New children's health body to be formed in NSW

In response to the recommendation of the 2008 Garling Report into NSW public health, the NSW Government will form a new statutory body with specific responsibility for children’s health in Sydney, effective from July this year.

The new body will be called the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network and will bring together the Randwick and Westmead children’s hospitals under one budget and management structure.

The network will be managed by a single Chief Executive, a senior management team and an advisory council to be made up of health professionals as well as management and finance advisors.  NSW Health is currently advertising for the CE position and is inviting expressions of interest for participation on the advisory body.

The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network be will run on the combined budgets of the previously separate hospitals.  The Network will be responsible for service delivery, training and research.

NSW Minister for Health, Carmel Tebbutt, told Parliament, “we know that providing good health services for children and keeping them safe and healthy is about making sure there are strong links between the full range of community-based services, including local doctors, child and family services and allied health professionals.”

Randwick Children’s Hospital is currently part of the South Eastern Sydney Illawarra Health Service.  Westmead Children’s Hospital, as a separate entity from the greater Westmead Hospital, is directly accountable to NSW Health.  Both of these arrangements will be dissolved with the establishment of the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network.

The current Chair of Strategic Service Delivery at Westmead, Roger Corbett, will become the Chair of the Children’s Hospital Network Advisory Board.

NSW Health declined to confirm to Intermedium that the new body could also serve as a function-oriented Local Health Network under the National Health and Hospitals reform.

A service delivery strategy for the improvement of children’s and youth health services across the state will be released later in the year.  The strategy is the responsibility of a newly created branch of NSW Health.