The 2023 Robinvale Health Roundtable took place in Robinvale on Wednesday 15 February, with RFDS Victoria leading conversations. This event was an opportunity for leaders and decision makers in the health and community space to discuss Robinvale's health care needs, and how we can collaborate and create better health outcomes for the community.
In attendance were 26 individuals representing 11 local, regional and state-wide health and community organisations, including:
- Robinvale District Medical Centre
- Robinvale District Health Services
- Mildura Base Public Hospital
- Murray Valley Aboriginal Co-op
- Murray PHN
- Parliament of Victoria
- Swan Hill Rural City Council
- Rural Workforce Agency Victoria
- Sunraysia Community Health Services
- Mallee Track Health and Community Service
Conversations focused on solutions and opportunities, while also recognising the very real challenges at hand. Some of the key challenges in the Robinvale health sector raised at the roundtable were:
- workforce recruitment, retention, training, support and burnout;
- service fragmentation and gaps, both real and perceived (the latter due to lack of awareness of available services);
- engaging with and providing care to diverse communities; delayed access to health care; and
- transport limitations.
To address these challenges, roundtable participants identified around 20 collaboration opportunities. We can move from conversation to action by now working on more detailed prioritisation.
The roundtable concluded positively and with a focus on action. RFDS Victoria is committed to action and is already exploring opportunities around transport, telehealth, shared workforce models and new models of care. We believe the best outcomes will come from working together.
For further information about the outcomes of the roundtable, please contact Kate Storr (Health Services Manager) on kate.storr@rfdsvic.com.au or Heather Morecroft (Head of Strategy and Impact) on heather.morecroft@rfdsvic.com.au.
