TRAINING BOOST…Steph Cooke MP pictured with regional nurses.

Healthcare workers in regional NSW will be given the opportunity to enter the workforce or upskill, thanks to the NSW Government’s $5 million Rural and Regional Health Career Scholarships program.

Enter a career in healthcare with extra support.“These scholarships range from helping out with the cost of travel or relocation to study to reskilling our current workforce to ensure each individual is equipped to treat our community the best they can,” explains Steph Cooke MP.

Minister for Regional Health Bronnie Taylor said the program will not only attract new staff to the regions but support existing healthcare workers. “From Bourke to Bega, I’ve heard loud and clear that our health workers want to be provided with the opportunities to advance their careers without having to leave their families, their workplace and their communities,” Ms Taylor said. 

“This is about growing and empowering our regional health workforce and builds on the NSW Government’s $883 million regional health workforce incentive scheme, announced as part of the 2022/23 NSW Budget,” said Ms Taylor

The Rural and Regional Health Scholarships form part of Our Vision for Regional Communities and Action Plan 2023-2025, a NSW Government initiative outlining immediate priorities and long-term strategies to make regional NSW an even better place to call home. To find out more about Our Vision for Regional Communities and Action Plan 2023- 2025, visit www.nsw.gov.au/ourvision 

Up to 93% of patients treated in the Western Region gave very high ratings of their experience of care. 

According to the Bureau of Health Information’s 2021 Adult Admitted Patient Survey almost all patients treated at Western New South Wales Local Health District (WNSWLHD) hospitals rated the overall care they received as ‘very good’ or ‘good’. 

More than 1,300 respondents from across the district provided positive feedback on the safe, high-quality care they received. 

The dedicated health professionals in the district received very high ratings from their patients. Nearly all surveyed patients (95%) rated the doctors who treated them as ‘very good’ or ‘good’. A similar proportion of patients (96%) rated the nurses who treated them as ‘very good’ or ‘good’. 

Mark Spittal, WNSWLHD Chief Executive welcomed the findings and thanked patients for their feedback. 

“My gratitude to our staff who adapted to the challenges the pandemic presented – as well as their continued dedication to delivering patient-first care- cannot be understated.” 

Forbes Health Service performed very strongly where nine in 10 patients (92%) rated their treating doctors as ‘very good’ or ‘good’. Almost all patients (99%) rated their treating nurses as ‘very good’ or ‘good’. 

Between mid-2012 and mid-2022 the Western New South Wales Local Health District increased its workforce by an additional 701 full time equivalent staff – an increase of 14.6% including 136 more doctors, 216 more nurses and midwives, and 143 more allied health staff. 

Many people who wear multifocal glasses or only require glasses for reading, often don’t realise that they could be wearing contact lenses.

Just like multifocal glasses, multifocal contact lenses are designed to give you clear vision at all distances. If you find your multifocal glasses annoying or hard to adjust to, if you work in a job where you need to see clearly but your glasses get knocked around and scratched, or perhaps sometimes you would just like to take a little break from your multifocal or reading glasses while you socialise or play sport, then you may want to consider trying multifocal contact lenses.

There are various designs of multifocal contact lenses to suit your lifestyle and vision needs. While some emphasise near vision with a boost for distance, others emphasise distance vision with a boost for near. There is no distortion or motion sickness feeling that you might experience with multifocal glasses, particular early on.

In terms of getting used to multifocal contact lenses, your relationship with your contact lenses is a little like a burgeoning friendship. You might not initially love them, but with time as you adapt to them and understand how they work you will start to build trust with the multifocal contact lenses, enjoy their company with clear vision at most distances, and likely develop a good friendship over time. This can sometimes take several weeks so don’t give up and quit the game too early! Maybe you have been unsuccessful with contact lenses in the past because they were uncomfortable, however like most things, the technology of contact lenses is always improving, and today’s lenses are much more comfortable than in the past.

You are never too old to wear or try contact lenses. Patients have become happy multifocal contact lens wearers in their 70s. There is no cost involved in trialling contact lenses at Hansen Optometrists Parkes. If you would like to give it a try, book in today and become part of the growing number of happy multifocal contact lens wearers.

We have all heard the adage that carrots are good for our eyes but why is that exactly and what other foods can improve the health of our eyes?

Carrots are high in beta carotene that our bodies can convert to vitamin A which is important for the light detecting cells of our retina.

Other important nutrients for our eyes are the antioxidants Lutein and Zeaxanthin which naturally occur in our retina as well as Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Zinc. These antioxidants may help protect against free radical damage in diseases like age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts.

You will be able to get a good supply all of these in your diet if you incorporate dark green vegetables like spinach, kale, broccoli and peas; bright coloured vegetables like corn, capsicum, sweet potato, squash; fruits like oranges, grapes, kiwifruit and berries and healthy nuts and seeds like almonds, sunflower seeds and peanut butter. Finally, red meat, whole grains, baked beans and eggs will assist with getting your zinc quota.

Omega 3 fatty acids have shown in some studies to help with dry eyes. This may be because omega 3 fatty acids decrease inflammation and improve the makeup of our tears. If you suffer with dry eye disease, try to incorporate non fried, cold water fatty fish like salmon, tuna or sardines two to four times per week. Choosing grass fed over grain fed meat sources will also increase omega 3 intake.

Good nutrition at all ages is important for overall health and wellbeing including that of our eyes. Come in and see one of our optometrists if you have any concerns about your eye health. Contact us at Eyecare Plus Parkes, 267A Clarinda Street or call us on 6863 5577.

The strike action at the Forbes Hospital last Thursday lasted for an hour at shift change and was part of the state-wide 24-hour strike.

Nurses, midwives and hospital staff in Forbes took part in the third state-wide strike action last Thursday. 

“We were only able to strike for one hour at change of shift, for which pay will be docked,” said Chloe Scheul, assistant secretary of the Forbes District Hospital Branch of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA). 

“We are fighting for safe staffing levels across the public health system. The need is urgent, staffing is in crisis and the health system is not coping,” said Chloe. “The NSW government has refused our requests for safe patient care and our immediate calls for shift-by-shift nursing and midwifery ratios. Every shift, NSW nurses and midwives are confronted with short staffing, excessive workloads and are stretched beyond what is reasonable or safe to keep our health system functioning.” 

She said the changes they wanted to staffing ratios were not unreasonable or exorbitant. “We need a guaranteed number of nurses and midwives on every shift, so we can provide safe patient care.” 

In her speech at the strike Chloe said: “We advocate for our patients and their families every day. We fight to ensure people have access to the best quality care. We fight to preserve dignity. When we are worried about a patient, we will fight to keep them safe, not stopping until they get the care they need.” 

She said the premier and health minister had both admitted there were problems with nursing and midwifery staffing levels, while the treasurer said their demands were reasonable, but they still fail to act. 

“We are the ones face-to-face with human suffering when the health system is inadequate to meet needs. We are the ones doing double shifts, overtime, coming in on our days off because we care about our patients and colleagues,” said Chloe in her speech. 

“We will continue to fight for our patients and our community.”