June Update is Here!
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Member Update
June 2025
A Friendly Reminder for Our Amazing PHPN Community
Most PHPN events are FREE to attend and include catering, with dietary requirements carefully considered.
We’re proud to be able to offer these opportunities to support Pilbara health professionals, but we need your help to keep it going!
🙏 If you’ve registered and can’t attend, please let us know as early as possible.
No-shows make it tough to plan and can lead to wasted resources.
Let’s keep supporting each other to continue providing meaningful, well-run events for our Pilbara health community.
Thanks for being part of PHPN!
UPCOMING PHPN EVENTS
Wednesday 18 June 2025 | 8.00am-2.30pm | Karratha
Paediatric Event: Introduction to Fussy Eating for Therapists
Presented by: Lauren Pike, Head of Feeding, Occupational Therapist - Western Kids Health
This workshop is designed as an introductory course for feeding therapists (occupational therapists, speech pathologists and dietitans) working with children aged 18 months to 8 years. It will equip participants with foundational knowledge and practical tools to confidently assess and manage fussy eating within their caseloads, while also identifying when to seek support from other professionals.
Participants will learn to take a holistic approach, considering the child’s developmental, sensory and environmental contexts, and gain clarity on the role of a feeding therapist in a multidisciplinary team. The goals of the workshop are to equip therapists to comprehensively support the mealtime routine and feeding therapy intervention, and to screen for challenges in growth/other dietetic concerns, oral motor delay and medical complications resulting in restricted eating.
Cost $50.00
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2025 Early Career Health Summit | Mackerel Islands, Onslow | 26-29 June
Join us for a unique island experience!
ABOUT THE EVENT
- Participants will learn about the management of medical emergencies in a remote environment
- Attendees will develop practical skills such as teamwork, leadership and dealing with stress
- Participants will have the opportunity to network with Pilbara-based colleagues in a beautiful setting
The days will be a mix of educational components and relaxation. Enjoy snorkelling, swimming and fishing whilst learning how to deal with emergency situations, and developing your practical skills and professional abilities. At night, socialise with dinner under the stars with fellow participants. This is an opportunity to have an ‘off the beaten track’ experience which is not to be missed.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Early career health professionals who live and work in the Pilbara, are under 30 years old or have fewer than five years of clinical experience are invited to attend the event.
REGISTRATION COSTS – $350.00 PER PERSON
– Registration fee (includes education program – facilitation and upskilling)
– Three nights accommodation (twin share rooms in chalet)
– All meals – three breakfasts, two lunches and three dinners
– Snacks during scenario stations
– Return ferry transfers
– Event materials
Please note: Participants will be required to make their own way to Onslow
CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER
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Friday 27 June | 8.00am-2.30pm | Karratha
Paediatric Event: Toe walking - is it truly idiopathic?
Presented by: Alyse Kendall, Lead Physiotherapist – Western Kids Health.
This workshop will help you consider the whole child when it comes to assessments and provide you more certainty as to the approach for intervention. It will provide a basic understanding on the considerations for serial casting and turtle bracing, as well as a practical introduction to these casting methods.
Learning objectives:
- Understanding the anatomy and pathophysiology contributing to toe walking
- Understand the elements and considerations for a holistic assessment of Toe walking
- Know when physiotherapy intervention is needed versus when involving other team members or referring on is necessary
- Considerations for intervention options, escalation of intervention - working up the scale
- Basic introduction to turtle brace, serial casting and carbon fibre footplate interventions, including practical opportunities
Cost $50.00
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Friday 1 August 2025 | 7.15am – 8.15am | Karratha and ONLINE!
Join us for an important and insightful session exploring the realities of distress and the vital role mental health and wellbeing play in the lives of health professionals.
Presented by the Regional Men’s Health Initiative, this event will shine a light on the unique pressures faced by those working in healthcare and offer practical strategies for recognising distress in ourselves, our colleagues and our communities. Let’s break the stigma, strengthen our support networks and prioritise mental wellbeing in the workplace and beyond.
All health professionals welcome — your wellbeing matters too!
Not in Karratha to attend in person? NO PROBLEM!
Online attendance is available. The link will be shared with registered participants a few days prior to the event.
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Friday 15 August 2025 | 8.00am – 3.00pm | Karratha
Join us for a full-day, hands-on workshop with leading experts in wound care from Royal Perth Hospital.
Topics include:
- Wound healing and assessment
- Acute vs chronic wound infections
- Biofilm-based wound management
- Wound hygiene and dressing selection
- Traumatic wounds and plastic surgery considerations
- Leg ulcers and high-risk foot management
- Future trends in wound care
- Practical sessions: Debridement and Topical Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy
- Compression bandaging demonstration
Cost: PHPN members – $70 | Non-members – $90
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Wedneday 20 August 2025 | 5.30pm – 7.30pm | Newman
Join the Pilbara Health Professionals Network (PHPN) for a relaxed evening to reconnect with fellow health professionals, catch up with colleagues, meet new faces and unwind together at Mia Mia House in the Desert.
We look forward to seeing you there!
LATEST HEALTH NEWS
Tailored Social Work Support with Kerry Morrison from
Empowerment 2 Be
Friday 6 to Thursday 12 June | Karratha
Kerry Morrison, an Aboriginal Social Worker with both lived and professional experience, will be in Karratha from 6–12 June, offering a limited number of sessions across the education, disability, youth and community service sectors.
Available support include:
- Transition planning for young people with disability or neurodivergence
- One-on-one post-school pathway sessions (NDIS self- and plan-managed participants welcome)
- NDIS navigation and personalised support
- Professional supervision (individual or group sessions)
- Short workshops + Q&A for schools and community organisations
Send Kerry an email to book or arrange something tailored to your needs kerry.morrison@empowerment2be.com.au
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Multidisciplinary mental health care for adults with a recent ADHD diagnosis
Thursday 12 June 2025, 5.00pm-6.15pm | Webinar
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Advancing Multidisciplinary Team Care in General Practice
Tuesday 17 June 2025, 12.00pm-1.00pm | Webinar Series
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Regional Development Australia and Ageing Australia host an Aged Care Workforce Strategy Summit
Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 June 2025 | Karratha
About the summit:
- No cost to attend
- Discuss everything relating to Aged Care
- How best to deliver services to the Pilbara
- Roadmap for the future
To register please contact: Tony Simpson (RDA Pilbara) on 0427 191 272 or
Liz Behjat (Aging Australia) on 0419 510 166
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Building Trust and Engaging Multicultural Communities in Injury Prevention Programs and Services
Thursday 18 June 2025, 10.00am-11.00am | Webinar
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What are infants telling us: From neonatal nursery care to supporting optimal infant development
Wednesday 18 June 2025, 7.15pm-8.30pm | Webinar
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Accreditation for Nurses in General Practice
Wednesday 18 June 2025, 12.00pm-1.00pm | Webinar
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Aboriginal Health Conference 2025
Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 August 2025 | Perth
MEMBER PROFILE
Meet Rebecca (Beck) Peck
Retrieval Nurse | Registered Nurse | Registered Midwife | RFDS WA – Hedland Base
Beck is a passionate and experienced nurse-midwife whose journey through Western Australia has been anything but ordinary. Now proudly based in Port Hedland, Beck is a Retrieval Nurse with the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS WA), where she lives out what she calls her dream job every single day.
"Retrieval nursing encompasses everything — acute critical care, adults, paediatrics, neonates, and pregnant women. We support outback communities, mine sites, and remote clinics. I get to combine all my passions: nursing, midwifery, travel, meeting new people, and helping others. It really is my dream job.”
Beck’s path to retrieval nursing was shaped by years of experience and a deep appreciation for rural and remote healthcare. She has lived across the state — raising a family in Bridgetown and Boyup Brook, working in Fremantle, Broome and eventually travelling WA in a mobile home, nursing her way across various MPS sites and small emergency departments.
It was during those remote placements that Beck saw firsthand the life-saving importance of RFDS.
“The relief I felt when RFDS walked in to take an emergency patient to tertiary care was huge,” she says. One day, after watching the team transport an intubated trauma patient from a remote site, she knew she wanted to be on the other side — to be that person providing the vital link to care.
Her journey took her through midwifery training, time at KEMH, and a Midwifery Group Practice role in Broome before agency work brought her to Port Hedland. An expression of interest to RFDS Western Operations soon turned into a permanent role — and a full-circle moment for Beck, who was born in Port Hedland but left at age four.
Returning decades later, it felt like fate.
“I had already fallen in love with the Pilbara — with the landscape, the people, and my partner. Taking the job with RFDS just felt right.”
Beck officially joined RFDS in October 2024 and has never looked back.
“I believe so strongly in the ethos of RFDS and all it represents. I work with some of the most epic humans — and it’s all made possible thanks to the support of the community that keeps us flying, each day and each kilometre.”
When she’s not in the skies, Beck is embracing everything the Pilbara has to offer. She’s inspired by the big open skies, the ever-changing country and the “I can do anything” attitude of the people.
“One of my favourite things is being able to go from the beach, to the bush, to a gorge or station — all in one road trip.”
In her downtime you’ll find Beck travelling, volunteering, camping, or spending time with her family.
We’re proud to have Beck as part of the Pilbara Health Professionals Network — an inspiring example of commitment, compassion, and community-driven care.
Moving to a new region in WA?
Join your local Health Professionals Network!
Did you know that the Pilbara Health Professionals Network is one of seven networks operating across regional Western Australia? If you're relocating to another region in WA, reach out to your new region's network to build local connections and learn of upcoming education and networking opportunities.
For more information and for links to each region's Health Professionals Network website, visit the Rural Health West website.
The Pilbara Health Professionals Network is brought to you in partnership with the following stakeholder organisations.
You have received this newsletter as a health professional working in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Email addresses used to disseminate this newsletter were obtained through Rural Health West's databases. Unsubscribing from this newsletter will remove you from the distribution list for all Rural Health West publications. To stop receiving this newsletter only, please email contact@phpn.com.au
