Coffs Harbour Health Campus

345 Pacific Highway Coffs Harbour NSW 2450

Phone: 02 66567000

Coffs Harbour Health Campus Mid North Coast Local Health District

DCS — Dr Sharon Miskell

DPET — Dr Lorna McLeod

Network Manager, Medical Administration & Workforce—

Julie Sillince Ph: 02 6656 7020

Email: julie.sillince@health.nsw.gov.au

JMO Manager — Karen Aranyi Ph: (02) 66567034

Email: MNCLHD-CHHC-JMOManager@health.nsw.gov.au

JMO Support — Marianne Harley Ph: 02 66567034

Email: marianne.harley@health.nsw.gov.au

JMO Support — Kylee Flett Ph: 02 66567239

Email: karen.aranyi@health.nsw.gov.au

Coffs Harbour, Australia’s pocket of paradise. Woven between the mountains and the sea, the Coffs Coast is a breath-taking tapestry of

colour, encompassing quaint villages, national parks, mountain escarpments, 90 kms of sandy beaches, islands and marine reserves.

Located half way between Sydney and Brisbane on the Mid North Coast of NSW, Coffs Harbour is the region’s hub, surrounded by the

delightful seaside and hinterland communities of Bellingen, Sawtell, Coramba and others.

Geography & Demographics

Coffs Harbour is an Australian Coastal city located on the Mid North

Coast of New South Wales about 540 km north of Sydney, and 390 km

south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres in the North

Coast region, with an estimated population of 70 000 as of June 2017.

Coffs Harbour has a humid subtropical climate with marked seasonality

of rainfall. The city is relatively sunny, receiving 122.1 clear days annual-

ly, higher than Brisbane and Cairns. Summers are warm, wet humid.

Winters are mild, pleasant and drier.

Travel

Coffs Harbour Airport is the busiest, and largest regional

airport in New South Wales. Coffs Coast airport is serviced

by Qantas, Virgin Australia, Tiger Air, and Fly Corporate,

offering competitive rates. There are up to 9 flights per day

in and out of Sydney, 4 flights per week to and from Mel-

bourne, and 3 flights per week to and from Brisbane.

Coffs Harbour also has daily train and bus services to and

from Sydney, and Brisbane.

Legend has it that the first Europeans to the area were escaped convicts taking refuge on Muttonbird Island. Timber getters were the first to settle in the area in 1841. The busy Port was frequented by up to 450 ships a year prompting the construction of a lighthouse in 1878. Timber cutting remained the most important industry well into the 1900's, flourishing after the completion of the Jetty in 1892. Gold min-ing, fruit growing, dairying, and sugar cane farming also became popular, although many of these earlier ventures failed. Fijian Bananas were introduced in 1881 and the banana growing industry took off in the early 1900's as the population swelled during the construction of the railway and the famous harbour break wall. Banana growing gained further momentum in the 1920's as the plantations to the north were wiped out by disease. With the arrival of the railway in 1915 and the completion of the link through to Sydney in 1923, the tourism industry in Coffs Harbour developed rapidly. Today Coffs is one of the most popular destinations on the New South Wales north coast.

Coffs Harbour Health Campus — Overview

The Coffs Harbour Health Campus is an acute regional hospital with a 280 bed capacity located approximately half way between Sydney and Brisbane. The Campus offers a

wide range of services in general medicine, emergency medicine, surgery, orthopaedics, obstetrics, paediatrics, rehabilitation and intensive care. Other specialist services

available include the acute stroke unit, coronary angiography unit, renal unit, mental health unit and oncology and radiotherapy services within the North Coast Cancer Insti-

tute.

On-site there are specialists in the following disciplines: General Medicine, Cardiology, Paediatrics, General Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Vascular Surgery, Orthopaedics, Anaes-

thetics, ENT, O&G, Urology, Ophthalmology, Rheumatology, Rehabilitation, Palliative Care, Emergency Medicine, Intensive Care, Psychiatry, Pathology, Medical Oncology,

Radiation Oncology, Haematology, Renal Medicine. Also there are visiting specialists in Neurosurgery, Endocrine Surgery and Paediatric Surgery. 2019 will see the recruit-

ment of an Infectious Disease (ID) Consultant.

The Emergency Department (ED) supplies emergency services to the immediate Coffs Harbour area and is a referral centre for the district hospitals in the region – it is the

largest trauma centre outside Brisbane and Sydney.

Coffs Harbour Health Campus is the hub of the Coffs Clinical Network which also includes smaller sites of Bellingen Health Campus, Macksville Health Campus and Dorrigo

MPS. It is located within the Mid North Coast Local Health District (MNCLHD).

This centre has a multi-purpose configurable clinical

environment that can be transitioned into any hospital

clinical department eg Ward, Resus, Operating Theatre

etc. This environment is supported by a direct visual

control room and has the potential for up to three pa-

tients. The centre provides full audio and video re-

cording and supported debriefing. iSim also provides a

Centre for Medical Simulation (Harvard) trained de-

briefing support if required.

Coffs Harbour Hospital Expansion

The NSW Government has committed $193 million to the Coffs Harbour Health Campus expansion.

The expansion of Coffs Harbour Health Campus will ensure the demands and needs of a growing popula-

tion within the NSW Mid North Coast area are met. The redevelopment includes the expansion and en-

hancement of existing services including surgical services and operating theatres, a new short stay surgical

unit, an orthopaedic and vascular unit as well as expanded ambulatory, community health services and

emergency services. Redevelopment is underway with a view to completion late 2021.

Term Rotations PGY 1

General Medicine Renal

Cardiology Gastroenterology

Respiratory Geriatric

MAU

General Surgery ENT

Urology Vascular

Plastics Upper GI

Orthopaedics Emergency Medicine

Rehabilitation Medicine

PGY2 General Medicine (as above) Cardiology Medical Oncology General Surgery (as above) Emergency Medicine Psychiatry ICU Anaesthetics O&G Paediatrics Macksville Emergency Macksville General Medicine Nights Evening/Relief Option — Westmead, Or-

ange or Auburn terms

Cardiology

Respiratory medicine

Gastroenterology

Oncology

Radiation Oncology

General Medicine

Rehabilitation Medicine

Geriatrics

Psychiatry

Paediatrics

Obstetrics & Gynaecology

General Surgery

Vascular Surgery

Urology

ENT Surgery

Orthopaedic Surgery

Plastic Surgery

Ophthalmology

Anaesthetics

ICU

Emergency Medicine

The following medical specialties

disciplines are available

Coffs Harbour Health Campus is a five term rotation hospital that is part of Network 13 Prevocation-al Training Network. Interns/RMOs have opportunities in the following Term Rotations:

Emergency Department – A fulltime Director and 12 Staff Specialists run and supervise the Emergency de-partment. Junior medical staff include: Emergency trainees, CMOs, 1 RMOs, 3 Interns and locum medical officers. The department is accredited for 12 months of advanced training with the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. The interns/RMOs work a rotating roster gaining exposure to a wide range of presentations. Under Consultant supervision, they are also responsible for management of the 10 bed EMU.

Department of Medicine & ICU – accredited with RACP, consists of general medicine, cardiology, geriatrics, medical oncology/haematology, paediatrics, rehabilitation and critical care services. There are 5 general medical teams plus cardiology, oncology/haematology, rehabilitation, palliative care and MAU. Each team consists of a Medical Registrar, Intern/RMO and a Consultant. There is a 48 bed medical in-patient ward, 28 bed Rehab ward, (inc 8 bed monitored unit, 4 bed stroke unit, Medical Assessment Unit, CAPACS). The Pal-liative Care Team provide a network service with patients at Coffs Harbour, Bellingen & Macksville hospitals. The Team consists of 1 consultant, 3 registrars and an Intern/RMO. The Team also provide an oncall service for Palliative Care across the Network. The Intensive Care Unit is supported by 7 CMOs/registrars and one RMO. Specialised Cardiac services are provided, including coronary angiography and angioplasty, Stress ECG and Echo and Trans-oesophageal Echo. These services and acute admissions are managed by 3 visiting Cardiologists and 2 registrars in a 10 bed Coronary Care unit.

Department of Surgery - consists of a 48 bed surgical inpatient unit, four operating theatres and an Endos-copy Suite, a recovery room, a day surgery unit. Surgical services include general surgery, orthopaedics, gynaecology, obstetrics, Ears, Nose and Throat (ENT), urology, endocrine, plastics, trauma and vascular sur-gery involving 19 Consultant Surgeons, 4 training registrars who provide hands on supervision to 4 interns/RMOs. A Surgical term consists of general surgical cases related to the allocated team, on elective lists, with some specialty surgery. The VMO General Surgeons participate in an on-call roster providing exposure to acute surgical cases and trauma.

Mental Health Inpatient Unit – is accredited by RANZCP. The unit provides comprehensive inpatient multi-disciplinary mental health treatment for the Coffs Clarence Network . The network service also includes child & adolescent, indigenous and community-based mental health services. The RMO is based in the 30 bed Inpatient Unit which is an acute ward that accepts voluntary and involuntary admissions primarily from within the Coffs Clinical Network. Common procedures such as psychiatric assessments and Mental Health Act presentations are performed by the RMO (with supervision).

Department of Anaesthetics – accredited with ANZCA, the department has 15 consultants and 5 registrars (including an ED/ITU registrar). The Department provides anaesthesia for General Urological, Vascular, Orthopaedic, Trauma, Psychiatry, ENT, Paediatric and Obstetric surgical specialities. The four theatres plus one endoscopy theatre average 9500 cases annually both elective and emergency and there is a 10 bed post-anaesthetic recovery unit. Other services include pre-anaesthetic clinic, adult and paediatric MRI

Paediatric & Obstetric & Gynaecology Departments— The Paediatric Unit (15 bed unit) and Special Care Nursery are serviced by 4 Paediatri-cians, 2 training registrars and an RMO and takes admissions from the Network including 25% of the total admissions through ED. The O&G Unit is a 20 bed facility with four labour wards. There are 3 VMO Consultants, five registrars and an RMO providing Obstetric and Gynaecolo-gy services to the Coffs Clinical Network.

Vocational Training

The career pathway for Rural Preferential Resident Medical Officers in regional and rural NSW is based on the broad experience and generalist exposure over the two years at Coffs Harbour Health Campus. There is dedicated educational activi-ties and close mentoring by a multitude of specialists across a broad spectrum of specialties.

Following the completion of PGY2 there is opportunities for further training in Emergency Medicine, Intensive Care Medicine, Anaesthetics, Radiation Oncology, Palliative Care and CAPACS (or Hospital in the Home). There are also many oppor-tunities for entry into general practice as part of the RACGP, ACCRM and HETI Ru-ral Generalist training programs in the Coffs Harbour area and surrounds.

In addition, there are also options for further training in PGY3 within the hospital service as Career Medical Officers or Registrars across a multitude of specialties which form part of a structured network with metropolitan centres rotating to Coffs Harbour for variable periods.

The UNSW Medical Training Hub received funding from the Dept. of Health to support regional and rural medical trainees in their pursuit of their generalist or specialist training. For more information about this con-tact UNSW Rural Clinical School, Coffs Harbour 02 66520411.

For JMO’s wishing to continue their academia there are teaching opportunities at UNSW Ru-ral Clinical School, located on the Coffs Har-bour Health Campus grounds. The Rural Clini-cal has been open in Coffs Harbour since 2004 and has years 3, 5 and 6 consisting of about 50 students. For more information phone: 66520411.

FAQS FOR JMO’s CONSIDERING CHHC

Is there an RMO Association at CHHC?

There is a very active RMO Association at the hospital. They are constantly advocating for Interns and Residents, to ensure that they get the most out of their time in Coffs Harbour and have a good working life.

Am I likely to be paid overtime? If you follow the correct procedure, you will be paid for overtime. Don’t worry you will be paid for

all your hard work!

Do I have to work nights?

Interns are not required to work nights. Interns

do partake in an afterhours roster—shifts ros-

tered are: 1630 to 2030 Monday to Friday, 0800

to 14300 and 1400 to 2030 on Saturdays and

Sundays. There is also an oncall surgical assist

shift every day seven days per week.

How often am I required to work a weekend shift? The weekends are split between approximately 30 interns/RMOs. The allocation of

weekend shifts is also dependent on which rotation you undertake. However the

roster is fairly divided and workload is evenly spread. On average you can expect to

be rostered approximately 1:7 weekends.

I am really keen to undertake a term at West-

mead in Sydney, is this likely to happen?

CHHC has an excellent relationship with our Network 13

Hospital, Westmead. Interns are given the opportunity

to rotate to Westmead or any of the hospitals contained

in Network 13 (Auburn and Orange) in their second year.

Do you provide other training for JMO’s apart from the HETI program?

In 2018, the UNSW Regional Training Hub sponsored all PGY1’s to com-

plete the Introduction to Procedures in Acute Care (IPAC) course. Other

JMO’s were heavily subsidised through the General Clinical & Training

Committee (GCTC). CHHC has recently been accredited to hold ALS train-

ing which will hopefully commence in 2019. Other courses on offer and

available to Interns and RMOs are FONT, Basic ICU and upon application,

the GCTC can subsidise offsite courses as well.

Other Opportunities? JMO Forum representative, elected by their peers, to sit on an

advisory committee of the NSW Prevocational Training Council

each term. The forum discuss and action issues relevant to prevo-

cational supervision, education and training, accreditation & Wel-

fare.

General Clinical Training Committee—Term Supervisors, DPET,

JMO Manager & JMOs meet each term to discuss local issues.

Coffs Harbour is home to more than 20 National Parks, State Forests and Nature reserves which boast a variety of fauna and flora some of which are unique to the area.

The Solitary Island Marine Park, located offshore from Coffs Harbour, incorporates 71000 hectares of protected habitat. The Marine Park has five islands, several sig-

nificant rocky outcrops, submerged reefs, estuary and beach zones. Dorrigo National Park is only an hour from Coffs Harbour and yet if feels miles away. Visit World Herit-age listed rainforests taking in mag-nificent waterfall walks and scenic barbecue areas. Enjoy the spectacu-lar natural beauty of New England National Park. It's home to World Heritage rainforest, and boasts magnificent views, fantastic walking

trails, with various accommodation options including lovely secluded camping spots.

The area supports commercial and recreational fishing, diving, whale and dolphin watching, research, boating, surfing and beach activities. Secluded beaches and rocky headlands, bushwalking, bike riding and four-wheel driving on the beach or forest tracks are all popular activities.

Jump out of a plane, swim with sharks, go white water rafting or stand up paddle

boarding – surfing, bush and beach walk

Moonee Beach is the perfect destination for relaxing saltwater therapy that doesn’t cost the earth.

Moonee is simply one of the finest beach regions in the country. In 2017 it rated number 3 out of the top 101 beaches in Australia. From the gently flowing tidal creek of various depths and moods, to the quality surf breaks facing the open ocean and the generous picnicking fore- shores along Moonee Creek and in the vicinity of the Green Bluff headland, ac- cessed over a short footbridge. Kang- aroos and koalas, dolphins and sea ea- gles are just part of the wildlife here which is a photographer’s delight. Located 20 mins north of the Mid North Coast capital of Coffs Harbour, Moonee and its diverse nature reserve, attracts a family friendly crowd who enjoy kayaking, snorkelling, surfing, paddling, picnics, diving, nature, wildlife and beach

walks, fishing, exploring.

Things to do in Coffs Harbour

Thinking of getting away for the weekend? There is so much to do in and around Coffs Harbour, from Shopping in quaint seaside

villages like Sawtell, to eclectic country towns, Bellingen, Coramba or Dorrigo. There are vibrant markets and Twilight Food Markets

held weekly down at the newly developed Coffs Jetty Foreshore. For the wine connoisseur you can explore the lovely local wineries

in the area or if you just love great food there is great mix of casual and fine dining in Coffs and surrounding villages to indulge your

taste buds. For more information about what to do in Coffs Harbour check out www.coffscoast.com.au/events-showcase.

Coffs Harbour hosts many fun international festivals held annually. Take in the tastes and culture of the Woolgoolga

Curryfest. If you like hot, Sawtell is host to a colourful Chilli Festival where you can taste cuisine that is chilli packed

from beer, chocolate, tea as well as the usual chilli dishes. Bellingen hosts a Writers Festival, Winter Music Festival

and Fine Music Festival which often attracts international acts. Dorrigo hosts the world famous Folk & Bluegrass Fes-

tival. Coffs Harbour is also host to the last round of the World Rally Championship for the last few years, and will

again in 2018.