News

The region’s first ‘Street University’ will be established in Penrith by the end of the year and will provide a free community space that embraces young people’s art, music and culture while providing early intervention for addiction and mental health issues.

Virtual Psychologist is a Federal Government funded initiative that provides fully qualified mental health professionals to support people in rural and remote areas via Text, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp or Twitter.

Living with mental illness and having a personal experience of life on the land has motivated St Albans Farmer, Sherri McMahon, to help local farmers weather the drought.

Armed with a Well-being Grant to Support Farming Communities received from Wentworth Healthcare, provider of the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network (NBMPHN), Sherri and her partner are rallying the community to connect and build resilience. The grant, given to the Trustees of the St Albans Common, is part of the Empowering Our Communities initiative introduced by the Federal Government to support communities affected by drought.

We know that loneliness and social isolation is strongly associated with poorer physical and mental health outcomes for older people.

Building on the strength of our Compassionate Communities work taking place in the Blue Mountains, over the next two-years we will pilot a model to reduce isolation and loneliness for older people living in the Hawkesbury community.

Drought affected communities across Lithgow and Hawkesbury can now access free mental health coaching support.

NewAccess, developed by Beyond Blue and delivered locally by Marathon Health, is a free self-referral, early intervention program for anyone who may be experiencing signs of depression and anxiety. The service is funded by Wentworth Healthcare, provider of the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network, through the Empowering Our Communities initiative.

Provider Digital Access (PRODA) is an online authentication system for health providers, practice managers and practice nurses to securely access Government services. PRODA can be used anywhere internet access is available.

GPs in our region can now access a free psychiatry advice line to help manage the care of patients with mental health concerns. 

On 1 July, the new health workforce Distribution Priority Areas classification system replaced the Districts of Workforce Shortage Assessment Areas for GPs and Bonded Doctors. This change has implications for the majority of practices in our region.

Wentworth Healthcare, provider of the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network, is pleased to welcome new Board Chair, Dr Tony Rombola.

Dr Rombola has been a Director on the Wentworth Healthcare Board since 2013 and brings a wealth of healthcare experience to the role. He has worked as a GP in Windsor for over 25 years including providing services to a men's rehabilitation centre, and to a number of Residential Aged Care Facilities in the Hawkesbury.

A theatre production focussed on the lived experience of people in the community with mental illness will be on show later this year.

The show is supported by local mental healthcare providers and will be based on real stories from real people within the community. It will highlight the challenges faced by people with mental health conditions and use these as the basis for songs, poetry, comedy and spoken word.

Wentworth Healthcare has used World No Tobacco Day (Friday 31 May) to launch an innovative new campaign that focuses on holistic wellbeing and connection to Country as the motivation to reduce smoking rather than using negative images of ill-health.

The Breath of Fresh Air campaign, funded by Cancer Institute NSW, aims to reduce the high rates of tobacco use in the Aboriginal community in the Nepean Blue Mountains region of NSW (Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Lithgow & Penrith).

Wentworth Healthcare, provider of the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network, welcomes the announcement made by the Federal Government that Western Sydney will receive a $19.5 million Community Health and Well-being funding package.

The NSW Bureau of Health Information Snapshot Report of the 2017-18 Emergency Department Patient Survey reflects the experiences of 15,995 patients who attended one of 82 emergency departments in NSW from July 2017 to June 2018. Results include how well prepared patients felt to continue to manage their condition at home when leaving the emergency deparytment.

Wentworth Healthcare, provider of the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network, welcomes the announcement made today by Senator Deborah O'Neill, Assistant Shadow Minister for Mental Health, and Susan Templeman, Member for Macquarie, that Labor will fund a new headspace Centre in Katoomba and an outreach service in the Hawkesbury if elected into Government.

A new service which aims to improve community connectedness in the Hawkesbury has been announced by the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network (NBMPHN) as part of their Well-being Grants to Support Farming Communities.