributed to the forum's success.
More about the Institute of Trauma and Injury Management
Congratulations to key leaders and contributors to the network who’ve been recognised recently for their contributions to spinal cord injury (SCI) care:
- Professor James Middleton, Clinical Co-chair of the network, will become President of the International Spinal Cord Society (ISCOS) in 2025. This is a two-year appointment, providing a fantastic opportunity to showcase our work in NSW to international colleagues.
- Professor Lisa Harvey has won the ISCoS Medal for her contribution to the ISCoS community. Lisa has more than 25 years of experience as a physiotherapist and researcher. A key clinical mentor in NSW, she has led the application and improvement of evidence-based physiotherapy in Australia and internationally.
- Dr Bonne Lee, a consultant at the Prince of Wales Hospital spinal unit, has received the ISCoS Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his contribution to the care of people with spinal cord injury.
World Stroke Organization celebrates NSW hospitals
Eight NSW hospitals have recently been recognised by the World Stroke Organization (WSO) Angels Awards, which set global stroke care benchmarks and celebrate high performing hospitals that are improving patient outcomes. In NSW, the awards are facilitated by the network's Realising Improvement in StrokE (RISE) program.
Congratulations to the following award winners; in particular, Coffs Harbour Health Campus Hospital on receiving a Platinum award for the first time. This is a testament to the tremendous efforts and commitment of their stroke team.
Platinum:
- Coffs Harbour Health Campus Hospital
Gold:
- Orange Hospital
- Gosford Hospital
- Port Macquarie Base Hospital
- Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
- Shoalhaven Hospital
- Wagga Wagga Base Hospital
- Wollongong Hospital
Optimising door-to-needle times for thrombolysis
The network will host a metropolitan door-to-needle roundtable on 25 February 2025 for stroke medical leads, clinical nurse consultants and nurse practitioners. The event will focus on optimising door-to-needle times for thrombolysis in metropolitan areas. This is a critical stroke care priority, aligned with the national 30/60/90 targets for 2030.
Rural areas have enjoyed significant improvements thanks to the NSW Telestroke Service. To ensure improvements in metropolitan areas, the roundtable will identify barriers and share strategies to enhance patient outcomes.
If you are interested in taking part, please email the network.
New working group to enhance hyperacute stroke transfers
A working group chaired by Dr Michael Novy, Acting Director Aeromedical Operations at NSW Ambulance, has been established to enhance hyperacute stroke transfers, ensuring the safe and efficient transport of patients who need endovascular clot retrieval. The inaugural meeting in November marked the start of a six-month initiative to identify key challenges and implement practical solutions.
The network has published new resources to support best practice surgical care:
- The Robot-assisted Research Framework supports public hospitals in NSW by promoting consistent research approaches to build a robust evidence base, and advancing research on robot-assisted surgery.
- The High Volume Short Stay Surgery Toolkit supports health facilities in NSW to plan and set up effective delivery of a high volume of surgeries for patients needing a short hospital stay.
- The Paediatric Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy Clinical Pathway provides clinicians with guidance on taking a patient and family-centred approach with post-procedure care and complication management.
We also welcome Danielle Wheelwright, our new Network Manager and primary contact for network members.
To celebrate the network’s 20th year, our current and inaugural co-chairs and managers have reflected on reaching this milestone.
Looking back on our history
The network was established to respond to the needs of young people with blood disorders still being managed by paediatric services. We quickly recognised that many other young people with chronic conditions could benefit from our work.
The first network manager, Lynne Brodie, contributed expertise in paediatric nursing and disability. The first chair was Professor Kate Steinbeck, Director of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital youth consultancy. Policies and principles of a committee at The Children’s Hospital Westmead led by Professor Sue Towns and international models of care helped informed the direction of the new network. Three Transition Coordinators based at John Hunter, Westmead and Prince of Wales hospitals were appointed to map paediatric and adult services across the state and identify young people who needed to transition to adult health services.
Our current work
Thanks to advances in therapy and the lifespan of people with chronic conditions, many more young people need long-term adult care. Recognising this need, and adequately supporting and resourcing adult services is more important than ever.
The current network executive is working hard to embed the key principles for transition care into usual practice. The network continues to collaborate with Trapeze and other transition support services to provide transition coordination; support tailored models of care; identify transition issues; and develop resources.
More about the Transition Care Network
The Trauma, Pain and Rehabilitation Stream recently hosted a panel discussion at the John Walsh Centre for Rehabilitation Research Annual Forum.
The panel showcased:
- the Institute for Trauma and Injury Management (ITIM) project focused on collecting patient-reported measures. ITIM Clinical Director Dr Valerie Malka reported that data from more than 1,300 people highlights pain, anxiety and return to work as significant issues after a traumatic injury.
- development of the Be Pain Smart clinic and resources, with Dr Regina Schultz, Senior Clinical Psychologist at Royal North Shore Hospital. Naomi Deck also shared her consumer perspective of the clinic, which has supported her with chronic pain following her personal experience of traumatic brain injury.
Audience questions and panel discussions emphasised that:
- pain is a common consequence of trauma and has significant lifelong consequences
- pain can be identified early and will respond to early intervention
- chronic pain requires the support of a specialised catastrophic injury team.
Explore the Be Pain Smart resources. Patients can also be referred to the clinic.
Statewide program updates
Congratulations to the latest redesign graduates
On 22 November, 25 students graduated from our Certificate in Healthcare Redesign program. Members of the eight project teams were joined by their executive sponsors, redesign leaders and key project champions to celebrate their achievements, new skills, resilience and project outcomes. These graduates join a distinguished network of more than 900 alumni from across NSW Health who have completed the course over the past 17 years.
More about the Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Redesign program
Award winners
Our Centre for Healthcare Redesign team has won the 2024 Australian Collaborative Education Network Collaboration Award, which celebrates impactful partnerships.
The award recognises our partnership with the University of Tasmania (UTAS), delivering the Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Redesign program for NSW Health.
The program leads the way in work integrated learning; empowering NSW Health staff to lead meaningful workplace redesign projects that address critical priorities, drive innovation, efficiency and quality across the health system.
More about the Centre for Healthcare Redesign
Thank you to all the consumers, clinicians, administration staff, managers and Patient Reported Measures (PRM) program leads across NSW for your contributions to the program this year.
In 2024, our collaborative efforts have encouraged the collection and use of PRMs at the point of care to grow, enabled by the Health Outcomes and Patient Experience (HOPE) platform.
This year, 53,678 PRMs surveys were completed:
- by people identifying as female (53%) and male (47%)
- by children, young people and adults (59% were people aged 61 to 80 years; and even people aged over 100 completed surveys)
- in a language other than English (456 surveys; a 42% increase from 2023)
- by increasing numbers by people who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (compared with previous years).
Together we have:
- supported 320 new services to begin implementing PRMs
- launched videos for consumers that explain PRMs in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Greek, Arabic and Vietnamese. These support the availability of translated PRMs in the HOPE platform and encourage the use and completion of PRMs in culturally and linguistically diverse communities
- shared insights into the benefits of collecting and using PRMs at the 2024 PRMs Symposium, attended by more than 300 people across Australia
- completed a major release of the HOPE platform, including launching several new cohorts and PRM surveys, enhancing functionality to onboard the Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network, and improving accessibility for consumers
- launched the Spotlight on PRMs series to showcase innovation and excellence in implementing PRMs, enhancing patient care, and driving service and system improvements
- finalised the Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Governance Framework and the new Aboriginal health population-based cohort in HOPE.
New remote patient monitoring working group
A working group has been established to develop implementation guidelines for the use of remote patient monitoring in end of life and palliative care. The group held its inaugural meeting in November, following a comprehensive review of evidence, including experiential input from clinicians and consumers. The draft guidelines will be available for statewide consultation in 2025.
Richard shares his virtual care story
A new patient experience video features Richard, a proud Yuin man living with terminal lung cancer.
Despite not feeling tech-savvy, Richard and his wife Nicole are being supported to use videoconferencing for his healthcare, thanks to the end of life and palliative care team at Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District.
A huge thank you to Richard and Nicole for sharing their story and the benefits of virtual care for people using end-of-life and palliative care services.