Palliative care specialist for Hunter New England Health

BY JARROD MELMETH

The Hunter New England Health District is one of nine rural and regional areas in New South Wales which will soon have new palliative care specialists.

Although the location of the new specialist is not yet determined Parliamentary Secretary for Regional and Rural Health Leslie Williams says there is at least one specialist coming to the region.

"Those decisions about where they will specifically go is up to the local health district themselves. We will be able to make announcements once those positions are both advertised and then filled.

"This announcement is great news for rural and regional communities. Palliative care specialists obviously play a very key role when it comes to end of life care for patients and for families," Ms Williams said.

The increase in services was announced as part of the NSW Budget earlier this year, and now NSW Minister for Health Brad Hazzard says the government is delivering on its commitment.

"Providing first-class palliative care in every part of the state is a key priority for the Government and this investment will significantly strengthen the palliative care workforce, particularly in regional and rural areas," Mr Hazzard said.

Healthier Communities one Food Outlet at a Time...

BY JESSICA ROUSE AND DANIELLE RIES

We all know we should be eating healthy and using healthy ingredients.

You may not have even noticed but Cessnock City Council has been leading the way when it comes to using healthy oils at food outlets.

The Healthier Oils Program was launched back in 2011 in a bid to reduce community exposure to saturated and trans fats by encouraging food outlets to make the switch to healthier options.

It's certainly proven successful - when the program first started, only 17 per cent of local food outlets were using healthy oils and now statistics show 67 per cent of businesses are now taking part.

Heart Foundation Regional Health Promotion Coordinator Penny Milson is particularly pleased with the results.

"Cessnock Council has been monitoring what oils are being used by local food outlets. When we commenced this journey in 2011 only 17 per cent of outlets were using healthier oil. The data that we have now tells us that 67 per cent, so almost 7 in 10 food outlets are now using a cooking oil which meets Heart Foundation guidelines," said Penny.

The program was made possible by a partnership between council, the Heart Foundation, Coalfields Healthy Heartbeat (Samaritans) and local food businesses.

Penny believes that without the help of local food businesses and their expertise along the way to program would never have been as successful as it is.

She adds that knowing what fats are good and bad makes a huge difference as well.

'This program is targeting fats and oils because we know that the type of fat is important. Saturated fats, in particular, do raise our LDL or bad cholesterol and there are other fats that are good for our heart health such as poly and monounsaturated fats that you find in healthier fats like canola oil."