Commissioning priorities for 2024 are: 

• First 1000 Days

Commissioning priorities for 2023 were:

• First 1000 Days – ACCHO social and emotional wellbeing

• Child and maternal workforce development uplift

Better Health North Queensland Alliance

On behalf of the Better Health North Queensland (BHNQ) Alliance, NQPHN collaborated with a wide range of partners to develop a First 1,000 Days Framework which will guide service planning, commissioning, delivery, and review across northern Queensland, and will be rolled out at scale to ensure consistent approaches to achieving maternal and child health outcomes for our region. As we progress, the framework will be extended to the first 3,000 days.

NQPHN is using this framework to commission a First Nations social and emotional wellbeing program for the region and will use it to guide further commissioning later in 2023.

Learn more about the First 1,000 Days Framework

First 1,000 Days social and emotional wellbeing co-design workshops

In March 2023, NQPHN and Beacon Strategies facilitated phase one of NQPHN’s First 1,000 Days social and emotional wellbeing co-design workshop in Cairns.

The workshop brought together a cross-section of staff from six Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs), Hospital and Health Services (HHSs), the Department of Education and Early Childhood, Tropical Health, Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC), and digital health organisations from across the region to work collaboratively on developing a new model of care for First Nations maternal and child health social and emotional wellbeing.

Midwives, early childhood educators, mental health directors, immunisation specialists, women’s’ health representatives, and Indigenous health workers were also in attendance and offered unique insights and skills and expertise during the workshop.

This was the first phase of the co-design process with the next round of co-design scheduled with ACCHOs in April 2023.

NQPHN is committed to working with First Nations peoples to develop models of care that best support the needs of their communities.

Throughout 2023, NQPHN, in partnership with Townsville and Mackay Hospital and Health Services (HHSs), undertook consultation and codesign activities to inform the implementation of new universal aftercare services. Universal aftercare services are intended to support people who have attempted suicide or been assessed as at imminent risk of attempting suicide. Click on the link below to read the summary report of the consultation and codesign.

Universal aftercare report - Townsville and Mackay

NQPHN is currently working with ACCHOs to implement the new arrangements for ITC that were commissioned in 2022. NQPHN is supporting ACCHOs through various forums and networks aimed at strengthening referrals and sharing learnings.

For more information please contact NQPHN’s Indigenous Health Project Officers at itc@nqphn.com.au

ITC fact sheets have been developed for GPs and Nurse Navigators. These can be downloaded via the links below.