Health professionals from all over the state will gather in Tamworth on Wednesday for the first of a three day congress aiming to bridge the country city divide, as well as explore best practice programs and the latest research results.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The three day Regional Health and Research Congress will bring 300 health professionals to the city, and also boasts an impressive array of guest speakers and activities, including former African child soldier turned lawyer and refugee advocate Deng Thaik Adut.
Other speakers include biomedical engineer and futurist Dr Jordan Nguyen, former high level basketballer turned drug recovery expert Ken Nagle, as well as Emeritus professor Paul Worley and Tamworth’s very own Fiona Coote.
Ms Coote was Australia’s youngest and longest living heart transplant recipient when she received the life-saving organ in 1984 at age 14. She now sits on the board of Beyond Blue and has moved back to the Tamworth region in recent years.
Read more:
“The focus of the congress is rural health – it is incredibly important that healthcare is great for everyone, not just those people in the cities,” Ms Coote said.
“Obviously sometimes we have to to travel to the city, but it is very important to have as many services as possible locally.
“This is also great opportunity to put the spotlight on Tamworth, and for the 300 regional health professionals to learn what has happened in the last 12 months, which areas are doing well and where there is room for improvement.”
Each speaker will focus on their own individual field of knowledge and experience, although one underlying theme is certain to be the recent scrapping of the Rural Health portfolio in PM Scott Morrison’s new look cabinet.
“It is really concerning, and certainly not fair,” Ms Coote said.
“Needs are different from city to country, and needs are even different in Primary Health Networks from area to area – there is a lot to be done.”
The congress is an initiative of NSW Health and produced via the Health Education and Training Institute.
Chief Executive of HETI Professor Annette Solman said “in order to maintain and strengthen a world-class rural health system, we need to workshop the challenges health care professionals face.”
“We need to have those conversations about how we can improve health outcomes and celebrate what’s working in country communities,” she said.
The congress will be based at the Town Hall.
