HealthChat is SWSPHN’s dedicated platform for listening to the thoughts, opinions and ideas of all residents living in our region including community members, GPs and other health professionals. The platform has a number of functions including consultation, surveying and discussion. Consultations, discussion and surveys conducted via HealthChat can be open to the public or have restricted access with targeted invite-only groups for use by committees and working groups.
Consultation
Feedback provided as part of this engagement, including all comments, ideas and suggestions, are used by the relevant team at SWSPHN to inform the development of strategies, projects and activities that will enhance the health of the South Western Sydney community.
For example, SWSPHN recently sought feedback on the impacts of the 2019-2020 devastating bushfires. The consultation aimed to assess the needs and gaps of bushfire-affected communities – information which will be used to enhance services which promote community wellbeing and participation. HealthChat has also supported community consultation around the development of our five-year Regional Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan and facilitated feedback from locals about their After Hours medical care experience.
Commissioning
SWSPHN works with service providers and local communities to design and purchase services to address population need. This requires a robust understanding of population need, strong engagement from stakeholders at each stage, supporting service providers to develop and implement new models of care and monitoring and evaluating service outcomes to ensure effectiveness and value for money are achieved.
HealthChat is used in the commissioning process as a platform for general practitioners, service providers and other health professionals to give a real-time outlook on what’s happening within communities. This allows SWSPHN to better understand population need and work to provide services to address these issues.
Primary carers
SWSPHN developed the New to General Practice Nursing Program (NewGen) after recognising the need for a targeted program aimed at supporting newly registered nurses in clinical settings is increasing.
NewGen is a 12-month targeted program for newly registered nurses that provides them with structured support and education within the clinical setting. The program uses HealthChat as a platform for facilitating online discussion, networking, clinical support and to deliver important updates to participants.
Surveying and evaluaton
HealthChat’s online CPD Evaluation portal enables local GPs to provide input following each CPD event. HealthChat also provides advice and information about rsGP which aims to recruit a pool of GPs interested in participating in clinical re-design projects aimed at improving patient care and coordination and our Antenatal Shared Care Program.
Learn more, get involved
If you would like to be notified of future commissioning consultation opportunities, register for HealthChat and tick your areas of interest in the registration form.