Third annual Symposium connects clinical product advisors

Clinical Product Advisors (CPAs) from health services across Victoria gathered in Melbourne this month for the third HSV CPA Symposium.

The event provided an opportunity for the 33 CPAs in attendance to build relationships and discuss issues and challenges while receiving information and updates from sector leaders.

The Symposium’s 2025 theme ‘Connecting innovation, intelligence and inclusion in clinical health’ highlighted how new standards, digital upgrades and urgent challenges call for adaptive leadership at the point of care.

HSV Head of Clinical Procurement Advice Diana Skratulja says that along with the ability to network as a group, the Symposium is an important contributor to the professional development of Victoria’s CPAs.

“Every device, data point and decision carries the weight of patient safety, staff wellbeing and service sustainability, demonstrating just how pivotal the role of clinical product advisors and nurse leaders continues to be,” Diana says.

“Each session reflected the real scenarios CPAs face daily – what we choose to stock, how we identify and escalate issues, and the ways we protect ourselves, our teams and our patients.

The ‘collective clinical intelligence’ we build together at events like this is our greatest resource,” Diana says.

Presenters included Goulburn Valley Health’s Dr Wei Low, who shared the story of the NRFit ® neural connector rollout at the Shepparton campus, and Michel Hulzebos from GS1 Australia who expanded on 2024’s presentation on the introduction of unique device identifiers. Vashti Fox from the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s Medical Devices Surveillance branch presented on the introduction of mandatory medical device adverse event reporting, which was one of the hottest topics of the day.

CPAs representing regional health services such as Grampians Health, Goulburn Valley Health and Albury Wodonga Health attended the symposium along with those from Melbourne hospitals.

Louise Niggemeyer from Peninsula Health found the Symposium productive and effective.

“The meeting covered a range of contemporary issues relevant to CPAs,” Louise says.

“Dr Jill Tomlinson delivered a great session on ‘Harnessing technology to support safer, smarter care’ that merged into a health informatics discussion with a vision towards 2030. I also found HealthShare NSW’s presentation on their DeliverEASE solution highly relevant and of great interest to all the CPAs.

There was also a good self-care session from Danica Van Den Dungan of the Royal Children’s Hospital Learning and Development team.

Everyone was also grateful for the prolonged attendance of Sarah Bryant, the HSV Chief Procurement Officer,” Louise says.

Sarah Bryant answered questions from the floor during the Symposium. 

“I was incredibly impressed with the expertise in the room, and the passion and strong engagement of the group in supporting each other to drive change for the benefit of their peers and ultimately, better patient outcomes,” Sarah says.  

Clinical Product Advisory Group (CPAG) Chair Valentina Trajkovski gave a recap as part of the event.

“The Symposium is fundamental to the development of the CPAG members as a professional body increasing their knowledge, skills, conduct and application of practice,” Valentina says.

“The value of the Symposium is to provide an opportunity to learn from guest speakers, have in-depth discussions regarding the challenges experienced at the health service level and exploration of potential solutions. The importance of coming together at these events fosters closer connections, enhanced collaboration and promotes the value of CPAG to leaders across the sector.”

Another Symposium is planned for 2026 and HSV’s CPAs are working on new fresh, innovative ideas for the event.