The establishment of a new Division within NSW Health is to provide a renewed focus on health services and outcomes for people living in regional and rural NSW.
Announced by the Minister for Regional Health, Bronnie Taylor, the new Regional Health Division is to focus on recruitment to key healthcare roles in regional areas and find innovative ways to support nurses, doctors, allied health practitioners, and support service providers to live in regional areas.
“The Division will sit at the top level within the Ministry of Health and ensure strong advocacy of regional health issues, while also leveraging the strengths of our excellent, highly networked NSW public health system for the benefit of regional NSW,” Mrs Taylor said.
“The Division will be led by a Coordinator-General for Regional Health, which will report directly to the Secretary of NSW Health, Susan Pearce, and support and provide advice to the Minister for Regional Health about issues concerning health in regional communities,” she said.
“In addition, each regional Local Health District (LHD) in NSW is establishing defined roles who will report directly and be a key interface with the new division to help deliver on its objectives.”
Mrs Taylor said the new Division would support the Regional Health Minister to respond to the recommendations of the NSW Rural Health Inquiry; coordinate the development and implementation of a new Regional Health Plan; provide a single point of contact and advocacy for issues that were common across the Regional Health environment; identify opportunities to enhance local access to health and other social services; and integrate health, social and economic data, business intelligence tools, and stakeholder feedback.
