SWSPHN’s annual showcase last Thursday (24 October), looked back on how we’ve improved health outcomes in South Western Sydney since our inception 10 years ago, and looked to the future and how artificial intelligence (AI) may impact healthcare in the next 10 years.
The showcase which leads into SWSPHN’s Annual General Meeting each year, aims to highlight the work we do – funding services based on the needs of our community; innovating to improve the quality, efficiency and outcomes of healthcare; and partnering with stakeholders to better coordinate care.
About 50 people including PHN Board members, PHN member organisations, PHN staff, service providers, committee members and GPs attended the showcase, held at Ottimo House’s Rosewood room at Denham Court for the second year.
Showcase keynote speaker
Keynote speaker Greg Baker (pictured right), a lecturer in AI at Macquarie University and researcher at the Australian National University, engaged his audience with practical examples of how AI can be used in healthcare today, and questioned whether ethical concerns about using AI should outweigh its practical benefits.
He used communication with non-English speaking patients as an example of the ethical challenges healthcare professionals now faced given advances in AI technology.
Mr Baker said up until about a year ago healthcare professionals could easily dismiss the use of AI during patient consultations because “Google Translate does such a terrible job of translation”.
“Then ChatGPT came along and somewhere around ChatGPT 4.1 it became completely practical and reasonable to use it for medical translations,” he said.
“Here’s where we are at the moment. A distressed patient comes up to you, they speak no English, you have your phone on you, you’ve installed the ChatGPT app, do you say ‘no I’m not going to use this to do the translation because there’s a slippery slope’?
“That’s a slippery slope, but at the same time, the patient is there, what do we do?”
Mr Baker said AI had “thrown a bomb” into previously conceived notions of what the right thing to do was.
“We need very serious conversations about what is right, what are we going to do,” he said. “If we don’t have the voices of the medical community in the room, this will be driven by technologists like me. With a trillion dollars going into AI over the next 1,000 days, we need those voices.”
Showcase staff presentations
SWSPHN staff followed by showcasing their passion and dedication to improving health outcomes in our region through a small sample of some of the great work we do.
Acting Mental Health and AOD Team Lead Luke Swain spoke about how the Mental Health and AOD team had undertaken a number of initiatives during the past 12 months to support the outcomes-focused commissioning of services.
Workforce Engagement Coordinators, Brendan Chiew and Nisha Nair, spoke about the importance of integrating allied health more fully into primary care – “ensuring the entire breath of the primary care workforce is able to collaborate” to support the needs of the South Western Sydney community.
Showcase looks back on 10 years
SWSPHN Acting Chief Executive Officer, Amy Prince, looked back on 10 years of SWSPHN and how far we’ve come – “not just in what we deliver, but in the maturity, confidence and capability of our people”.
Some of her highlights included:
- our recognition as a national leader in healthcare interoperability
- establishing a commissioning culture based on impact, evidence, partnership with providers and continuous improvement co-designed with those who use and deliver care
- GP and practice team engagement progress from a transactional offering to a quality improvement, partnership-based approach
- demonstrating our role in integration of the health system through the COVID pandemic and beyond
Ms Prince thanked our amazing partners including community members, practices, service providers, South Western Sydney LHD staff, local members, SWSPHN staff and our CEO Dr Keith McDonald PhD.
She closed the showcase with a tribute to our inaugural Chair, Dr Matthew Gray (pictured below), who stepped down from the position after 10 years, saying he has been at the helm through every stage of our organisation’s journey.
“His steady hand and clear vision have guided us through change, growth and reform – always keeping the focus on better health for our community.”
In an emotional video tribute to Dr Gray, Board members and SWSPHN staff described the Elderslie GP as an inspiring leader, wise and compassionate, and a ‘champion for primary healthcare’ in our region.
In his farewell address, Dr Gray reflected on his time as Chair saying significant change had been achieved over the past 10 years.
He said the importance of perseverance and collaboration had been the biggest lessons of the past decade, and he acknowledged the “interesting, capable and committed people” he was standing in front of as something which drove him.
Dr Gray’s advice to the future Chair, Board and Member organisations: “never forget the person, patient, community is at the centre of what we do. We’re here for the health and wellbeing of the people of the community we serve.”
Read our interview with Dr Gray
New Board Chair elected
Following the showcase, Board members met for SWSPHN’s Annual General Meeting, where Karen Edwards was elected as new SWSPHN Chair.
Ms Edwards is the Clinical Director at Gidget Foundation Australia, and brings previous experience from both public and private sector roles in health management, governance and clinical psychology to her role.
Dr Michael Tam was elected Deputy Chair, while Dr Hamshi Singh and Professor Jenny Reath were elected as Directors, and Sonia Marshall was re-appointed as Director.
Other Board Directors include: Dr Ken McCroary, John Adam, Michelle Cutler and Christine Carriage.
Our 2024-2025 Annual Report was also released. The annual report highlights even more of the significant body of work undertaken by our staff during the past financial year.