The Secretary of NSW Health Elizabeth Koff has congratulated the winners and finalists of the 19th annual NSW Health Awards, announced by the Minister for Health Brad Hazzard at Sydney Olympic Park on Thursday evening.

Ms Koff said there were 35 finalists in 11 award categories recognised for outstanding innovation in the state’s health system.

Western Sydney Local Health District won three of the categories and Murrumbidgee LHD and Nepean Blue Mountains LHD won two of them.

“This year, we have an exceptional group of 166 entrants who have all been responsible for innovative initiatives in hospitals and clinical settings and I would like to also congratulate every one of them,” Ms Koff said.

“The winning projects all have one goal in mind, and that’s to improve patient care, which is at the heart of everything we do.

“Some are focused on strategies to stop domestic and family violence, while others are more clinically focused such as better influenza screening tests or more innovative service delivery models.”

Minister Hazzard congratulated the entrants for their creativity, innovative thinking and dedication to their jobs.

“We are extremely fortunate to have a health system that is simply brimming with motivated, inspirational professionals who are all striving towards delivering even better health care to NSW patients,” Mr Hazzard said.

The awards were announced as part of the NSW Health Innovation Symposium.

Winners

The award winners in each category are:

Patients as Partners

The Patients' Voice (Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District)

Delivering Integrated Care

Community Eye Care in Western Sydney (Western Sydney Local Health District)

Patient Safety First

Not another DVT in the ED (Western Sydney Local Health District)

Keeping People Healthy

Elimination of Hepatitis C in a Prison Setting (Justice Health & Forensic Mental Health Network)

Supporting our People

Culturally responsive pain management approach (South Western Sydney Local Health District)

A Safe and Healthy Workplace

Working Together to STOP VIOLENCE (Mid North Coast Local Health District)

Health Research and Innovation

High-risk influenza screening test (Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District)

Excellence in the Provision of Mental Health Services

Innovative Service Delivery Model (Western Sydney Local Health District)

Volunteer of the Year

Belinda White (Murrumbidgee Local Health District)

Staff Member of the Year

Thomas Glanville (Murrumbidgee Local Health District)

Collaborative Leader of the Year

Claire Phelan (South Eastern Sydney Local Health District)

Full descriptions of finalists’ projects in each category are available at 2017 NSW Health Awards.​