NORTH  EAST VICTORIA INNOVATIVE LEARNING,
 TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CLUSTER  

The NEVIL Management Committee comprises representatives from the six member area mental health services and consumer and carer consultant representatives.  They are:

Austin Health                                   Gareth Jones       Kristy Young

Carer Consultants                             Robyn Jones

Consumer Consultants                      Jon Langford        Paul Jones

Eastern Health                                 John Forster         Melody Sutton

Forensicare                                     Jo Ryan                Anthea Lemphers

Goulburn Valley Health                     Bev Schumacher

Northeast Vic. Mental Health            Dr Peter Fahy       Maureen Cuskelly    

St Vincent's                                     Anna Love            Phyl Halpin

CAMHS Representative                    Kristy Young

Allied Health Representative             Sandra Davidson

Aged Psychiatry Representative       Benji Soosai

Dr Peter Fahy

Peter is a psychiatric nurse with 35 years experience in the field ranging from clinical work to administration and education. Peter is appointed as the Senior Psychiatric Nurse for the Northeast Hume region of northern Victoria and is based in Wangaratta. He has worked for several universities over the last 20 years and currently has a conjoint appointment with the University of Melbourne, Rural School of Health.

Peter is an ACHS surveyor and has been actively involved in surveying mental health services throughout Australia over the last few years.

Peter’s areas of interest are clinical supervision, clinical decision making, approaches to community mental health care and curriculum development and teaching related to both undergraduate and post graduate psychiatric nursing students. Peter is currently a member of several research teams looking at areas ranging from alcohol screening of general hospital patients to aggression prevention and management evaluation and mental health first aid evaluation. Peter is also an executive member of the Northeast Health Wangaratta, Division of Psychiatry and has a specific interest in strategic planning for the delivery of mental health services.

Jon Langford

Jon has worked as a consumer consultant at Austin Health since 2000. In 2006 he was appointed to the DHS Front End Services Subcommittee looking in particular at the role of CAT teams; and he was also on the DHS reference group for the Consumer Delivered Services Model Project examining the prospects for consumer delivered services. His interest in advocacy goes back to volunteer work in the 1980s in community organisations such as community radio, and he is currently an active member of the Greens party. He has previously worked in various occupations including factory worker; tram driver and economist.

Robyn Jones

Robyn Jones, Carer Consultant, Goulburn Valley Area Mental Health Service, Shepparton, has been with that agency since 2002 and has been a carer for 18 years.

Robyn is also the training co coordinator, in conjunction with the Carer Academic, for the Carer Consultant Network of Victoria.

Robyn’s volunteer work with carers was recognized in 2002 by Mental Illness Fellowship with a service award for outstanding service in the community to make a real and positive difference to people with a mental illness, their families and friends.

Robyn also holds a Diploma of Community Welfare Work.

Kristy Young

Kristy Young is a Registered Psychiatric Nurse, Associate Nurse Unit Manager at the Eagle Child Unit, Austin CAMHS, a 12-bed inpatient unit for children under 13 with severe/ complex mental health difficulties. Kristy has worked at the Eagle Child Unit for 6 years and has also had experience working in acute psychiatric settings, rehabilitation settings and working with adolescents at Melbourne Juvenile Justice.

Kristy has completed a graduate certificate in psychiatric nursing practice, the developmental psychiatry course and a graduate diploma in child, adolescent and family mental health.  She will commence a masters of clinical family therapy next year through Bouverie Centre.

Kristy lectures yearly at Latrobe University for undergraduate nursing students.  She is currently involved in a research and benchmarking project which aims to prevent violence directed towards nursing staff and to improve outcomes for children and families, by a reduction of the use of holding and restraints.  Kristy won a fellowship in 2006 and will be travelling to the United Kingdom in May to examine their practices to identify alternative practice and techniques that reduce violent and aggressive behaviour in child inpatient units.

Gareth Jones

Bev Schumacher

Bev Schumacher, Senior Psychiatric Nurse, Goulburn Valley Health, Shepparton has been with that agency since 2000.  Bev’s nursing career spans over 40 years and has involved working in South Australia, NSW, ACT and QLD both within acute health and mental health services.

Bev’s current position includes responsibility for: provision of professional development education, supervision and support to psychiatric clinicians; and monitoring and provision of effective delivery of quality mental health services, in collaboration with the senior management team. The role addresses psychiatric nurse education, training and development and quality improvement across the service.

Postgraduate studies include, Advanced Clinical Nursing/ Psychiatry, Human Resource Management, Quality Improvement, Leadership Skills and Organizational Change and Financial Management in Health Care.

Paul Jones

John Forster

John has worked in the general and psychiatric health settings for the past 20 years.

He has completed post-graduate studies in psychiatric nursing, family therapy and Gestalt therapy.

John has worked in both in-patient and community settings and has been involved with education and training in general hospital and psychiatric organisations for the past 8 years. He is currently employed as Senior Psychiatric Nurse with Eastern Health.

John has an interest in clinical supervision, working with groups and how health organisations can improve their approach to professional support and acknowledgement of staff.

Phyl is a social worker by training (MSW & BA) and inclination (30 years experience). She’s worked in local government, community health and mental health. Prior to her current role as Service Development Manager at St Vincent’s Mental Health she worked in the Mental Health Branch as a Senior Project Officer. She joined St Vincent’s Mental Health in November 2006 and is enjoying the return to service system land.