Tamworth hosts NSW Rural Allied Health Conference

11 November 2009

More than 230 rural and remote Allied Health professionals will converge on Tamworth this week for the 2009 Rural Allied Health Conference.

This is the fourth biennial conference, which is convened by the NSW Institute of Rural Clinical Services and Teaching – and is this year being hosted by Hunter New England Health.

Director of Allied Health David Rhodes said Allied Health professionals are often viewed as the “unsung heroes” of the rural health work force.

They include professionals such as podiatrists, physiotherapists, dietitians, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, social workers and psychologists.

“Allied Health professionals work in a diverse range of disciplines and represent a wide scope of clinical expertise within the health care sector,” Mr Rhodes said.

“As health care providers, we are increasingly recognising the importance of our patients having access to care provided by multi-disciplinary teams of health professionals – and allied health professionals play a large role in this,” he said.

This year’s conference has attracted about 10 per cent of the state’s rural allied health professionals to attend.

“As rural allied health professionals, they experience challenges and opportunities that are sometimes very different to those of their metropolitan counterparts,” Mr Rhodes said.

“That’s why it is important to bring them together at a conference like this to talk about strategies that take into account the important and unique nature of rural practice.”

A large number of allied health professionals from within Hunter New England Health are attending and presenting at the conference.

“The conference program is stimulating and we’ll see many innovations shared among the delegates,” he said.

“We’re hoping this will inspire them to take these messages back to their own health services to be cascaded around the state.

“Hunter New England Health is proud to be hosting the conference and is pleased to be able to showcase the work of our excellent Allied Health workforce and also our region and Tamworth itself,” Mr Rhodes said.

Contact: Shannon Ramadge

Phone: 02 6767 7136 or 02 6767 7135