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NCHN Steering Committee

The NCHN is managed by a steering committee that is representative of multidisciplinary paediatric services throughout the urban and rural sectors of the network. Communication is disseminated to area health services via their Chief Executive. Chief/Area Health Service Executive sign off is required on all steering committee decisions.

The network is governed in the following way:

The activities of the network are guided by the Implementation Plan for the Guidelines for the Networking of Paediatric Services in NSW (pdf 90K), published by NSW Health in 2004, in the dimensions of:

• Safety
• Access
• Efficiency
• Communication
• Effectiveness and appropriateness
• Workforce development
• Consumer participation
• Governance

The activities of the NCHN Steering Committee are guided by their Terms of Reference (pdf 81K).

The priorities of the network for 2007-09

The NCHN Planning Day was held on 31 October 2006; with participants from clinical, executive and planning areas across Hunter New England and North Coast Area Health Services. The Children's and Young People's Health Priority Taskforce Work plan and the NCHN's previous priorities were used as the framework for discussion.

To ensure the continued provision of quality accessible care to children and their families, the following network priorities were identified:

1. NCHN as an advocacy body, which includes executive staff Key Performance Indicators to include children's health planning and service delivery.
2. Education, Training and Workforce development.
3. Identify and improve services for Aboriginal Health Services and other disadvantaged groups.
4. Improved Communication strategies encompassing IT, Education and service delivery, including the development of guidelines, standards and communication strategies to ensure the safe transfer and quality of care of children throughout the network.
5. Continued review and implementation of the Clinical Practice Guidelines across the network.
6. Ambulatory Care Services and Outreach Specialist Services.
7. Improved Consumer Participation including generalist health professionals working with children, young people and their families.
8. Effective partnerships with Mental Health.