Allied Health launches three-year plan to make Western Sydney healthier
Our culturally rich, diverse community in Western Sydney faces some complex problems – but Allied Health is ready to tackle them.
Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) Allied Health has today launched its three-year strategic plan with a specific focus on vulnerable communities including Aboriginal people, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, people with a disability, the elderly, and people with a mental illness.
Allied Health represents 1355 staff across WSLHD from 23 different frontline professions including physiotherapists, social workers, orthoptists and dietitians.
Allied Health director Jacqueline Dominish said her team makes a “muscular contribution” to healthcare in partnership with patients, colleagues, partners and the community.
“This strategic plan is the outcome of months of extensive consultation and collaboration with people who truly know what we need to focus on, including our staff, our colleagues in other health professions and our consumers,” Jacquie said.
“This rich, diverse plan is about partnering with our patients to deliver value-based care. What matters to patients is what drives us forward and is central to our models of care.”
Allied Health director Jacquie Dominish 
Westmead Allied Health acting director Ian Starkey
To find out more, grab a copy of the WSLHD Allied Health Strategic Plan 2019-2022 and read about each of the six strategic priorities below.
- Keeping people healthy
This is about working with key stakeholders in the community (such as GPs) to shift the focus of care toward early intervention and prevention, keeping people out of hospital.
Key areas of focus include Aboriginal health, chronic illness, mental health and staff wellbeing.
2. Patient experience matters
The focus will be on actively engaging with consumers in the planning of their care, being open and transparent, and regularly seeking and responding to feedback to improve care.
Focus areas include Aboriginal health and people with a disability.
3. Integrated research, education and clinical practice
A sustainable culture of research and learning will be created through strategies such as increased collaboration with external partners, more funding for research activities and supporting allied health staff to undertake more research.
4. Exceptional people
Strong governance, management skills development and personal growth will be the focus to ensure the Allied Health workforce is as strong as possible from the top down.
Other goals include increasing the proportion of Aboriginal people and people with a disability within the workforce.
5. Information underpins everything we do
Allied Health will be embracing modern technology to ensure all staff have timely access to accurate and important information, helping to create a ‘data-driven performance culture’. This will include ensuring allied health has the information technology to deliver digitally enabled models of care and monitor and drive performance.
6. Spending wisely
Allied Health will work with the Business Analytics Unit to improve financial management and increase the value of the services they deliver, ensuring the workforce utilisation is in line with current evidence about value-based care.
This will include giving staff access to programs to improve financial literacy and business capability.
To view the 2019-2022 Allied Health Strategic Plan click here.
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