HealthChat is SWSPHN’s dedicated platform for listening to the thoughts, opinions and ideas of all residents living in our region including community members, services providers and healthcare providers. 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.
Commissioning
SWSPHN works with local communities and service providers to design and fund services to address population need. This requires a robust understanding of our region’s health needs, and strong engagement with consumers and service providers to develop and implement new models of care that improve health outcomes.
HealthChat is used in the commissioning process as a platform for consumers, service providers and healthcare providers 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 areas.
Consultation
Feedback provided as part of this engagement, including all comments, ideas and suggestions, are used by the relevant SWSPHN team to inform the development of strategies, projects and activities that will enhance the health of our 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.
Our primary carers also use HealthChat
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. The NewGen program uses HealthChat as a platform for facilitating online discussion, networking, clinical support and to deliver important updates to participants.
HealthChat’s online CPD Evaluation portal enables local GPs to provide input following each Continuing Professional Development or CPD event co-ordinated by SWSPHN. HealthChat 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.
Register for HealthChat