New Clinical Support Division in NSW
NSW continues to be at the forefront of implementing Federal health reform initiatives.
- Legislation has been passed to enable Local Health Districts to formally commence operation on 1 January 2011
- Chairs of the LHD Health District Boards were announced on 5 November by the Premier and Deputy Premier and the process of finalising Health District Board membership is well underway
- Recruitment of LHD Chief Executives has commenced
On 22 November 2010, NSW Health announced the next step in the transition to Local Health Districts with the establishment of a Clinical Support Division comprising three geographically based units - Northern, Southern and Western - each managed by a Chief Operating Officer.
NSW Health undertook extensive staff and stakeholder consultation in order to make the optimal decision on LHD boundaries. Information and feedback forums were held around NSW and attended by thousands of people including staff, health professionals and community representatives. Improvements were made to NSW’s Local Health District model as a result of those forums and one of the many significant outcomes was agreement to establish a Clinical Support Division.
NSW’s Clinical Support Division will have three main roles:
- Support and assist Local Health Districts to start up on 1 January 2011, and progressively transition to full operation;
- Preserve and support ongoing development of clinical networks. This was a recurring theme of the consultation process. Clinicians requested that we ensure the new structure preserved highly successful clinical networks and that the networks continue to be developed within the new LHD structure;
- Provide access for Local Health Districts to the best expertise and technical support available in the NSW public health system. This approach enables NSW to comply with the National Health Reform Agreement (Clause A15) that stipulates there should be no increase in the number of health bureaucrats, despite the transition from eight Area Health Services to 17 Local Health Districts.
More information about the role of Clinical Support Division.
Clinical Support Division
The Clinical Support Division will be linked to Local Health Districts in a defined geographic area and maps of the new geographically based units are available here.
The Northern, Southern and Western Clinical Support Division units will be linked to and support a group of Local Health Districts to provide ongoing, high level clinical support, expertise and advice.
Clinical Support Division (Northern) will support the following LHDs:
The Chief Operating Officer of Clinical Support Division (Northern) is Dr Nigel Lyons, formerly Chief Executive of Hunter New England Area Health Service.
Clinical Support Division (Western) will support the following LHDs:
The Chief Operating Officer of Clinical Support Division (Western) is Mike Wallace, formerly Chief Executive of Sydney South West Area Health Service.
Clinical Support Division (Southern) will support the following LHDs:
The Chief Operating Officer of Clinical Support Division (Southern) is Matthew Daly, formerly Chief Executive of Northern Sydney Central Coast Area Health Service.
NSW Health said Nigel Lyons, Mike Wallace and Matthew Daly would commence their new roles immediately, working on the transition process.
What it will mean for staff
More information on the Questions & Answers page.
On 1 January 2011, all NSW Health staff will go to their current workplace and existing roles.
For the majority, particularly frontline clinical staff, there will be little impact arising from the structural change and the management position to which they report will remain the same.
Change will occur in the administration of the Area Health Services. Staff in senior executive roles and Area administration will see progressive implementation of the new LHD-based structure. They will continue to report to current managers and help support LHD Chief Executives as the new structure unfolds.
Staff currently involved in leading or co-ordinating Area-wide clinical networks will continue in those roles and work with Clinical Support Division Chief Operating Officers to transition their clinical network to the new structure.
The System will be in transition until the new LHD Chief Executives work through their new local structure. The Clinical Support Division Chief Operating Officers will work closely with Local Health Districts to assist with the transition.
New staffing arrangements in the LHDs and Clinical Support Division will be progressively rolled out from the beginning of 2011. It is expected that it will take a few months to complete new staffing arrangements. The Chief Executive of each Local Health District will work closely with their team and the Clinical Support Division to make the transition phase timely and orderly.
NSW Health has developed a set of principles which will guide the restructure, the Statement of Principles document.