Shaping the System Together – Clinician Engagement: Practical Actions Guide

​​​​Summary

Shaping the System Together is exploring how clinician engagement works across NSW Health, including what is working well, where challenges exist, and opportunities for improvement. The initiative aims to strengthen routine engagement practices and support a better experience for people working across the NSW Health system.

This Practical Actions Guide is a companion resource to the Shaping the System Together – Clinician Engagement Recommendation Report.

The Shaping the System Together consultation engaged more than 1,700 participants across NSW Health from December 2025 to May 2026. It aimed to better understand experiences of clinician engagement across the system, including what is working well and where improvements could be made. The consultation highlighted a range of practical opportunities to strengthen how clinicians contribute to decisions, service improvement and system change.

It identified themes, recommendations and eight practical action areas. This guide translates those action areas into practical examples, behaviours, supportive tools and suggested measures that can be adapted across local, statewide and specialty settings. It is designed to help organisations move from insight to action and improvement.

Key findings

The following eight practical action areas were identified through the consultation. These reflect what clinicians, managers and leaders described as helping engagement work well, and what gets in the way. This guide provides practical examples and tools to support engagement that is purposeful, visible, and connected to decisions and improvement.

  • Practical action area 1: Feedback loops and decision follow-through.
  • Practical action area 2: Decision authority, escalation and navigation.
  • Practical action area 3: Safe, inclusive and representative engagement.
  • Practical action area 4: Protected time and reduced low-value burden.
  • Practical action area 5: Enabling clinical leaders and forum chairs.
  • Practical action area 6: System communication and coordination.
  • Practical action area 7: Implementation support for agreed priorities.
  • Practical action area 8: Peer learning and shared practice.

Related links

​​Shap​ing the System Together – Clinician Engagement: Recommendation Report​​


File Size: 4096 kb
Type: Report
Date of Publication: 20 August 2026
ISBN: 978-1-74231-541-6
SHPN: (ACI) 260670