Three teams in Sydney Local Health District have been named as finalists in the 2025 NSW Health Awards for their extraordinary efforts to improve care for patients in the state’s public health system.  

Now in their 27th year, the Awards acknowledge the personalised, sustainable, and digitally enabled programs that contribute to the wellbeing of patients and the community.  

Here are the District’s finalists:

Health Innovation

Finalist: 3D Bioprinting Skin to Revolutionise Burn and Wound Care, Burns Unit, Concord Hospital
 

The Burns Unit team at Concord Hospital has developed a world-first patient-specific, automated approach to skin regeneration. The team is able to print a construct of a patient’s own skin cells directly onto the wound during surgery, using integrated imaging and robotic precision to replicate natural skin structure. 

The team has completed a Phase 1 clinical trial in which all nine patients reported less pain at the bioprinted site compared with a traditionally treated donor site. The team’s research, founded on reducing patient pain, sets a new benchmark in personalised wound care.
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Excellence in the Provision of Mental Health Services

Finalist: Housing and Health Together, Mental Health Services
 

Two staff, working side by side in a partnership to improve outcomes for people experiencing homelessness and mental illness, identified a shared consumer base and proactively developed a collaborative model to streamline processes. Selina Thomas, Mental Health and Housing Liaison, and Grace Douglas, Complex Case Worker, collaborate to reduce hospital readmissions, enhance continuity of care, and improve access to stable housing by organising support across inpatient and community settings.  

They are a testament to the NSW Health values of collaboration, openness, respect and empowerment through the ways they support each other and consumers who come to the District for care.
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Excellence in Aboriginal Healthcare

Finalist: Stronger Together: Culturally Safe Cancer Screening for Aboriginal Women, BreastScreen NSW Sydney, Population Health and Aboriginal Medical Services Redfern
 

Based on the success of an event in 2023, Population Health, BreastScreen NSW Sydney, and Aboriginal Medical Services Redfern planned an event in 2024 to increase awareness and participation in cancer screening among Aboriginal women. A consumer insight guided the overall approach to ‘walk with me’, and the event included screening, health consultations, education, promotion, drop-in access, incentives and cultural activities. As a result of the event, breast screening rates for Aboriginal women aged 50 to 74 years in the District rose to 46% in 2024, surpassing the NSW average of 45.2%, closing the gap with a screening rate of 51.6% of all women in NSW.
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The winners will be announced at the 2025 NSW Health Awards Ceremony on Thursday 30 October at the Sydney International Convention Centre from 6pm. Visit the NSW Health Awards website for event and livestream details.

NSW Health Secretary Susan Pearce AM expressed her excitement about celebrating the people and teams who are making a difference every day.

“These awards shine a spotlight on the extraordinary teams and people who drive innovation, improve patient care, and enrich health in millions of ways every day,” she said.

NSW Health received 186 nominations across the 12 award categories.  

Congratulations again to all District finalists!