Welcoming Sabrina to our forensics team

October 1, 2024 by Liz Farquhar Leave a Comment

University of Western Sydney student and proud Wiradjuri woman Sabrina Cox has begun an internship at our Forensic & Analytical Science Service at Lidcombe, as part of NSW Health Pathology’s initiative to promote career pathways for First Nations Peoples.

This new internship will allow Sabrina to receive hands-on experience in the day-to-day operations of a bustling forensics lab.

Currently in her last semester of a Bachelor of Science degree at UWS, Sabrina has had a lifelong interest in forensic science and its ability to help family members find peace in their darkest moments.

“Growing up I always had an interest in science and I found forensic science to be quite fascinating and intriguing. I wanted to be able to help people and to be part of a system that finds answers and closure,” she said.

Sabrina sees the internship as an excellent opportunity to help shape her career path.

“It is extremely important as it helps set me up for future employment and cement the skills I have learned at uni by giving me real-life experiences.”

NSW Health Pathology is continuing to develop internship programs for First Nations people, as well as people living with a disability, and will be working towards filling 26 new traineeships across regional and metropolitan areas of NSW.

Four women standing in an office, smiling. — FASS intern, Sabrina Cox (second from right) with her new colleagues Amanda Homo, Zi Qin Zhang, and Tamara Kastak.

For Associate Director of Aboriginal Partnerships and Inclusion Kevin Stanley (pictured top), these programs play an important role in attracting diverse talent that reflects the communities that NSW Health Pathology serves.

“NSW Health Pathology is proudly comprised of people from all backgrounds, genders, sexualities, abilities and life experiences. Our rich diversity is what has driven our incredible scientific advances and success as the preferred provider of public pathology and forensic services in New South Wales,” Kevin said.

“We are committed to creating a workforce that reflects the diversity of the NSW communities that we provide critical services to, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, LGBTQIA+ people, people who are culturally and linguistically diverse, and people of all genders, abilities and ages.”

NSW Health Pathology is proud to be providing trainees with valuable work experience across our laboratories and offices around the state – check out their stories here.

Bird flu – experts alert, but not alarmed

September 30, 2024 by Liz Farquhar Leave a Comment

Medical virologist and infectious diseases physician at NSW Health Pathology, Dr Jen Kok, discusses the worldwide bird flu outbreak and what we’re doing to prepare.

Avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, is a viral disease of birds and is found around the world. Some strains have very minor effects on wild birds, while others can cause severe disease. Certain strains can infect mammals including seals, livestock, and occasionally humans.

The most well-known strains of bird flu are H5N1 and H7N9 and both have caused serious infections and deaths in humans.

A variant of H5N1, named clade 2.3.4.4b, causes significant illness and deaths in poultry, wild birds and mammals. It has spread rapidly across all continents except Australia and killed millions of wild birds. Human infections are rare and typically occur after close contact with sick birds and livestock.

The mortality rate of H5N1 in humans is about 50% in the almost 900 cases of people infected worldwide since 2003, but the mortality of the 2.3.4.4b clade is substantially lower.

We asked Dr Jen Kok, Medical Virologist and Director of the Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology – Public Health (CIDM-PH) at the Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research (ICPMR) to explain what is happening and how Australia is preparing.

“Ongoing surveillance to monitor for this variant is critical, particularly in the animal sector,” he said.

“But there is no need for panic. I would say we are alert, but not alarmed.”

Health authorities in Victoria and NSW have this year been working to contain outbreaks of different strains of bird flu on several poultry farms near Melbourne and Sydney.

Earlier this year the NSW Government launched its emergency biosecurity incident plan to manage the outbreaks.

Thousands of chickens have been euthanised and quarantine zones have been set up to restrict the movement of birds and equipment.

“The chickens culled on farms in Victoria have had H7N3 and H7N9 strains of avian influenza, and in NSW it’s the H7N8 strain, not the 2.3.4.4b variant causing concern elsewhere in the world,” Dr Kok said.

“The virus doesn’t typically infect humans, because they don’t have the receptors in their throats, noses or upper respiratory tracts that are susceptible to the current bird flu strain.”

Symptoms can be mild

Dr Kok points out that avian influenza doesn’t always present as just a respiratory illness.

“In overseas cases, one of the symptoms reported was conjunctivitis, which is a feature that we see with low pathogen avian influenza viruses.

“Some infected people just get red eyes and nothing else, some of them just have very mild symptoms.

“The under-recognition of mild symptoms may be skewing the high mortality rates that are reported. The mortality rate may be even lower because we don’t recognise as many mild cases or asymptomatic cases.”

Are we prepared for avian flu?

Dr Kok said Australia is well prepared for bird flu.

“This is not like COVID, it’s not a new virus. We know how it behaves and we know how to respond,” he said.

“NSW is prepared for diagnostic testing. The laboratory responses, the clinical responses, these are all essentially ready to go. As soon as the switch is flicked, all these plans should kick into place.”

He said in addition to monitoring animals, surveillance has also been ramped up to identify patients who are unwell with influenza.

“Those who are critically ill, those who’ve returned from overseas, those who have had contact with birds or sick animals, they’re at potentially increased risk of having avian flu,” Dr Kok said.

“So, if they have influenza A diagnosed, then they should have those viruses subtyped quickly to be able to say whether they have H5N1.

“Here at NSW Health Pathology in Westmead, we have the capacity to subtype viruses quickly, and we’re one of three World Health Organization (WHO) National Influenza Centres in the country able to do this work, the others are in Perth and Melbourne.”

Taking on the challenge of managing an outback laboratory

September 25, 2024 by Liz Farquhar Leave a Comment

Sunita Goundar says her decision to move from Sydney to Walgett in northern NSW was about giving back to the community but has also changed her life for the better.

Sunita took up the role of Laboratory Manager at Walgett in September 2023.

“I’d been working in pathology in Sydney for almost 20 years, the last 14 with NSW Health Pathology,” Sunita explains.

“I’m from Fiji originally and when you come to a country like Australia to study and work, it gives you so many privileges, and you just want to give back because Australia has given me so much.”

Sunita loves exploring regional and rural Australia. A few years ago, on a trip to regional Queensland, she got talking to some locals about how hard it was to access healthcare and realised she wanted to help.

“I actually felt that I could do something, this was something I could do to help smaller communities.”

Does she miss living in a city the size of Sydney, where she has a network of friends and family?

“Not at all! Walgett is a beautiful place, the people are very friendly. I have colleagues who arrive every morning at 6am and we all go for a morning walk together. Everyone here is like a family, not like colleagues,” Sunita says.

“I make friends very quickly, and unlike Sydney where you don’t even know your neighbours, here, everyone knows everyone. My health has also improved. I have asthma and the air here is just so much cleaner and fresher than Sydney.

“Of course it’s very different to Sydney, but I was very clear in my thinking that I am here for a purpose, and I am happy to be here.”

Two men and a woman in a laboratory. — Sunita with her colleagues, Chavan Golukoruppuge and Mosisa Yusuf in the lab.

Sunita admits she was afraid of one thing moving to regional NSW – snakes.

“In my first couple of months I saw a couple of eastern brown snakes. But you know what? I’m not scared anymore because if you leave them alone they don’t actually harm you.”

Sunita says she was lucky to get accommodation near the hospital, as Walgett is no different to other regional areas where rental housing is in short supply.

“I’m only one minute away from work – a very short commute! We have a gym here as well, so I have everything I need close by.”

Sunita says the Walgett laboratory has a range of services and the work is challenging.

“We’ve got a biochemistry department, a haematology department, we also do blood transfusion and recently we’ve been dealing with more complicated cases for the blood bank.

“If there is an MTP (Massive Transfusion Protocol) we are here dispensing bloods, not just locally, but also for surrounding areas.

“We have a collection centre at Lightning Ridge and we also serve Collarenabri District Hospital, the AMS (Aboriginal Medical Service) and we are also helping Brewarrina with lab testing.”

Sunita says NSW Health Pathology has provided a great network of mentors and supportive managers since she arrived in Walgett.

“In six months, I never expected to grow so much and I should give credit to Ben Alchin (Senior Operations Manager for Western NSW and Far West) for linking me with so many great people in the organisation who have helped me.”

A group of people smiling with arms around each other. — The Walgett lab team: Chavan Golukoruppuge, Ben Alchin (Senior Operations Manager), Yen Holland, Sunita Goundar, Marla Gould.

Sunita’s advice to someone considering a tree change?

“They shouldn’t overthink it – just take the leap! Walgett is a long way from Sydney, but I do not regret one day that I made this decision. I am very grateful to be working here, because I love it here.”

Incentives to move to regional NSW

Hannah Beveridge is NSW Health Pathology’s Regional Talent Acquisition Specialist and says she loves hearing about staff who have had a successful career change into the regions.

“Sunita was able to take advantage of NSW Health’s Rural Health Workforce Incentive Scheme (RWIS) which offers financial bonuses for health staff and new employees taking up jobs in regional parts of the state,” Hannah said.

“It’s designed to attract and retain staff to regional, rural and remote NSW. Our ‘hard to fill’ positions and ‘critical vacancies’ across these locations are incentivised via a fortnightly allowance, which is worth between $10,000 and $5,000 per annum depending on the location, pro-rata for part timers.”

A man and a woman holding eskies standing in front of a NSW Health Pathology-badged car. — Mosisa Yusuf and his NSWHP colleague from Bourke, Jennifer Bolton, at Walgett.

Hannah says one of the biggest challenges in attracting new employees to rural and regional areas is the perception that you need to live and work in a bigger metro area to grow and further your career.

“Sunita’s story is exactly what it’s all about! Her passion to help her community ignites excitement and inspires others.

“Career growth, health improvements as well as the impacts she is having to the Walgett community, is a success for everyone. Keeping our regional workforce healthy means our communities have access to local healthcare and timely results.”

Interested in a job in rural or regional NSW?

Find your next career move and all our eligible RWIS positions here!

Training to be part of the ‘SAS of the medical world’

September 11, 2024 by Liz Farquhar Leave a Comment

This year four NSW Health Pathology staff were selected to undergo training with AUSMAT, the Australian Medical Assistance Team, preparing them to be deployed to disasters or health responses at short notice.

In August 2023, the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre (NCCTRC) sent out an expression of interest seeking medical science professionals for recruitment into the Australian Medical Assistance Team (AUSMAT) volunteer database for future AUSMAT deployment opportunities and activities.

Over 40 applications from NSW Health Pathology staff were received – with four selected to undertake the rigorous training required in the 2024 courses.

Philip Dupal a Hospital Scientist at our Maitland laboratory, Luke Ryan a Hospital Scientist based at our Bathurst laboratory, Claudia Alvarez Chavarriaga from the Transfusion team at Randwick and Infectious Diseases physician at Sutherland Hospital Dr Ben Knippenberg all recently completed the training at the NCCTRC in Darwin.

A man and a woman stand inside a large industrial shed smiling. — Luke Ryan at the training course with Leanne Jones, who heads up the pathology lab for AUSMAT.

What is AUSMAT?

The Australian Medical Assistance Team is a World Health Organization-accredited Emergency Medical Team managed by NCCTRC for the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. AUSMAT leads the way in civilian medical team preparedness and response to sudden onset disaster, medical or humanitarian emergency, domestic or international.

It’s made up of medical professionals, including physicians, registered nurses, allied health and paramedics, and non-medical members such as logisticians.

While initial responses concentrated on international events and disasters, more recently the focus has shifted to public health emergencies, such as the measles epidemic in Samoa (October 2019-January 2020), as well as to domestic deployments including the catastrophic bush fires in Victoria and New South Wales in January 2020, and Australia’s COVID-19 response.

A group of people setting up a field tent. — Setting up a field tent.

What does AUSMAT training involve?

The training course involves a comprehensive six-week online course plus a one week face-to-face residency held in Darwin at the NCCTRC’s newly renovated training facility.

The standardised national training brings together trainers from a mix of professions and jurisdictions to deliver the course.

Course content includes:
• Survival in austere environments
• Equipment familiarisation/management
• Hostile negotiation
• Trip planning
• Cultural awareness
• Medical management of multi casualties in the field
• Humanitarian operations
• Crowd management
• Water purification

Luke Ryan says the course has been developed to expose participants to a range of essential techniques and survival skills needed for successful management in the field during a health emergency.

“It’s particularly focused on testing the participants’ capacity to survive in difficult and hostile environments as a valued team member,” he explained.

“It involves both classroom and practical exercises including an overnight field deployment.”

Claudia Alvarez Chavarriaga described the training as tough but life-changing.

A woman in a uniform and hat in a forested area. — Claudia Alvarez Chavarriaga from our Randwick Transfusion team during the AUSMAT training session.

“Physically and mentally, it was a lot to take on board,” she said.

“Unlike other deployment organisations, AUSMAT required us to undergo practical simulations as though we had been deployed to a real mass casualty event.

“We had to deal with and improvise as though we were under heat stress and in hard-to-access locations. But it was immensely rewarding!”

Philip Dupal said it was a privilege to have been invited to attend the pre-deployment training.

“It was a fantastic opportunity to work with a diverse group of professionals and develop new skills together,” he said.

“I look forward to using these new skills and working with the AUSMAT team in the future if I am required to respond to a crisis.”

Two men in blue shirts with AUSMAT logos, looking tired and dirty. — Luke Ryan and Phil Dupal at the AUSMAT training course.

NSW Health Pathology’s Emergency/Disaster Manager Scott Pearce said the organisation was excited to be boosting the number of its staff involved with AUSMAT.

“We currently have two trained and deployable medical staff listed in the AUSMAT database, and we are proud to have another four staff in training,” he said.

“The training is about making sure they are prepared for whatever situation they may find themselves in, whether that is a disaster situation here in Australia or overseas.

“They need to be able to deploy rapidly, with the assistance of the Australian Defence Force, and can be self-sufficient once they reach a disaster zone.

“It’s all about helping people and communities affected by disasters in desperate need of medical assistance.”

Built-in robots a key feature of new system at Liverpool Laboratory

September 5, 2024 by Kristy Waddell Leave a Comment

NSW Health Pathology’s Liverpool laboratory is getting a major upgrade with the arrival of the brand new state-of-the-art laboratory automation system.

A brand new pathology department at Liverpool Hospital is nearing completion as part of the Liverpool Health and Academic Precinct – a $790 million redevelopment of Liverpool Hospital and a new education and research hub.

Dr Michael Maley, Local Pathology Director – South Western Sydney said this was a fantastic milestone worth celebrating.

“Our microbiology team are excited to work in the new laboratory – it’s been many years in the planning, and they look forward to implementing new workflows as we configure and optimise the automation instruments.

We hope to combine the benefits of automation with the benefits of Fusion, which will deliver our statewide laboratory information system. All of these exciting developments will improve patient outcomes, drive efficiency, and deliver greater satisfaction for our hard-working laboratory staff”, Dr Maley said.

NSW Health Pathology’s Senior Operations Manager South Western Sydney, Parth Nanavati said the integrated multidisciplinary laboratory has been built to meet the community’s needs using next-generation automation and robotic technology.

An image of a blue and white lab machine — The high-tech laboratory automation system installed at the new Liverpool pathology laboratory.

“The world-class laboratory operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is crucial to detecting, diagnosing, treating disease and managing long-term health conditions,” Parth said.

“The new NSW Health Pathology lab at Liverpool Hospital will service a growing population in South Western Sydney, so it needs equipment that can deliver high-quality results for patients and meet increased volumes of microbiology diagnostic testing.”

Liverpool Microbiology is an extremely busy department and the volume of testing is rising. In the financial year 2018/19, the microbiology team processed 203,181 samples and during 2023/24 that increased to 283,203 samples.

“With growing demands on microbiology services, there is a tremendous need for innovative solutions to deliver timely and accurate results for a range of infectious diseases,” Parth said.

The new system fully automates bacterial culture investigation into patient specimens, working to transform laboratory operations and minimising time between loading the sample and incubation of cultures.

“It allows pathologists, scientists and technical officers to work seamlessly through automated workflows from plate labelling to inoculation, incubation, imaging, culture reading and results reporting,” Parth said.

Two men standing in a high-tech laboratory. — Dr Michael Maley and Parth Nanavati in the lab.

It has a robotic track system which allows plates to travel through the system at a faster rate and acquires up to 22 images of each plate with a high resolution 25-megapixel camera for advanced image quality. This provides detail not visible to the human eye.

These enhancements will allow efficient and improved workflows and enable scientific and technical staff to perform other tasks, such as in-depth result review, technical data analysis, quality control monitoring, troubleshooting and the ability to remotely read cultures.

The importance of having state-of-the-art lab infrastructure was evident throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and is a key enabler for the health system’s readiness and preparedness to respond to future pandemics.

The team is setting its sights on an environmentally sustainable future, by investing in technologies that reduce energy consumption and emissions and contribute to NSW Heath getting to net zero.

“The new lab automation system will help us achieve this green vision because it has a smaller footprint, uses less power through energy efficient practices. With fewer moving parts, we are using less electricity and have a more efficient transportation of the plates around the system.

“Pathology is an essential support service for the Liverpool Hospital and the upgrade of pathology services is coming at a crucial time for the hospital. NSW Health Pathology is proud to be embracing new technologies and setting the benchmark in patient care for South Western Sydney communities, and the people of NSW,” Parth said.

End of an era – Dr Stephen Braye steps down after four decades of service

September 5, 2024 by Kristy Waddell Leave a Comment

NSW Health Pathology’s Chief Medical Information Officer is retiring, leaving behind a remarkable legacy of leadership.

NSW Health Pathology’s Chief Executive Vanessa Janissen thanked Dr Braye for his years of service.

“It’s with mixed emotions of gratitude and sadness that we farewell Stephen Braye,” she said.

“He has played a pivotal role in NSW Health and NSW Health Pathology, helping to shape clinical services and digital initiatives.”

Stephen’s career has seen him work across many of NSW Health Pathology’s major laboratories, including:

Prince Henry and Prince of Wales where he commenced his training as a Registrar in Anatomical Pathology and subsequently as Senior Lecturer/Accredited Specialist in Anatomical Pathology for UNSW
ICPMR Westmead where in 1988 he was appointed as Staff Specialist/Lecturer in Anatomical Pathology
John Hunter from 1990 joining the Anatomical Pathology Department and the University of Newcastle Medical School as a Senior Lecturer, a post he held to 2017.

Stephen has maintained a passionate interest in Cytology throughout his career, including supporting and developing the Department of Cytology at the John Hunter Laboratory.

His areas of special interest encompassed head and neck, thyroid and breast cytology. His expertise in breast cytology led to his appointment as the Accredited Designated Pathologist for Breast Screen NSW, Newcastle during the years 2000 – 2017.

He has held many roles in the Hunter area, including Senior Staff Specialist, Director of Anatomical Pathology, Assistant Director and, in 2011, he was appointed as Network Director of Pathology North. In this capacity Stephen was a foundational executive in the formation of NSW Health Pathology in 2012. He was later appointed the organisation’s Executive Director of Clinical Services and then took on the role of Chief Medical Information Officer and Director of Statewide Clinical Services.

From January 2020, Stephen also led our COVID-19 response as Incident Management Controller providing guidance to NSW Health Pathology and the Ministry of Health.

Stephen says he considers the work done during the early days of the pandemic to be some of the most rewarding of his career.

“You’d like to say it was painful and miserable, and debilitating, but it was none of those things, it was actually very, very exciting,” he said.

“As a team we were engaged and cooperative – it was truly energising. One of the best experiences of my working life was working with a team so incredibly focused on delivering real, tangible and visible outcomes for the community.

“I think I would have been absolutely miserable if I’d retired five years earlier and missed the opportunity of being engaged in NSW Health Pathology’s response to COVID-19.”

A man smiling in front of a pink background. — Stephen Braye led NSW Health Pathology’s COVID pandemic response and says it was some of the most rewarding work of his career.

Ms Janissen acknowledged Stephen’s generosity and commitment to supporting other staff at NSW health Pathology, through staff development workshops, planning days, organisational leadership, and sponsoring many valuable educational opportunities.

“I would like to thank Stephen for his exceptional service, professionalism and dedication to NSW Health Pathology. We wish him all the best as he steps into what is sure to be a busy and fulfilling retirement.”

Stephen will be featured on the official NSW Health Pathology podcast, Pathology Speaking, in the special COVID episode. You can check out the podcast page on our website so you don’t miss an episode. It’s also available here on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.