West Wyalong community health needs sought

People of West Wyalong and its surrounding communities can share their stories and experiences about their health and local health services, with feedback cards available from the hospital, pharmacy, local council office and library, as well as at the Bust the Dust event on Saturday 29 June 2019.

The feedback opportunity is part of a new community-led approach between Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD), Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network (MPHN), and the community to help determine key local health priorities and to work with both organisations to see how these can be addressed.

MPHN Chief Executive Officer Melissa Neal said the first step in a community-led approach is to seek feedback from a wide range of community member about their specific needs.

“The feedback cards have two simple questions for us to learn what is important about a person’s health and the health of the local community and what could happen to improve health in West Wyalong,” Ms Neal said.

“Some people might feel only short responses are required, others will like to expand on their personal experiences and share their stories – good, bad or otherwise – and we would encourage people to tell us how they feel and what they think.

“Once we’re able to collate the feedback and complete an analysis, we will come back to the community and present these findings. We will then determine the next steps, which are likely to include some further research mechanisms like focus groups and in-depth interviews,” she said.

MLHD Chief Executive Jill Ludford said the community-led approach is a new way of determining how health services are delivered at a local level.

“During our first couple of community meetings in West Wyalong we heard about several concerns people have locally about health services and decided to take a new approach to how we deliver health in West Wyalong,” Ms Ludford said.

“We know when community are at core of how health services are identified, prioritised, designed and delivered, their health and wellbeing thrives.

“To help progress this along, we are also looking for community members representing a range of groups to form a local health committee with us to move forward with research opportunities, prioritising the health needs and designing how health should look for West Wyalong,” she said.

The feedback opportunity is open for two weeks only and to submit your health survey online, visit www.mphn.org.au/west-wyalong-community-feedback. The survey will close on Sunday, 14 July 2019.

If you would like to nominate to be part of the local health committee, or would prefer to provide feedback via phone, please contact the Community Care intake service on 1800 654 324. You can also email your interest to MLHD-FeedBack@health.nsw.gov.au.