Message from the chief executive Adjunct Professor Anthony M. Schembri AM
Dear colleagues, I was honoured to join staff and guests at our first Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Employee Network Summit, which was an inspiring day to connect, learn, and celebrate the contributions of staff from diverse backgrounds. Going forward, I look forward to our district building on this momentum of this summit and the work of our CALD Employee Network to ensure every staff member feels a strong sense of belonging and every patient experiences care that is respectful and culturally responsive. I was also proud to attend the LGBTIQ+ Health Symposium, where community voices, experts, and healthcare professionals came together to explore how we can improve healthcare for LGBTIQ+ people and support dignity in ageing. It was inspiring to hear directly from LGBTIQ+ elders, whose courage and resilience paved the way for the progress we see today, and I thank them for sharing their lived experiences with such openness and honesty. Celebrations and award ceremonies have been in full swing across the district this week for Allied Health Professions Day. As a proud social worker, I hope my allied health colleagues took some time to acknowledge your efforts this week and reflect on the significant impact you make to our patients, their carers and our health service. We also celebrated National Carers Week this week, which was a great opportunity for us to celebrate the more than 130,000 unpaid carers across northern Sydney.
Carers provide vital support to people in our hospitals, who are living with disability, serious illness, or frail-aged needs, helping them communicate, make decisions, and recover well at home. As a sign of gratitude from our patients and staff, our district thoughtfully stitched over 500 felt pocket hearts as gifts for our carers and I’ve enjoyed seeing all the photos of these throughout the week. We recently welcomed representatives from the Hoc Mãi Australia–Vietnam Foundation and the Australasia Social Impact Foundation for the signing of a new Memorandum of Agreement between the two organisations at Royal North Shore Hospital. Hoc Mãi is a not-for-profit foundation sponsored by NSLHD dedicated to strengthening healthcare in Vietnam through educational partnerships with Australia. The foundation works closely with hospitals across Sydney, including those within NSLHD. I look forward to seeing this partnership grow and help further develop the knowledge and skills of Vietnamese doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers, supporting improved healthcare delivery for communities in Vietnam.
Warm regards, Adjunct Professor Anthony M. Schembri AM Chief Executive Northern Sydney Local Health District
NSLHD NEWS | ISSUE 19| 17 OCTOBER 2025
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