Allied Health Awards

About this award:

The Allied Health Professional of the Year shows commitment to supporting, empowering and upskilling those around them. They advocate for evidence-based practice, focus on value-based healthcare and provide safe, quality and compassionate patient care. They passionately advocate for their profession, Allied Health and collaborate across professions and services. The individual is recognised by peers for their outstanding professionalism and the continuous demonstration of pride in being an Allied Health Professional within NSW Health.

RECIPIENT

Alyssa Walter - Speech Pathologist, Dubbo Health Service

Alyssa is the Speech Pathology Head of Department at Dubbo Health Service. She works to lead, coordinate, and deliver clinical care to patients with communication and swallowing needs. She has led a range of initiatives that ensure safe and high-quality patient care including founding the Dubbo Health Service Tracheostomy Committee, delivery of local education days and leadership and active participation in quality improvement activities. Alyssa is integral in supporting student placements and early career speech pathologists, making a strong contribution to the Allied Health workforce in our region.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Ruth Kanagaratnam - Occupational Therapist, Bathurst Health Service

Ruth is an Occupational Therapist with a background in Mental health, Occupational Rehabilitation and Paediatrics. Ruth has worked as a Paediatric Occupational Therapist in our District for the last 25 years. Ruth is a reliable and outstanding health professional who maintains an extremely high standard of clinical excellence. She is efficient in managing a large waiting list and regularly reviews its management to address clinical priorities efficiently

She collaborates with her team and peers to achieve a high standard of service delivery and  professional development. Ruth empowers her clients, carers and families to establish client focussed goals around their daily occupations including self-care, school and play. 

She shares her knowledge with her peers on a local and District level making herself available regularly for student and staff clinical supervision, education and engagement with her profession through District based Focus Groups. Ruth contributes to continuing professional development of staff and students via formal and informal clinical supervision and regular student placement blocks for students.

Ruth is a trailblazer in her field pioneering School based Occupational Therapy service in our District. She held a pilot role position in a Catholic Schools contracted service in 2008-09 which led to a permanent appointment of an Occupational Therapist.

Alex Collins - Psychologist, Mental Health Drug and Alcohol, Bloomfield Hospital

Alex currently works as a Psychologist at Turon House, the only alI-female psychiatric ward in NSW, and in the adult acute wards, working with patients with severe mental illness. Alex is consistently recognised by her peers for her professionalism, and is often sought out to provide advice, assistance and support. Alex demonstrates a commitment to ensuring clinical excellence across all areas of her work and works with the multi-disciplinary team and Psychology team to develop positive workplace cultures. Alex understands the importance of partnering with our consumers, and regularly seeks their feedback from individual and group sessions to ensure she is providing quality patient-focused care. 
Alex is committed to ensuring her colleagues are supported to deliver improved health and wellbeing to our consumers. She regularly provides training and in-service education.

​Anne Manvell - Dietitian, Condobolin Health Service

Anne is a Dietitian at Condobolin. She consistently demonstrates integrity, accountability and respect in her interactions with patients and colleagues. She is known for her strong work ethic, attention to detail and commitment to providing evidenced based care.
 
Anne provides strong leadership qualities and consistently demonstrates the NSW Health CORE values. Anne works closely with all disciplines within the health service and always strives to engage with other organisations around our community. Anne is always open and honest and uses feedback to improve our commitment to all clients engaging in our health service. Anne demonstrates clinical excellence by staying up to date with evidence-based research, providing personalised nutrition plans and collaborating with other health care professionals. Anne consistently prioritises patient safety, follows established policies and procedures, and stays up to date on the latest research to ensure the highest standard of care. Anne’s dedication to delivering a positive and meaningful experience is evident in her interactions with patients and colleagues.

Ansia Klavins - Social Worker, Older Persons Mental Health Team Bathurst

Ansia is a Social Worker based in the Older Persons Mental Health Bathurst Hub. Ansia engages with older consumers who have experienced significant trauma, including those experiencing mania, psychosis, depression and anxiety.  Through gentle and professional communication Ansia helps people feel safe to share experiences define recovery goals.  Ansia communicates clearly and respectfully with anxious and overwhelmed care systems, remaining both calm and validating. Ansia is skilled at having open conversations with fellow colleagues, consumers, family and carers, as well as a consumers wider support system.  

Ansia is recognised by her peers for her professionalism and clinical skills. During monthly rounding with the team, Ansia is described as reliable, compassionate, welcoming, friendly, skilled, and caring.

Beth Jeffries - Dietitian, Bathurst Health Service

Beth is a Dietitian at Bathurst Health Service working as part of the Dietetics team and as a virtual Dietitian. She works collaboratively with colleagues, key stakeholders and consumers  to provide high quality rural healthcare, she is open and transparent in the way in which she operates, she treats everyone she comes into contact with, with the upmost respect for the unique perspective and background that they offer, and she both challenges and empowers those around her to work at the top of their scope to optimise and enhance patient care. Beth is highly regarded by the wider Dietetic team across the WNSWLHD. 

For more than 4 years Beth has been the lead for the WNSWLHD Virtual Dietetic Service. During this time the service had grown from supporting half a dozen sites across the district to providing clinical dietetic support to every facility that does not have an onsite or regular outreach Dietetic service. Beth’s continuous efforts have significantly increased the access to and equity of Dietetic service provision across the district. They have also enabled medical, nursing and food service support staff at these facilities to become upskilled and empowered them to take a proactive approach to optimising nutrition care for all patients.

Catherine Osborne - Deputy Chief Radiation Therapist, Dubbo

Catherine (Cath), Deputy Chief Radiation Therapist, is an exemplary role model in the radiation therapy field. 

Cath is able to connect with people. She quickly builds a rapport with all she meets and identifies either how they can help or be helped. She works with the multidisciplinary team within the hospital, within Western Cancer Centre and across the Hospital and district to achieve positive outcomes for patients and improve the service. Cath actively engages with others to know how and what they do and how collaboration can occur to effect change for the benefit of patients and staff.

Cath empowers the whole team to do their best. The team are offered opportunities to expand their areas of expertise and given a full experience in a rural setting. In the time that Radiation Therapy has been in Dubbo, the team has participated in the presentation of numerous posters at state and national conferences, all have which have created interest in their innovative approach. Cath herself has been a keynote speaker at a number of these conferences and talked of the innovative approaches to working a single linear accelerator regional radiation therapy unit and the solutions required to deliver world class treatment.

Denise Andree-Evarts - Radiation Therapist, Dubbo

Denise brings 30 years’ experience in Radiation Therapy to the Western Cancer Centre and with implementation and training of others to be fast tracked, allowing the Western Cancer Centre to establish world-class advanced radiation therapy techniques for all patients in an efficient and safe manner. Denise has radiation therapy planning skills that exceed the national standard and this creates a clinical excellence within the Cancer Centre. This dedication to service delivery has allowed for clinical excellence to be embedded quickly into a new cancer service and flows on to create a positive, professional, patient focussed culture amongst all the team.

Denise is the lead on many committees withing the department and WNSWLHD Cancer Services and her knowledge and expertise has ensured that service delivery is continually evaluated to improve workflow efficiencies and improve patients outcomes and quality standards. 

Denise has an extensive skill set and her willingness to share, upskill others and raise the benchmarking standards is exceptional.

Deryk Slater - Drug and Alcohol Clinical Leader and Senior Psychologist, Cannabis Clinic

Deryk is the Clinical Lead and Senior Psychologist for the Cannabis Clinic. He consistently exhibits high level of competence and ethical conduct in his work, a quality that's deeply admired by his peers. 

Deryk consistently exemplifies clinical excellence through continuous learning, teaching and utilising his skills to enact proactive client safety initiatives. His meticulous attention to detail ensures comprehensive care, and his collaborative approach fosters a multidisciplinary environment that enhances patient outcomes. Deryk's compassionate, person-centred approach creates a culture of knowledge and evidence-based practice to foster a holistic healthcare experience. 

As both a supervisor and clinical leader in drug and alcohol, Deryk's commitment to safe, quality, and evidence-based care, coupled with his dedication to enhancing the human experience of care, makes him an exceptional leader. His contributions elevate the standard of care and support in our LHD.

Erikka Hennessy - Dietitian, Mental Health Drug and Alcohol, Bloomfield Hospital

Erikka is recognised for her professionalism, passion and dedication to the care and recovery of patients experiencing severe and persistent mental illness and or those with drug and alcohol dependencies.

Erikka is always respectful of her patients, colleagues and managers and can be relied upon always to collaborate with the multidisciplinary team, carers and other external stakeholders to deliver optimum care for our patients. Her openness and willingness to accept challenges in care often leads to sustainable improvements.

Erikka demonstrates an ability to identify gaps in clinical care and effectively collaborates with internal and external stakeholders, consumers and carers and relevant Managers to lead the team toward an effective and lasting clinical solution. 

Erikka is dedicated to the provision of high-quality patient- centred and evidenced based care that elevates the patient experience. She has been instrumental in re-establishing the Nutrition Steering Committee at Bloomfield Hospital and has elevated nutrition issues and Dietetic care and physical health in mental health.

Kate Woods - Social Worker, Community Mental Health, Bathurst

Kate provides leadership and high-level clinical care to clients of Bathurst Community Mental Health. 

Kate has been able to effectively engage with long term clients and has delivered interventions and affected change for clients that other staff had previously been unsuccessful with. Kate’s ability to plan and delivery care to this client group demonstrates her contribution to clinical excellence.

Kate has shown exceptional skills in recognising and identifying the diagnostic needs of the clients she has works with. With quiet confidence, Kate has assisted other team members in their abilities to clarify difficult and complex needs in acute presentations. In doing so she has developed the clinical skills of students and staff. Kate has led training in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy. Kate also shares her expansive knowledge of the NDIS and has proactively addressed the support needs of our clients in escalating and refining care packages, and proactively addresses these needs by assisting all staff in navigating a complex system.

Kate role models trauma informed care to the benefit of her clients and other staff.

Lucy Cusack - Physiotherapist, Molong Health Service

Lucy strives for excellence in everything that she does. She is energetic, motivational, knowledgeable, professional. She is a key resource person for all of those around her in both the community and multi-purpose service teams. She mentors students of all disciplines, cares about staff safety in the workplace and is always creative and instrumental in improving operational processes to improve the care experience. 

She is honest, firm, and fair in her approach to all that she does clinically and professionally. Lucy models NSW Health CORE values in all aspects of her work, including all the various patients and situations she is faced with daily. Lucy recognises and models her practice to ensure our clinical services evolve to meet the changing service environment, research, and emerging needs of the community. 

Lucy is constantly reviewing her practice and ways of working to improve her service delivery and the overall patient experience. She has been instrumental in the formulation of some group activities (with the utilisation of her students) specifically targeted to various demographics or presentations of patients. Lucy consistently receives outstanding reviews from patients both when asked directly, and indirectly through the patient reported experience surveys.

Lyndall Ross - Occupational Therapist, Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program

Lyndall’s longstanding commitment to Occupational Therapy, especially within the specialised field of brain injury is highly regarded among her professional peers. Lyndall excels in providing high quality and person-centred care for clients with the goal of returning to driving after acquired brain injury. This entails extensive collaboration and teamwork with medical and allied health personnel, and compliance with external agency systems. She uses her extensive clinical experience to think laterally and creatively to re-train aspiring drivers, tailoring assessment and intervention to people’s goals and strengths.

Driver rehabilitation is complex work involving the application of clinical data about a person’s cognitive and physical strengths and impairments to a very specific context, in which safety is paramount. Lyndall champions clients’ right to try, honouring their aspirations, and looking for ways to maximise their independence, such as a restricted licence or vehicle modifications. She never under-estimates the importance of driving as part of her clients’ lives.

Lyndall is a leader in this field and is a part of Specialist Brain Injury Occupational Therapy groups, including specialised groups regarding driving rehabilitation across the state.

Nalini Singh - Social Worker, Community Mental Health Dubbo

Nalini has exemplified professionalism and role modelling as a Social Worker in the Dubbo Community Mental Health Team by setting an example to her co-workers and students in collaboration, openness, respect and empowerment. She has fostered improved partnerships with stakeholders. Her ability to bring diverse parties together to address complex mental health and social issues has led to better communication and task-sharing to provide better and more consistent healthcare. She recognises the inherent dignity of each person irrespective of their background and circumstance and extends her respect to cultural sensitively.

Nalini establishes therapeutic relationships built upon trust, empathy and actively listening. This foundation fosters effective collaboration in treatment planning. Her regular drop ins to the in-patient mental health unit means that patients that are returning to the community get to meet a familiar face when they are discharged. 

Rachel Fairman - Social Work, Acute and Subacute Units Mental Health, Dubbo

Rachel Fairman is a Social worker working within both the Acute (Gundaymarra) and Sub-acute (Barraminya) Mental Health Inpatient Units at Dubbo Health Service.  Fellow staff recognise her professionalism and compassion towards consumers.  Rachel promotes openness and respect and creates comfortable and safe environments for consumers to share their stories in a respectful and safe space. Rachel empowers both staff and consumers in her day-to-day practices, with new staff looking to Rachel for support and guidance with complex social matters.

Rachel has recently been involved in a quality improvement project supporting electronic device usage in the acute mental health inpatient unit.  As a result consumers felt less isolated from their loved ones with a reported increase in self-worth.  The project has expanded and is now known as the ‘Social Work Coffee Club’.  Consumers gather in the dining room utilising time on their devices to pay bills, report to Centrelink, correspond with family/carers over morning tea. Consumers often recognise Rachel for her patience, support and approachable nature.

Raelene Warn - Occupational Therapist, Canowindra and Eugowra Primary and Community Health

Raelene is as Occupational Therapist at Canowindra and Eugowra Primary and Community Health. recognised for responding to the needs of her patients and the changing health care environment over many years. Raelene is an outstanding professional and valued team member who always speaks up for patient care and her team. Raelene goes beyond expectations when she collaborates, mentors and contributes to quality improvement within the team at all times. Raelene drives the multidisciplinary team model extending herself to nurture new members of the team. Raelene is a sole practitioner who undertakes cradle to grave care for both these small communities and smaller satellite villages surrounding these towns. Raelene’s strength-based approach and whole person perspective when working with complex patients both in hospital and within the community ensures that they continue to live meaningful lives within their communities. Raelene played a critical role post the flooding in the small community of Eugowra making sure that community members had mobility equipment replaced to keep them mobile post floods. Raelene was instrumental in organising appropriate access ramps where required for the accommodation pods across the Eugowra community.

Teena Campbell - Physiotherapist, Wellington Health Service

Teena is a Physiotherapist at Wellington Health Service and shows compassion and empathy for her patients daily whilst being open, honest and supportive during their recovery and rehabilitation.  Teena’s teamwork and communication, whether it be other Allied Health members, nurses, doctors or patient family is always clear, respectful and concise.  

Teena has provided support and care to our community for many years, working with community members in rehabilitation and falls prevention strategies including daily classes and providing rehabilitation and physiotherapy support to our inpatient community. The support and guidance that Teena displays to our inpatients to ensure they experience a safe journey throughout their inpatient stay and allows the patient to feel confident and comfortable when it comes to going home.  The feedback received from patients and community regarding Teena and the care and support that she provides, is always amazing and positive. Teena has provided outstanding leadership and teamwork over the years supporting her colleagues.

About this award:

The Aboriginal Allied Health Professional of the Year demonstrates exceptional commitment, professionalism and compassionate care to all their patients, families and community. They are committed to improving and advocating for the culturally appropriate healthcare of Aboriginal peoples and communities. The Aboriginal Allied Health Professional of the Year is a leader amongst peers, and passionately advocates for their profession, Allied Health, NSW Health and the growth and development of the broader Aboriginal workforce.

RECIPIENT

Vanessa Kendall - Social Worker / Aboriginal Mental Health Clinician, Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Bathurst

Vanessa is a social worker employed in the position of Aboriginal Mental Health Clinician with the Bathurst Child and Adolescent Mental Health team. She draws on her training in social work to help Aboriginal people feel safe accessing clinical support. 

Vanessa is the primary coordinator of the Bathurst Mawang Yarning Circle. She has brought together clinicians in both mental health and drug and alcohol, as well as community health, the Aboriginal Lands Council, the police and other community partners and offers a weekly group in the heart of Kelso aimed at offering both informal and formal support to community members experiencing mental health and or alcohol and other drug issues.

Vanessa’s leadership and relationships with community members has seen groups run on grief, mindfulness, healthy activities and reconnecting with culture.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Therese (Tess) McMillan - Sexual Assault Worker, Lightning Ridge

Tess is a proud Barkindji/Murrawarri woman, living and working in her home community of Lightning Ridge. Tess has worked in the sexual assault service for over 11 years, supporting victim survivors of sexual abuse and their non-offending family members, advocating for their safety and promoting their recovery. Tess outreaches to many surrounding communities and is driven by helping her people and providing wrap around care for her clients to improve outcomes and service accessibility for Aboriginal people. Tess is knowledgeable and informed about Aboriginal ways of healing, connection to family and community and understands the importance of yarning, respectful interactions, and survivor led healing to improve health outcomes and wellbeing.

About this award:

This team member has made exemplary contributions to the education of others to improve Allied Health services. This could include teaching of Allied Health professional peers, students, other health disciplines, patients or the general public. Their activities have been impactful in improving the practice standards of Allied Health professionals, the knowledge of specific health conditions or the understanding of Allied Health services.

RECIPIENT

Kathryn (Kate) Perry - Speech Pathologist, Cowra Health Service

Kathryn is a Speech Pathologist at Cowra Health Service. Kathryn has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to clinical education which is evidenced through her provision of clinical supervision and support for Aboriginal students undertaking Allied Health study, clinical supervision of undergraduate Speech Pathology students, clinical supervision and mentoring for Speech Pathologists in our region and leading and facilitating clinical education activities. The Sydney University School of Health Sciences recently awarded Kathryn the Speech Pathology Students Choice Clinical Educator Award in recognition of her support for her students’ professional and personal development, learning and skill development and preparation for their future careers.

Her active contribution resonates deeply with the principles of positivity and progressiveness, elevating the entire human experience of both students and colleagues. Her ability to infuse enthusiasm and creativity into her clinical supervision sparks a genuine passion for Speech Pathology among her students. By encouraging active participation, open dialogue, and collaborative problem-solving, Kathryn fosters a dynamic learning atmosphere that empowers students to explore beyond their comfort zones. 

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Belinda Green - Senior Clinical Psychologist and Eating Disorder Coordinator, Mental Health Drug and Alcohol

Belinda is a Senior Clinical Psychologist and the Eating Disorder Co-ordinator for WNSWLHD. Belinda also has a clinical background in Paediatric Feeding Disorders and Family Systemic Therapy. Belinda’s role in eating disorders involves strong aspects of education and improvement of clinical standards, including education sessions to local clinicians in the Introduction to Family Based Therapy course, alongside State trainers, 1-2 times per year, and clinical supervision to all clinicians in the LHD working with complex eating disorder cases across the lifespan.

Belinda has been heavily involved in the placement support of Psychologists in training. Belinda’s contribution to students in the LHD is significant, and she has supported the highest number of students in training in our LHD. 

The patient experience has been at the forefront of Belinda’s motivation to enhance service delivery for consumers, and their families who experience eating disorders. Belinda has demonstrated a commitment to evidenced-based practice through the development of education packages and individualised clinical support to  staff across WNSWLHD and with other LHDs.

Anna Todd - Psychologist, Mental Health Drug and Alcohol, Bloomfield Hospital

Anna works as a Psychologist at Bloomfield Hospital. She has an outstanding commitment to delivering quality, trauma-informed health care. She consistently delivers training and educational support to a range of staff, with the aim of improving clinical care and regularly supervises trainee psychologists working towards supervision. She also provides peer consultation, supervision and training to other psychologists, allied health and medical professionals. 

Anna is a key senior member of the Bloomfield Psychology Team, regularly supervising post-graduate Psychology students. Anna often volunteers to supervise a new student, or to provide peer consultation and supervision to a colleague. Anna regularly presents at Bloomfield group supervision, and to the District Psychology Meeting, providing education on the latest developments in psychological interventions, with the aim of upskilling clinicians to contribute to improved health and wellbeing of our rural communities. Anna commenced working in the Older Person's Acute (OPA) ward in February 2022. Since that time, she has spent many hours developing her skills and knowledge, especially in the applications of assessment and treatment interventions suited to this vulnerable and highly complex cohort. 

Annabel Orford - Sonographer, Dubbo 

Annabel works as a Sonography Educator at Dubbo Health Service. Annabel regularly monitors processes and performs auditing of activity, providing feedback to staff for continual improvement. 

Annabel has taken on the challenge of upskilling multiple colleagues in new scan procedures. She has arranged for tertiary on-site education to support their Dubbo practical and personal learning, to allow career growth in a relatively junior department. Staff have had the opportunity to train in additional techniques, while being supported by Annabel. Annabel has maintained her own specialised workload to the highest standard.Annabel always makes herself available to colleagues to run ideas past and is keen to explore areas for growth within her team.

Elizabeth King - Radiation Therapist Educator, Radiation Oncology, Orange

Radiation Oncology is a District service with departments in Orange and Dubbo working as a networked team.  Elizabeth has very generously dedicated time and travel to ensure Radiation Therapists on both sites stay current and competent in the highly specialised skills required to deliver Radiation Therapy treatments.  Elizabeth has trained staff to ensure they can perform with high clinical standards in all aspects of Radiation Therapy including simulation, contouring, planning, checking, imaging and treatment.   

The Dubbo department started up in 2022 and Elizabeth has been instrumental in assisting these new Radiation Therapists to the District become familiar and skilled with local practices, protocols and techniques.  The new District wide service has seen a 25% increase in service utilisation and due to Elizabeth’s outstanding dedication to education our Radiation Therapists have had the necessary training and skills to meet the demand and provide timely and accurate treatment for cancer patients in Western NSW.  Elizabeth is seen by her colleagues as an educator who is dedicated and passionate about supporting and upskilling staff and students.  

Elizabeth is always available, approachable and looking at ways to improve individuals, this along with her hard work mentoring and teaching staff and students, creates a positive and progressive learning culture.

Emma Brown - Physiotherapist, Dubbo Health Service

Emma is committed to continuous professional development and sharing knowledge from the courses, she attends with other staff and students at the workplace.

Emma is very passionate about sharing knowledge and teaching students and staff. She always works identifying the strengths of students, knowing their learning profiles and modifying her approach to suit their needs. She works to support them for better learning experience, and empower them to achieve their potential. Emma leads a Quality Improvement Project named’ “Wall of Wins” which acknowledges patient’s achievements and even small gains. This activity meets the national standard for ‘Partnering with consumers’ and based on person-centred care.

About this award:

This team member has made exemplary contributions to research into enhancing Allied Health service delivery. Their activities have made an impact and can be translated into practice. Research has commenced and the researcher is working towards a peer-reviewed publication, has had a peer-reviewed paper published in the last 4 years, or is a supervisor or co-author of a paper.

RECIPIENT

Jessica Kennedy – Psychologist, Barraminya and Gundaymarra Mental Health Inpatient Units, Dubbo Health Service

Alongside her clinical role as a Psychologist, Jessica is heavily involved in leading and participating in research activities. These activities include development, implementation and evaluation of trials of the Computerised Interactive Remediation of Cognition and Thinking Skills (CIRCuiTS) program, and implementation of CIRCuiTS as a treatment option. Jessica also partners with a range of community groups, non-government organisations and universities to develop consumer centred improvements to clinical care.

About this award:

This award highlights an outstanding Allied Health Leader who continually exhibits excellence in leadership, focusing on values of teamwork, innovation, service, quality, compassion and integrity. The Allied Health Leader of the Year shows exceptional skill in supporting, mentoring and coaching staff. They drive quality improvement in patient care and service delivery, and a commitment to value-based health care.

RECIPIENT

Katrina Rohr - Allied Health Rural Graduate Programme Coordinator, WNSWLHD

Katrina works as the Allied Health Rural Graduate Program Coordinator for Western NSW Local Health District to develop and implement a model to support recent allied health graduates. In this role Katrina provides support to participants and recently graduated staff working in Allied Health roles, works with managers to provide a range of clinical experiences and development opportunities, and leads a professional and leadership development program. Katrina’s leadership skills have been observed by program participants, colleagues and peers, with a program participant noting that “Katrina is passionate about contributing to rural communities and demonstrates great pride as an allied health professional within this unique health district. She is a highly motivating role model”.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Meg Vickery - Eating Disorder Coordinator, Mental Health Drug and Alcohol

Meg is the Eating Disorder Coordinator for WNSWLHD and is widely recognised by her peers for her professionalism and her leadership. Meg is recognised by her Dietetic colleagues as a leader in the field of nutrition. As a senior dietitian Meg supported and encouraged her fellow dietitians by mentoring more junior dietitians, teaching dietetic students, being a member of various district wide committees and leading nutrition related quality improvement activities across the district.

In her eating disorder coordinator role Meg has been able to successfully leverage the relationships she built with her allied health, nursing and medical colleagues to influence and drive change in the eating disorder space across WNSWLHD. Her continued contribution to mentoring Dietitians means she is highly regarded by the Dietetic team for her leadership ability and continues to be a role model for allied health clinicians.

Erikka Hennessy - Dietitian, Mental Health Drug and Alcohol, Bloomfield Hospital

Erikka champions improvements in the physical health of mental health consumers in her role as senior Dietitian at Bloomfield Hospital. Erikka leads a strong team of mental health dietitians in the delivery of healthy living, exercise and mental health education programs run across the campus in collaboration with a range of health professionals. Her commitment to enhancing the human experience of mental health consumers has seen her introduce innovative changes to the menu in response to carer and consumer requests. She has implemented cooking groups across the wards, and education on food safety, budgeting, shopping, and food preparation skills to equip consumers for life outside hospital. She shows great insight into the needs and well-being of the younger dietitians in her team. She is well known across the dietetics-mental health space, consulting and presenting at professional conferences.

About this award:

This award recognises Early Career Allied Health Professionals who have shown exceptional potential during their first two years of practice. This staff member demonstrates passion and commitment to the provision of quality, safe and compassionate care to patients and their family or caregivers. They are committed to seeking continuous learning opportunities and are driven to demonstrate emerging clinical excellence for their discipline.

RECIPIENT

Georgia Knowles - Occupational Therapist, Allied Health Rural Graduate Program, Dubbo and Wellington Health Service

Georgia is an Occupational Therapist in the Allied Health Rural Graduate Program. Georgia has demonstrated an exceptional passion for, and commitment to, providing quality services and compassionate care to patients and the community. She continues to develop her skills as a rural generalist clinician by embracing and seeking rotations in a broad range of clinical settings, including inpatient acute, paediatric outpatients, and lymphoedema. Georgia adheres to evidence-based practice and actively seeks to develop her understanding of clinical best practice through discussion with colleagues, independent learning, and professional development. Georgia has promoted clinical excellence across sites by sharing her knowledge and experiences with colleagues. 

Georgia is an active participant in program workshops, and is proactive in applying the early leadership skills from each workshop into daily work practice, such as recognising different communication styles, identifying strengths, and goal setting. Her emerging leadership skills and professionalism are evident in her interactions with colleagues, whether assisting other staff members, sharing knowledge, or advocating for patients in multidisciplinary team meetings. Georgia has a keen interest in better understanding the health system as a whole and is committed to understanding how services can best meet the needs of the communities they serve.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Robbie Milford - Occupational Therapist, Bathurst Health Service

Robbie has demonstrated exceptional potential as he has made his leap into the professional world, and has proven himself a confident, self-reflective and clinically strong Occupational Therapist.  

Robbie is selfless and spends time upskilling his colleagues on his learnings and has been observed to adopt new techniques, assessments and skills in his daily practice. Robbie was identified as an employee of the month in his time on the surgical ward, and has managed his rotation to rehabilitation successfully. Robbie contributes to improving implementation of group therapies (such as breakfast group, gardening group and the new throw-down-Thursdays activity group).

Robbie has demonstrated ability to learn new processes and demonstrates constant vision for improvement throughout his practices. Robbie is a keen learner, and demonstrates this through active listening and contributions when it comes to clinical needs and considerations. He is a valued member of the team.

Alicia Earsman - Physiotherapist, Cowra Health Service

Alicia is a Physiotherapist at Cowra Health Service, and balances a diverse rural caseload including inpatient, outpatient and community clients with a high standard of clinical performance, often working under minimal supervision. She delivers high quality care and seeks to achieve the best possible outcomes for her patients.

Alicia has commenced a lymphoedema clinic at Cowra Hospital following completion of lymphoedema accreditation training. This service was devised and is coordinated by Alicia and delivers compassionate care to members of the community needing this service. Alicia delivers a consistent, high-quality service by displaying professionalism, flexibility and determination to keep contributing to the health of her local community. 

Amelia Craig - Social Worker, Allied Health New Graduate Program, Dubbo Health Service

Amelia is a Social Worker in the Allied Health Rural New Graduate Program and is based at Dubbo Health Service.

Amelia works diligently across multiples teams and services to ensure patients have the most positive patient journey possible. She is a great advocate for our patients and their loved ones. She is passionate about the work that she does and demonstrates insight and reflective practice beyond her years. She is always respectful and inclusive.

Amelia recently applied to present her Social Work Honours thesis at the National Allied Health Conference in Perth. Because of the quality of this research, she was selected to develop an ‘e-poster’ which was on display throughout the conference.

Brie Thomas - Dietitian, Allied Health Rural Graduate Program, Bathurst Health Service

Brie works as a Dietitian in the Bathurst Dietetics team  as part of the Allied Health Rural Graduate Program. She demonstrates clinical excellence through her calm and professional nature towards patients and colleagues, commitment to learning and improvement, ability to effectively manage multiple caseloads, and active participation in peer supervision supporting other new graduates. Brie has participated in quality improvement projects within the dietetics department.Brie has formed strong relationships within multidisciplinary teams at Bathurst working collaboratively with diabetes educators, nurses, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and medical teams.  She has also formed great networking relationships with other allied health new graduates and acts a support person across multiple sites.

Olivia Ratcliffe - Radiographer, Medical Imaging Services

In her role as a District Reliever radiographer Olivia was required to come up to speed quickly, develop relationships and slot into various multidisciplinary teams across nearly all sites in WNSWLHD over the last 2 years. In her career she has enhanced her clinical skills rapidly and performs sub-specialty higher modality requirement in the base facilities such as CT, and she has excelled at working remotely in consultation with those smaller multidisciplinary teams. 

As she concludes this District reliever role, Olivia has been a successful EOI respondent to train in ultrasound, a post graduate program of study that will take her 2 years at minimum to complete, based out of Bathurst Base Hospital. Olivia has worked at a high level in managing her daily work, negotiating with sites, communicating with managers. The sole site radiographer locations are managers and she has routinely stepped into higher function as is required of this role, and she has done so with agility and capability.  

Rosie Sheridan - Sonographer, Medical Imaging Services

Rosie works as a Sonographer. She is dedicated to offering the best scan for the patient and has put many hours into her ongoing professional development. She has researched and presented talks on pathologies and interesting cases both in house to her fellow sonographers but also to the sonographers across the WNSW LHD. 

Rosie is frequently praised by her patients for being warm, caring and thorough. The empathy and thought she takes with her patients is a real benefit for the patients, our department and hospital. Rosie has shown great professionalism this year with both caring for the patients as well as in her knowledge and ability. She has been able to ask for help when needed. 

Rosie has been professional in asking for additional training to upskill whilst still cementing her base skill set since qualifying.  She has stepped up to take on jobs within the department and taken on leadership roles when asked to help train and guide others. 

Sarah Manche - Dietitian, Mental Health Drug and Alcohol, Bloomfield Hospital

Sarah commenced working as a Dietitian with the Mental Health Dietetics team directly after finishing university. Sarah has thrived in all aspects of the role initially covering every mental health unit on the campus. Sarah has established herself as a reference point for her colleagues due to her thorough comprehension of the complex mental health food service systems at Bloomfield and her in depth clinical understanding of the many and varied physical health conditions that the Bloomfield consumers live with in addition to their mental illnesses. 

Sarah strives daily to ensure the dietetics care available to all consumers of Bloomfield is of the highest quality. She is a strong advocate for the nutritional health and wellbeing of all consumers and acts with compassion and consideration for the wants of the consumers. 

Senthil Rahavan - Speech Pathologist, Dubbo Health Service

Senthil is a new graduate speech pathologist working in rehabilitation and palliative care at Dubbo Health Service. He goes above-and-beyond in ensuring that the care he is providing to patients is of the best possible standard, through independent research, continuing professional development, and discussions with colleagues and supervisors. Senthil collaborates closely with his colleagues in the multidisciplinary team. Senthil is involved in implementing the Agency for Clinical Innovation’s patient-centred rehabilitation planning model. Senthil has a strong understanding of patient-centred care and goal setting, which he applies consistently in his practice. Senthil is adept at utilising clear communication and existing team processes to ensure patients’ speech pathology needs are well-understood by the team and reflected in multidisciplinary care and goal setting. 

Senthil is committed to elevating the human experience for patients in the subacute setting.  He demonstrates initiative, emerging leadership, and professional skills in his daily interactions with patients and colleagues. He recently co-presented both at the AHRGP workshop and Speech Pathology Area Day, sharing his experiences and insights of subacute speech pathology with colleagues. Senthil is currently working on a quality improvement project to trial a telehealth version of the Social Communication Group for people with chronic aphasia for Dubbo Health Service. 

Vanessa Kendall - Social Worker, MHDA Bathurst

Vanessa is a newly qualified social worker employed in the position of Aboriginal Mental Health Clinician with the Bathurst Child and Adolescent Mental Health team. Vanessa has demonstrated clinical excellence in her role with skills well beyond that of a new graduate social worker. She has been working in the community sector for 20 years and has exceptional skill in working with family and carers of people with mental illness, and the Aboriginal community. Vanessa committed to competing her social work degree with the explicit plan to work in the mental health sector to support the mental health and wellbeing of vulnerable people. 

Vanessa is a member of many local Aboriginal networks and interagencies and has already worked to improve relationships across key Aboriginal community individuals and organisations to improve care.

About this award:

This award recognises an Allied Health Assistant or Technician who consistently provides extraordinary and quality support for Allied Health professions and Allied Health services. They actively support a positive culture in line with NSW Health CORE values. This individual demonstrates a commitment to elevating the patient experience by being the backbone of the Allied Health service. They show professionalism and are a proven team player.

RECIPIENT

June Coyte - Allied Health Assistant (multidisciplinary), Bathurst Health Service

June works at Bathurst Health Service as an Allied Health Assistant and provides daily support to multiple Allied Health professionals across teams. Her role includes providing Allied Health Assistant services to inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation, post acute care Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy and working within the Physiotherapy Department.

She is consistent in her effort, is hardworking, and communicates effectively with all staff. June is kind in all her interactions. She takes a genuine interest in colleagues, students and patients and engages in their lives. She values all her co-workers, easing their load by delivering meaningful therapy support. 

June ensures the safety of her patients and families both physically and psychologically. June creates a safe environment where patients and families can be reassured that they are receiving the best treatment in the best place at the right time.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Cherie McGregor - Allied Health Assistant (Occupational Therapy), Wellington Health Service

Cherie has lived and worked in Wellington for all her career and has over 20 years’ experience as an AHA. She has been employed as the Occupational Therapy AHA at Wellington Community Health. The varied skill set she brings to her role along with experience makes her an asset. Cherie is the first person to volunteer her time and skills when others need support. Examples of her commitment to teamwork within the multidisciplinary environment include, representing allied health at community events such as international children’s week, and completing home visits with allied health staff from all disciplines. Cherie works within the top of the scope of her practice and is supervised by an off-site Occupational Therapist to provide screening and program-based therapy supports to children in local preschool settings.

Ashleigh Middleton – Allied Health Assistant (Speech Pathology), Orange Health Service

Ashleigh works as an Allied Health Assistant and is a vital member of the Orange Health Service Speech Pathology Team. 

Ashleigh is always willing to assist her colleagues. She is adaptable and always demonstrates flexibility and a willingness to immerse herself into new and challenging environments. Ashleigh is dependable, shares her skills and knowledge with others, has a positive attitude and demonstrates a commitment lifelong learning on a daily basis. Ashleigh inspires and values her team members. Ashleigh demonstrates a thorough understanding of her role as an Allied Health Assistant and the positive impact she makes on a day-to-day basis. Ashleigh educates others of her role and encourages students to pursue a career in allied health.

Amy Erbacher - Allied Health Assistant, Rural Psychology Team

Amy works as an Allied Health Assistant to support the Rural Psychology Team to deliver an effective hybrid service that offers both face-to-face and virtual services. Amy’s role includes co-ordinating telehealth services, responding to referrals and managing intakes, establishing, and setting up groups as well as co-delivering group services. Amy strongly adheres and exemplifies a non-judgemental, compassionate, and empathic approach to her engagement with consumers. 

Amy has a clear understanding of her role as a support staff member to the Rural Psychology Team. She understands the vast nature of consumer geography and culture, including farming families, isolated communities, and Aboriginal people. Amy has worked hard to develop partnerships across the WNSWLHD to ensure the Rural Psychology team have in-reach to relevant GP’s, NGO’s and other providers of mental health who can support their consumers.

Alexandra Brisbane - Allied Health Assistant (multidisciplinary), Dubbo Health Service

Alex is an Allied Health Assistant in Dubbo. She has contributed extensively to multiple allied health disciplines whilst working in the sub acute  rehabilitation and community Occupational Therapy team in Dubbo. She steps into roles, and takes on each role with enthusiasm, flexibility, and competence. Alex is a very highly valued team member and is always reliable, knowledgeable and willing to lend a hand where it is needed. 

Alex undertakes many activities including running the upper limb rehabilitation group; co-ordinating the equipment loans, cleaning and tracking of the equipment; contacting and prioritising new referrals for the community Occupational Therapy clients, assisting patients with their menu selection; and assisting Occupational Therapists on home visits when a second person is required.Alex is often the first contact for the Allied Health department. Alex is consistently able to respond to clients concerns with compassion and professionalism.