Geographically dispersed working locations were no barrier for the HealthPathways Mid and North Coast of NSW team, when they celebrated their 500 pathways milestone in April.

The achievement is even more significant given the challenges faced by the local HealthPathways programme team of eight, who work remotely across the Mid and Northern Coast footprint, from offices located at Tweed Heads, Ballina, Coffs Harbour, and Port Macquarie.

Since they launched their HealthPathways programme in early 2014, the dedicated Mid and North Coast HealthPathways team has provided timely, relevant, and localised information about medical treatment and services to increasing numbers of health professionals and their patients.

Feedback from local general practitioners and their teams has been that HealthPathways is a comprehensive and useful tool to use in the care of their patients, and especially helpful for new registrars and general practitioners who are new to the area. Other health professionals have commented that the pathways are an excellent clinical resource, contain the latest information, and are easy to navigate.

Website usage has grown substantially over the last twelve months, indicative of the positive feedback received from health professionals across the area.

Dual celebrations bring the team together

After one of their regular HealthPathways planning meetings, HealthPathways team members, management, and staff in the Ballina and Coffs Harbour North Coast Primary Health Network offices held dual celebrations with cake and balloons, as they marked the combined achievement at each location.

Ballina Team Celebration: (left to right) Sharyn White, (Director Integration NNSW), Dr Hilton Koppe, (GP Clinical Editor), Kerrie Keyte (NNSW HealthPathways Lead) and Dr Kate Allan (GP Clinical Editor).

Coffs Harbour Team Celebration: (left to right) Steve Mann, (Director Integration Mid North Coast), Dr Renee Strazarri, (GP Clinical Lead and Editor), Fiona Ryan (Integrated Primary Care Program Coordinator) and Dr Sarah Mollard (GP Clinical Editor).

Building local engagement

Despite the challenges of distance and working remotely, the Mid and Central Coast team has managed to build excellent local engagement.

For tips and resources to help you build HealthPathways engagement in your area, see Getting General Practice Engaged with HealthPathways, or Engagement and Education for helpful resources provided by members of the HealthPathways Community.