North West Queenslanders are being urged to have their say on future health priorities for the region.

North West Hospital and Health Service (NWHHS) is undertaking a Local Area Needs Assessment (LANA) to identify areas of healthcare improvement in the North West.

NWHHS Chief Executive Craig Carey said the LANA would involve consultation, community data, and analysis, to inform healthcare plans for the future.

“This is an opportunity for our community members to tell us what is important to them; it might be to strengthen programs and services that are valued or to start those that are missing,” Mr Carey said.

‘With our population living across a very remote region, we are hoping the LANA helps us to take a deep dive into the health priorities of each community and provide insight into chronic disease trends, workforce needs, effectiveness of current service delivery models and opportunities for improvement, co-ordination and linkages between services.

“I encourage all North West residents to complete the online survey and meet with our LANA team when they visit communities.”

During May and June in-person and virtual workshops will be held in key locations across the region, which are all open to the public to join.

Meeting dates:

Camooweal 11th May, 10:30am to 12:30pm at Williejudarra Community Hall (in-person)

Mount Isa, 16^th May, 10am-11am (virtual)

Cloncurry/Urandangi, 16^th May 2pm -3pm (virtual)

Julia Creek/McKinlay, 17^th May, 10am-11am (virtual)

Normanton/Karumba, 18^th May, 2pm-3pm (virtual)

Burketown, 19^th May, 10am-11am (virtual)

Dajarra, 19th May, 2pm-3pm (virtual)

Mornington Island, 30^th & 31^st May (in person)

Doomadgee and Burketown, 1^st and 2^nd June (in person)

To register to attend any of the above meetings, please email the LANA team at  nwhhs.iip@health.qld.gov.au

Any additional meeting dates and times will be published on the NWHHS website and the online survey can be accessed on the Have your say on local health needs web page.