Programs aim to improve health outcomes for various patients.

An initiative to enrich preschool children’s wellbeing with Aboriginal culture and movement, a new model of care to reduce wait times for testing for inflammatory bowel disease patients and resources to support access to culturally appropriate services for Lakemba families have won investment funding.  

Dr Aviv Pudipeddi, a gastroenterologist in the Department of Gastroenterology and Liver Services at Concord Hospital was awarded $35,000 by judges presiding over the final round of The Pitch for 2023.  

The Pitch, Sydney Local Health District’s quarterly innovation challenge has awarded more than $2 million in funding since its inception in 2014. 

“One of the things I think is great about our District is the way in which we nurture the ideas that come from our staff and support the development of innovation and new ideas through things such as The Pitch,” said Joseph Jewitt, Acting General Manager of Concord Hospital, where the event was held. 

Inflammatory Bowel Disease affects more than 100,000 people in Australia and statistics have shown a high prevalence in the City of Canada Bay area. 

Concord Hospital is home to a large Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic which sees more than 1,000 patients annually. 

“Many of these patients are placed onto endoscopy lists for colonoscopies to check up on the disease in the bowel, so someone might need fifteen to twenty colonoscopies in their lifetime,” Dr Pudipeddi said. 

Dr Pudipeddi’s ‘gen-IUS idea’ to use intestinal ultrasound as a detection test among Concord Hospital’s Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic patients is an emerging approach in detecting and treating Inflammatory Bowel Disease.  

He said using an intestinal ultrasound would avoid patients undergoing an invasive colonoscopy, reduce colonoscopy wait times and minimise the burden on the Radiology Department where patients are referred for scans. 

Dr Pudipeddi said the use of intestinal ultrasound is unique to the District and would support faster clinical decision making and improve patient experience and outcomes. 

The awarded funds will go towards purchasing a dedicated intestinal ultrasound machine, which costs $100,000. 

A program combining movement, yoga and Aboriginal culture to enrich wellbeing among preschoolers was awarded $20,000 to develop online resources to extend the program’s reach across New South Wales.  

Jarjums Connections stems from the engagement between District’s Aboriginal Health and health promotion professionals and early childhood education and care services in 2018. 

“This program is the only program that showcases the beginning of lifelong learning about First Nations people through movement and mindfulness,” said Nadia Levett, Health Promotion Officer with the District’s Healthy Children’s Initiative. 

Following a successful pilot in three preschool settings in the District’s boundaries, the co-designed program began expanding with the aim to reach 330 preschool settings by the end of 2024.  

It has become integral to enriching learning experiences for children, families and educators and building connections between children and the Eora Nation, the collective name for the clan groups across metropolitan Sydney. 

“Our impact so far has been outstandingly positive, the supply demand has gone beyond our staffing and capacity,” Nadia added. 

“All educators surveyed agreed that the program enhances the wellbeing curriculum, and they would recommend it to other services.” 

After undergoing refurbishment in 2022, the Lakemba Health Centre has supported local families to access services like child and family health nursing, social work, speech pathology and perinatal infant mental health closer to home.  

A pitch to invigorate Lakemba Health Centre with indoor and outdoor toys for therapy sessions and playgroups, counselling couches to create a trauma-informed counselling environment and culturally appropriate artwork received $14,818 in funding. 

“By equipping our outreach centre with the necessary resources, we are empowering our clinicians to deliver services in Lakemba, at a location that is conveniently accessible for our families,” said Kim Dunlop, Nursing Unit Manager at Canterbury Child and Family Health Nursing. 

Our aim is clear – to expand Lakemba’s use for providing clinical care to children and families in need, particularly those experiencing vulnerability in our community. 

Two other projects, a clinical trolley to replace a repurposed bedside patient locker used for cortisol testing and a cardiac neuropsychology service for adult congenital heart disease patients were not awarded Pitch funding but will be funded by RPA Hospital.