Clarence Valley Regional Training Hub

Mission

CVRTH’s mission is to increase and establish connections between local health care providers, LHD and training consortiums to offer high level medical education and support for all Rural Medical Practitioners.

Vision 

CVRTH’s vision is to provide a Medical Education Framework to create postgraduate End-to-End Specialty Training in the Clarence Valley, so a rural lifestyle can be maintained while training. We have already established this for GP/RG training in our region.

The priorities for the CVRTH as set out by the Commonwealth Department of Health are to:

• Identify medical students with an interest in practicing rurally;
• Develop and enhance existing post graduate (medical) regional training capacity;
• Provide a central network for coordination of all existing medical training activities in the region;
• Develop new and strengthen existing connections; and
• Continue to monitor population health and workforce need.

Our tasks are to:

• Support the Clarence Health Service to gain accreditation for training of young doctors at Grafton and Maclean Hospitals from NSW Health Education and Training Institute (HETI) and support the rotation of junior doctors from outside the region.
• Support the accreditation of Clarence general practices to train GPs and the accreditation of advanced training positions for GPs in Grafton and Maclean Hospitals.
• Mentor and support medical students and young doctors who express an interest in regional and rural practice.
• Support the development of a medical workforce plan for Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSWLHD.

Dr Annemarie Winters (She/Her)
Academic Leader Regional Training
Mobile: 0424 934 023
Email: annemarie_winters@uow.edu.au 

Joanne Chad
Program Coordinator 
Mobile: 0435 265 938
Email: joanne_chad@uow.edu.au 

Clarence Valley

Clarence Valley history and culture

Grafton is a beautiful city of tree lined streets and graceful early colonial building featuring Victorian and Edwardian architecture on the banks of the mighty Clarence River. Grafton was declared a city in 1885 and many of the buildings are classified by the National Trust including the notorious Grafton Gaol and Christ Church Cathedral.

Maclean is a delightful town on the banks of the beautiful Clarence. Maclean celebrates its Scottish heritage with the Maclean Tartan poles. The charming town centre has lovely boutiques and cafes and restaurants serving fresh local produce.

Yamba enjoys all the enticing qualities of a coastal resort town at the mouth of the Clarence River, with world class beaches and charming cafes, it enjoys mild winters and long summers. Discover Yamba's heritage by retracing explorer Mathews Flinders steps on guided historical Yamba walks.

Location and natures wonders

Just 3 hours south of the Gold Coast, 1 hour north of Coffs Harbour and 2 hours south of Byron Bay, it is not far from anywhere. From Grafton to any beach on our coast is only a 45 minute drive. Or if you want a taste of the cold climate head up the range to Glen Innes Tenterfield and Armidale. Explore the Clarence ‘s amazing range of natural attractions such as Yuraygir National Park near Yamba, Solitary Island Marine Park, Wooli and kayak tours on the Clarence River. Or visit Iluka Bluff and watch the migrating whales.and Angophora Grove walking track Wooli. We have something for everyone.

Transport

• Trains: the Country Link XPT travels from Brisbane to Sydney and stops at Grafton
• Planes: Airports located at Coffs Harbour and Ballina
• Buses: Greyhound, Countrylink and other lines service the region.
• Taxi: Available in most towns.
• Car: Grafton is 610 km (6hr 45 min) north of Sydney and 241 km (3 hrs) south of Gold Coast

Local services

Grafton, Maclean and Yamba have major banks, sporting facilities including swimming pools, gyms, hockey fields, tennis, rugby union, rugby league, AFL, soccer, velodrome, water sports and even boot camps as well as a huge variety of indoor sports. All major churches are represented in the Clarence Valley. There are 19 primary schools and 7 high schools in the area.

About the region

Just 3 hours down the road from the Gold Coast, 2 hours from beautiful Byron Bay and 1 hour from Coffs Harbour, the Clarence Valley is fast becoming a relocation destination

Big River - Big Country

Whether you’re a surfer, a bushwalker, a rower, a gourmet foodie or a gardener – the Clarence Valley has it all.

Grafton, Maclean and Yamba are part of a commercial and professional hub in Northern NSW, one of the state’s most dynamic and fastest growing regions. The Clarence Valley has a well-established health care infrastructure and a strong and efficient network of community services that can support your training needs.

Become a part of our team – be here for our case presentations, join our Grand Rounds, discuss patient care with our specialists, students, nursing and allied health teams. Be part of a holistic approach to patient-centred care.

The Clarence Valley Regional Training Hub will be able to support your GP training and GP advanced procedural/special skills training in a well-supported environment.

Join us in the Clarence Valley, and we will give you the variety and flexibility in teaching that only a rural setting can.

• One stop web site for vocational training information: Regional Medical Training – Medical Training Opportunities
• Map my Health Career: Junior medical officer - Explore specialties (nsw.gov.au)
• Health Education and Training - HETI: NSW Rural Generalist Training Coordination Unit (RGTCU)
• Home of rural generalism: Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM)
• The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP)

Grafton Base Hospital

Grafton Base Hospital provides a wide range of accessible services to clients of the Clarence Valley, which has around 55,000 residents. Grafton is a level 4 base hospital providing care to over 13,000 patients every year. 4,277 surgical procedures and over 26,170 emergency attendances annually. 

The GBH  inpatient specialties are medicine, general surgery, orthopedics. paediatrics, O & G, rehabilitation, anaesthetics and ICU.

Day patient services are oncology, dialysis  and day surgery ( including child dental list).

Out patient services include mental health, alcohol and other drugs, sexual health, physiotherapy, diabetes, occupational therapy, speech pathology, rehabilitation and clinics as for inpatient services

Maternity services see an average of 400 deliveries annually.

Paediatric inpatient is level 4 facility providing care for all acute presentations and level 3 surgical and orthopedic presentations. Special care nursery provided level 3 care, GBH Emergency department is a level 4

Allied Health support for Speech, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Child & Family Health, Child Protection counseling , sexual abuse and child protection counselors are available both through GBH and MDH hospitals

Medical Imaging department provides state of the art digital xrays, USS and a 64 slice CT scanner, private nuclear medicine facilities are available locally.

Ambulatory care for children up to 16 years is available locally and through outreach services at Grafton, Macelan, Yamba and AMS Grafton. In total about 5-6  full clinics each week

Maclean District Hospital 

Maclean District Hospital Level 3 rural hospital providing care to over 1,235 patients every year and sees 14,936 emergency attendances in a busy tourism area.

Services include mental health, Aboriginal health, audiometry, child and family health, aged care, community nursing, pharmacotherapy clinic, diabetes educating, domestic violence, child protection, Drug and alcohol, nutrition and dietetics, occupational therapy, oral health, palliative care, cardiac rehabilitation, sexual assault, physiotherapy, social work, speech therapy, podiatry, health promotion, immunisation clinics, child and women’s health.

Community health clinics include

• Grafton Community Health
• Maclean Community Health Centre, Union Street, Maclean
• Yamba Community Health, Treelands Drive, Yamba
• Evans Head Community Health, Woodburn Street, Evans Head
• Aruma Dental Unit, Queen Street, Grafton
• Clarence Valley Mental Health Unit, Queen Street, Grafton
• Headspace Grafton, Duke Street, Grafton

There are approximately 19 general practices in the Clarence Valley region and approximately 58 general practitioners, as well as an Aboriginal Medical Services, Bulgarr Ngaru- AMS, Bacon Street, Grafton.

Specialties are covered by both locally based and visiting specialists.