Planning Clinical Services for Blue Mountains

Local residents, consumers, community groups and Blue Mountains Hospital staff recently participated in a briefing to help make the final decision.Clinical service plans for future health care, including community-based ambulatory and hospital services.

Vanessa Clements, director of NBMLHD’s Office of Planning, Redevelopment and Strategy, said it takes years of planning to provide safe, quality care.

“Typical health service plans look at least 10 years ahead and use data projections such as population growth and age profiles to assess the changing health needs of communities. We will ensure that it is served in the right place,” says Vanessa.

“We began working to develop a clinical service plan for the Blue Mountains in 2018 by holding community and stakeholder consultation sessions, but events such as wildfires, floods and COVID-19 have resulted in , the completion of the plan was unavoidably delayed.”

The latest consultations update the plan and help explain the impact these important events have had and will continue to have on healthcare. Our recent briefing turned out to be a meaningful exercise that helped us outline our strengths and opportunities to strengthen and improve our current service offerings for the future.

“Hearing consumer feedback and personal stories has been a very humbling experience,” says Vanessa.

“Undoubtedly, everyone we spoke with emphasized the staff’s passion, care and dedication to providing care. ”

“Blue Mountains Hospital’s departments, including emergency, palliative care, hydrotherapy and rehabilitation, are particularly highly regarded and this commitment to quality care will underpin our future planning process.”