Nurse Practitioner-led Colposcopy clinic

(21/11/14)

What began as an idea by RDN in 2012 has now become a significant Aboriginal women’s health service. Indeed, it is likely that the service is the first nurse practitioner-led colposcopy clinic in Australia. This means the nurse practitioner is wholly responsible for the clinic from accepting referrals, triage, addressing the results, providing follow-up and pursuing a defined education plan.

Aboriginal women from the wider central west catchment area who previously needed to travel to Sydney for colposcopy are now able to receive expert care locally.

So why has the clinic been so successful? The answer clearly lies in the strong collaborative partnership between the agencies involved. Careful planning of the project occurred from the emergence of the concept with representatives from the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service, the Western NSW Local Health District, the NSW Rural Doctors Network and the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney working methodically though the planning stages to ensure all aspects of the service were addressed from nurse training to clinic location and set-up and mentoring and support from the gynaecologist.

The project is funded by the Australian Government’s Indigenous Specialist Outreach Assistance Program, and is truly a great example of how organisational boundaries can be broken down through trust and goodwill to achieve the best possible care for patients.

A formal evaluation of the first 125 patients has demonstrated just how effective the service is with impressive patient outcomes and expeditious referrals to higher level care as needed, and planning is already underway to replicate this model in more remote rural communities.

Receiving the 2014 NSW Health Secretary’s Award for Aboriginal Health was due recognition for the leading edge nurse practitioner colposcopy service at Orange Aboriginal Medical Service.

Back to outreach news archives