Jillian Skinner calls it her "integrated care plum jam story". As part of a $180 million push to integrate medical care at a local level, a team led by Cowra GP Dr Ros Bullock has been working with other health providers and community groups to cut down on unnecessary hospital admissions.

For many years, one chronically ill patient had spent many a Christmas in hospital. "He just couldn't cope, he did all the wrong things." says Skinner. As part of the Western NSW district's trial integrated care program, however, he was part of managing his own care – and for the first time he had been able to spend Christmas at home. The patient presented Dr Bullock with plums he'd picked himself, saying "this is what I did instead of being in a hospital bed this Christmas". The doctor promptly turned them into jam, and presented a jar to the NSW health minister.