Become part of a team who are dedicated to enhancing and connecting primary healthcare to achieve better health outcomes for the South Western Sydney community.
Find your next South Western Sydney general practice career or practice for sale.
Practice vacancy ad request form
Practice for sale form
SWSPHN is calling on local general practices and general practice staff to complete our first region-wide General Practice Census.
The General Practice Census will inform the Greater Western Sydney Workforce Strategy, which SWSPHN is developing in partnership with Western Sydney PHN and Nepean-Blue Mountains PHN.
The General Practice Census is made up of a practice-wide survey followed by a health practitioner survey.
This year the General Practice Census is replacing our annual practice profiles, and GP/GP registrar and practice nurse profiles, and aims to gather data which is recent, relevant and accurate, creating a ‘snapshot’ of the current workforce climate in South Western Sydney.
Why is this important?
Firstly, it will help identify gaps in our local general practice workforce and highlight areas needing improvement and action. The information will be used to develop policies and programs which address the needs of the population and improve access to primary care services in our region.
Secondly, it will identify the strengths and weaknesses of our region’s workforce. This information will be used to develop training programs which address gaps in the knowledge and skills of our healthcare professionals.
Finally, it will help identify which factors influence the recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals in our region. This information will be used to develop strategies which improve recruitment and retention rates, which can lead to improved quality of care and better health outcomes for patients.
The Practice Census will influence recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals in our region.
How will the practice-wide survey be conducted?
Practice managers (or the primary contact nominated by the practice) will be sent a unique URL link to a Survey Manager form. The nominated contact will then complete and submit the practice-wide survey.
The practice-wide survey will be divided into a number of topic areas and can be easily completed over a number of days if required. Topic areas may include services offered at your practice, practice accreditation status and information management.
Once the practice-wide survey is complete, the same process will be followed for staff (that is, GPs and GP registrars, and practice nurses) who will be asked to complete health practitioner surveys.
Practices which are paper-based or have opted out of receiving email from SWSPHN, should contact their Practice Support Officer or Practice Advancement Officer for assistance.
Why take the time to complete the surveys?
By completing the surveys, general practices will:
- ensure SWSPHN has accurate and current data which will allow us to tailor the support we provide to your practice’s specific needs. For you, this means better guidance, resources and assistance, ultimately leading to enhanced efficiency and effectiveness
- be easily identified as eligible for incentives as they are released. These incentives can significantly benefit the practice financially and operationally
- empower SWSPHN to advocate effectively on behalf of primary care at strategic and policy levels, as with the Greater Western Sydney Workforce Strategy. This advocacy can lead to favourable policy changes, increased funding and improved healthcare infrastructure in the region. It will also help identify future challenges, such as an ageing workforce, and allow a proactive approach to overcoming these challenges
- be able to easily identify areas for improvement within individual practices. Participating practices will be signalling their commitment to continuous quality improvement, which can enhance patient outcomes, satisfaction and overall practice performance
- help to capture comprehensive and wide-ranging data about practices and their workforce. This includes information about their staff, hours worked, opening hours of the practice and services provided. By gathering such comprehensive data, the General Practice Census will provide the big picture of each practice’s operations, needs and the current primary care landscape in South Western Sydney
When will you receive your practice-wide survey?
| Who | When |
|---|---|
| Practice survey Practice Managers or primary contacts will receive an email. |
August to January 2025 |
| GP, GP registrar and practice nurse survey Individuals will receive an email. |
From February 2025 |
The unique link to the practice-wide survey will be distributed at the beginning of August 2024.
GPs, GP registrars and practice nurses listed on the practice-wide survey will receive a different unique URL link from February 2025 to complete a health practitioner survey.
How will we keep the data secure?
The data provided will be securely stored on our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform ChilliDB.
SWSPHN will use the information you provide about your healthcare services and practitioner details to keep your details up to date in our CRM platform.
SWSPHN also uses de-identified aggregated data on healthcare services and practitioner numbers in our region to inform health system improvements, needs assessment, and clinical needs analysis, including workforce planning.
In the event that SWSPHN is provided access to details and information about your healthcare services and you are not operating within SWSPHN’s catchment, we will not use the information you provide about your healthcare services for any purpose without your explicit consent.