Western Sydney Neighbourhood Health Hub

Introduction

The future of health and wellbeing in Blacktown is imagined as a connected experience supported by technology, partnerships and community. By harnessing the built and natural environment, this project aims to foster a healthy ecosystem ‘in your pocket’. Through careful consultation and design, smart experiences will be developed to encourage healthy habits and enhance wellbeing. 

Challenge 

There are 80,000 people in Western Sydney who are living with 2 or more chronic medical conditions who are also socio-economically disadvantaged. This represents:  

• 10% of our NSW population 

• 60% of people attending emergency departments 

• 25% of all hospital admissions.  

Solution  

Mt Druitt Medical Practitioners Association, Blacktown City Council and WentWest (Western Sydney Primary Health Network) are teaming up to deliver a new health service for the people of Western Sydney, called Healthicare.  

The service will be based in the new Blacktown Exercise Sports and Technology (BEST) hub. It  aims to provide accessible, equitable and personalised healthcare solutions to empower individuals in their health journey.

The Smart Places Acceleration Program is helping by funding advanced technologies to ensure health services can be driven by data insights. These technologies aim to amplify Healthicare’s support for the health and wellbeing of the local community. Data from wearable health sensors will be securely relayed to update Healthicare providers about a patient’s progress with treatment plans. They will encourage the community towards more healthy behaviours such as regular exercise routines, healthy eating plans and chronic disease management tips. 

The data analytics and technologies will support healthcare providers to improve health and social outcomes for patients in Western Sydney, helping them live healthier, happier lives. 

It is hoped the new approaches trialled at Healthicare and BEST will attract the next generation of health leaders and innovators to the region. The project also aims to change the ways technology and data solutions are used. This will help in preventing and managing chronic health conditions.  

Healthicare will open in 2023. It will deliver digital-first care to approximately 8000 patients per year. 

Expected outcomes  

Smart Places outcome areas:

• collaboration and connection
• equity, accessibility and inclusion
• health and wellbeing.

The project will also:

• improve health outcomes for families in Western Sydney, through access to state-of-the-art healthcare technology.  
• support doctors to implement an evidence-based community care. 
• deliver a world-class health hub in Western Sydney, with smart analytics embedded into a personalised, digital-first healthcare approach. 

Resources

Want to implement a similar project? Visit our Smart Places Playbook for help.

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