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SWSPHN joined South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD) for the recent official launch of the First 2000 Days initiative, a strategy aimed at giving all children 0 to five-years the best start in life.
Our Chief Executive Officer, Dr Keith McDonald PhD, Director of Planning and Performance, Amy Prince, and other PHN staff attended the gathering at Western Sydney University’s Macarthur Clinical School in Campbelltown.
The First 2000 Days strategy aims to:
- Improve care and access to care at general practice and hospitals
- Continue to improve GP knowledge through relevant CPD opportunities
- Improve maternal health by:
- Identifying women with gestational diabetes and/or preeclampsia
- Reducing smoking in women and alcohol consumption
- Improving obesity rates in children and education
- Improve immunisation rates
- Work with women to reduce domestic violence
Dr Nicole Hall, a GP from Wattle Grove Family Medical Practice and co-chair of the SWSPHN/ SWSLHD Antenatal Shared Care (ANSC) Operations Group, spoke on behalf of SWSPHN.
There are currently 370 ANSC-recognised providers within the region, working across 445 medical practices delivering care in multiple languages.
Dr Hall emphasised the importance of GP-care from as early as pre-conception and conception, antenatal and postnatal care, continuing through to childhood and all other stages of life.
Dr Hall highlighted points including:
- GPs are at the heart of every referral
- GPs are the primary immunisers for pregnant women and children within the first 2000 days
- SWSPHN encourages GPs to record height/weight through our Quality Improvement in Primary Care program
- SWSPHN supports GPs and practice nurses in providing quality paediatric care via:
- CPD events for paediatric conditions
- Ongoing CPD in relation to ANSC throughout the year
- SWSPHN, in partnership with SWSLHD, provides clinical guidance and referral information via HealthPathways
- SWSPHN provides information to the community on common developmental and paediatric conditions, as well as local services via Heath Resource Directory. This is provided in four languages and audio formats
SWSPHN has been implementing the First 2000 Days strategies since 2019 but COVID-19 delayed the official launch of the initiative.
This article appeared in Practice Pulse on Wednesday, 7 December 2022. If you are a GP, practice nurse or practice manager in South Western Sydney and do not get the weekly Practice Pulse email, speak to your Practice Support Officer.