Health priorities for Narrandera and regional residents have been set for 2023 during a meeting last week between Narrandera Local Health Advisory Committee and Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network.

Murrumbidgee Local Health District executives also attended the meeting. LHAC chair, Gayle Murphy, said it was a ‘really productive meeting’ where relevant health data sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and matched with local health needs and assessments, was prioritised into areas of focus for 2023.

The first priority was mental health, encompassing drug and alcohol and sexual health (domestic violence).

Mrs Murphy said the decision to combine issues under mental health was a deliberate move.

She said this priority had contribution from a lot of people who often covered several aspects of mental health, and bringing the connected issues under the same priority made sense.

The second priority was Aboriginal health and there was positive feedback on what was already being achieved in Narrandera for First Nations people. However It still needed to be a priority.

The third priority was staff support and recognition to make sure they were healthy and happy in their work.

Mrs Murphy said some people might be surprised that they were making staff health a priority.

“We have such great staff, we want to keep them and support them in any way we can,” she said.

It was important they felt supported, valued and recognised for the fantastic work they did so they could keep doing that work. The next LHAC meeting will focus on strategies to map out and tackle the prioritised challenges.

“Our primary focus will be ensuring our community has access to quality healthcare,” Mrs Murphy said.

“We will also be looking to partner with our community organisations so that we can have focus and concentrate our efforts.”

New members can join LHAC until the end of February by completing an Expression of Interest form online at https://www.mlhd.health.nsw.gov.au/get-involved/local-health-advisory-committee-(lhac) or by ringing 0477359764.

To give feedback to LHAC contact Mrs Murphy on mkr@iinet.net.au or phone 0419686638.

A similar planning meeting of Lockhart Local Health Advisory Committee took place at Lockhart, where vigorous discussion took place on important health issues for the Lockhart Shire and wider community.

Mental health including suicide prevention and general awareness was again one of the major concerns. Other priority areas for discussion were:

• Drug and Alcohol (lifestyle and education)
• Socio – Economic factors (impacting on food security)

“We reviewed the health profiles for our community using data sources provided by the Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network and this helped guide our discussion around some of the critical health conditions and risk factors impacting people in our community,” said Lockhart LHAC Chair Fran Day.

“Our primary focus will be ensuring our community has access to quality healthcare.

“There was some vigorous discussion among our members about these health concerns, and what we as an LHAC and our community can do to reverse some of these concerning trends,” said Ms Day.

“Our next meeting will focus on our strategies moving forward and mapping out how we can tackle these challenges.

“We will also be looking to partner with other community organisations so that we can have focus and concentrate our efforts.”

Anyone who would like to provide feedback to the LHAC should contact LHAC Chair Fran Day at franday@bigpond.com or call 0427 205 526 or follow Lockhart LHAC on Facebook.  

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 23 February 2023.