The frustrating days of searching for the right health service information for your needs could soon be over for people in the Lower Hunter.
Hunter New England Health’s Lower Hunter cluster is launching a new directory that covers health and community care services in Dungog, Maitland, Singleton and Cessnock-Kurri Kurri.
The Health and Community Care Service Directory was launched in Dungog last Wednesday and will be provided free of charge in booklet form to the general public.
It is also available as a CD-Rom or as an electronic version.
Integrated Primary Care coordinator Robyn Golledge said the directory will fill a need in the Lower Hunter community.
“It is designed to be user-friendly and easy to read and navigate,” Ms Gollege said.
“We wanted it to be a one-stop shop for health service information, for it to be as comprehensive as possible and with an emphasis on local service provision.”
The directory includes 100 pages of information and contact details divided into nine sections, including specific section on services available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and sections for mental health and multicultural health.
It also has four sections specific to each local government area in the Lower Hunter cluster area, as well as a section on local, state and national advocacy, health and community services.
The directory has a comprehensive list of all Hunter New England Health services in each area.
But it also includes a listing of GPs, chemists and pharmacies, residential aged care facilities and health and community health and support services in each local area covering aged care, child and youth sectors and for the general community.
“It is something our communities were telling us they wanted,” Lower Hunter cluster general manager Yvonne Patricks said.
“It was developed as a result of requests from local people and local health and community care providers to have a locally based health care and community service resource.
Ms Gollege said that whilst many health and community care providers individually offer on-line information to promote their local services and resources, it is often difficult for some sections of the community, including the elderly, to access the information this way.
“There are still a lot of people who don’t have a computer or aren’t computer literate.
Many people still prefer to access a printed version,” she said.
“Our directory has a number of features to help the elderly or people with vision impairments, including large print, a scanning line, and spiral binding to allow the
book to open flat,” she said.
Contact Robyn Golledge on 4991 0354 during business hours to obtain your own copy of the free booklet or an electronic version. Copies will be available for
viewing at local libraries.
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