A shared vision for future health impact
Changing patterns of drug use, new approaches to hepatitis C prevention and evolving health policy were reshaping what NSW’s Needle and Syringe Program needed to deliver.
NSW Health and the Kirketon Road Centre (KRC) needed to modernise the Needle and Syringe Program (NSP) and strengthen long term hepatitis C prevention across highly marginalised communities. Client needs had shifted, drug use patterns had changed, and new expectations for evidence, engagement and workforce capability had emerged.
Across several projects, CraigWalker helped KRC and NSW Health clarify the purpose of the NSP, strengthen long term reinfection prevention, develop workforce capability and articulate how activity across the program contributes to better health outcomes
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The project in numbers
5Partner groups
4Statewide NSP modules
1Statewide program logic framework
Designing with the people who know the system
The team worked across the NSP ecosystem, bringing together frontline workers, health professionals, researchers, peer organisations and people with lived experience. Interviews, observation, co-design and sector consultation helped the team understand how services worked in practice, identify changing needs and translate different perspectives into practical responses. The approach changed with each challenge. This included co-designing a long term hepatitis C support framework, consulting across NSW to establish workforce training priorities, and working directly with KRC to connect NSP activities with NSW Health objectives through a statewide program logic framework.
A stronger foundation for the work ahead
The work gave KRC, NSW Health and frontline workers clearer models, better training and practical frameworks for strengthening harm minimisation across NSW. A new support framework helped KRC extend hepatitis C prevention beyond treatment, statewide training established more consistent knowledge across the NSP workforce, and the program logic connected everyday activities to longer term health objectives. Together, the projects created a shared foundation for improving services over time while keeping the needs of people who use them at the centre.
