In this issue

• Clinical leaders in regional medicine come together in Ballarat

• Palliative care staff receive vital support and professional development

• Supporting healthcare change through communication

• May masterclass sold out - July dates announced!

Clinical leaders in regional medicine come together in Ballarat

The Western Victoria Regional Training Hub supports medical training and careers across the regional communities of Western Victoria. We are privileged to be working with the WVRTH to support a group of clinical leaders in regional medicine. Last week our program started in Ballarat with an intensive in-person workshop, refining advanced communication skills for leadership with the guidance of a specially trained simulated patient. This will be followed by five group coaching sessions with Healthcare Communication Collective Director, Meg Chiswell, to support the cycle of implementation, reflection, feedback and refinement.

“This is a course anyone involved in patient care and learner supervision should consider. It provides opportunity to explore structures to improve one’s own communication skills regardless of their level of experience and will enhance formal and opportunistic feedback skills to any learners they may work with. A terrific course!“

“Wonderful to learn communication “power skills” and how to improve my teaching and feedback”  

Vital support and professional development for palliative care staff

In February we continued our long-standing partnership with the North and West Metropolitan Region Palliative Care Consortium to deliver much-needed training for palliative care staff across the metro region. The first of three sessions, this day focused on communicating patient deterioration with compassion, both in-person and over the phone.

“All healthcare professionals would benefit from this workshop. There is always room for reminders of the necessity of silence and emotional validation in difficult conversations.”

“This needs to be mandatory for everyone. It is much more useful compared to other trainings I’ve had.”

Thank you to our fabulous Collective collaborator, James Watt, for expertly co-facilitating the training.

Supporting healthcare change through communication

The Healthcare Communication Collective partners with researchers and organisations to drive meaningful change. We provide expert education and coaching to upskill teams, ensuring effective implementation of new models of care. A current example is our work with the Austin Health, Olivia Newton John Centre EPiC Haem – Standardised Early Referral to Palliative Care project. By working with the project team to strengthen workforce communication skills, this work supports the seamless integration of early palliative care referrals into haematology settings. Our tailored training empowers clinicians to navigate complex conversations with confidence, fostering better patient outcomes. Contact us to explore how we can support your research or organisational change initiative.

Published Article: Willingness to pay for exercise oncology services: a mixed methods study

Our latest contribution to research can be found in Supportive Care in Cancer, published 8 January 2025. Willingness to pay for exercise oncology services: a mixed methods study evaluates cancer patients’ willingness to pay for exercise services and oncology health professionals’ perception of patients’ willingness to pay. Read the paper in full:

Willingness to pay for exercise oncology services: a mixed methods study
Supportive Care in Cancer
Volume 33, article number 77, (2025)
Prue Cormie, Ashleigh Bradford, Christopher M. Doran, Boyd A. Potts, Peter Martin, Meg Chiswell & Mei Krishnasamy

We would like to extend our thanks to Associate Professor Prue Cormie for inviting Meg to contribute to this important study.