Glen Innes Severn Council mayor Carol Sparks has been busy.
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She was in Muswellbrook on Tuesday for the Hunter New England Health (HNEH) annual general meeting, and in Sydney on the weekend for a mayors’ seminar.
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Cr Sparks attended the HNEH meeting at the Muswellbrook race course as both mayor and member of the health advisory committee.
She was, she said, the first mayor to attend in a while.
“It was brilliant!” she said. “A very informative meeting.”
The board directors held a round table community conference with the hundred-odd attendees to discuss issues.
Cr Sparks is pushing for more doctors for Glen Innes, but, she said, nothing new on that front came out of the AGM.
“I’m still pushing for GPs to come to our town,” she said.
“Hunter New England Health executives don’t employ doctors; the doctors do their own employment, so they have to adhere to their own requirements.”
CEO Michael DiRenzio reported on HNEH’s achievements in the last year.
Cr Sparks was particularly interested in a rapid response program called REACH.
Patients, family, and carers can talk to their nurse if they are worried or feel something is “not right”, and request a clinical review within 30 minutes. They can also call REACH if they are still concerned.
The program was set up after a six-month old baby died when nurses ignored parents’ concerns. In all hospitals now, nurses have to pay attention to a parent worried about their child, and act on what they say.
"You'd have thought that was common sense, but it's not,” Cr Sparks said.
“People tend to think ‘Oh, he'll be alright, he'll get better’ – but it's hard when you're a child, because you have to have someone voice your concerns. It's a really good thing they've brought in."
John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, is being upgraded, with new machinery that will make it easier for country folk to get to the city to get the treatment they need.
“The message,” Cr Sparks said, “is that it’s not just Newcastle's hospital, but it's our hospital as well, for when there's a critical need.”
Mayors’ seminar
On the weekend, Cr Sparks attended the mayors' weekend seminar at Local Government House, Sydney, with Cr Jeff Smith.
The seminar dealt with professional development of new mayors, new deputy mayors, and interested councillors who may want to become mayors or deputies in the future.
“It focused on the important and demanding role of the mayor, and explored some of the key challenges facing councils and communities,” Cr Sparks said.
Mayors from NSW councils attended, including from regional areas like Nambour and Tumbarumba.
"It was excellent," Cr Sparks said. "We got to engage with other mayors and other councils, and find out what was going on with them, and how they dealt with their problems. We found out that we weren't that different to anybody else, really!"
Crs Sparks and Smith attended workshops on codes of conduct, meeting practice, and general managers and mayors working together. The seminar also offered a toolkit to help mayors achieve their objectives – including short presentations with expert panellists.
Cr Spaks said she would be able to put the lessons into practice.
"It gave me confidence,” Cr Sparks said. “Once you've got the ground rules, and you know the requirements of legislation and policies, we want to advance community cohesion and civic awareness."
Cr Sparks and her deputy Dianne Newman will visit villages in the shire to discuss their needs.