16 Dec 2024
The 12 days of Christmas Surgical Services Edition 1.0
As the sole consumer representative here today, I have been asked to share my wish list for what I feel would improve the surgical services patient experience. So, considering the time of year it is, and in no particular order of priority and containing no flocks of birds like in the original, here’s my version of The 12 days of Christmas – the Surgical Services Edition. And no, I won’t be singing it, because I only wrote it this morning and didn’t have time to make it rhyme.
- Better communication, both ways, with GP’s. Respect the GP’s role in your patient’s life, trust that their knowledge of your patient runs deeper than your finite perspective through your specialty lens and brief interactions with them, especially since half the time you’re with us we’re having a good general anaesthetic induced sleep.
- Trust your female patients when they tell you they’re in pain and treat and medicate it appropriately. Trust me, most of us have experienced pain at levels that would leave men whimpering in bed, while we’re out here going about our daily lives of work and caring for family. So when a woman feels something is bad enough to present to emergency or get a referral to a surgeon, trust her when she says it hurts!!
- Can we have more Nurse Navigators to support new patients and those with complex needs, as the often Qld Health Public Hospital system isn’t always user friendly.
- Alongside Nurse Navigators, I’d love to see educated Peer Workers with Lived Experience embedded in the hospital workforce, to help patients and carers navigate the system, support them when accessing appointments if they wish, be a shoulder to cry on when needed and to help them interpret the jargon and understand their diagnosis and what steps to take next, with the aim that this will lead to less stress and better health outcomes for patients. If Mental Health, Indigenous Health and now Maternity Services can embrace the value of peer workers, then so can surgical and medical services.
- A Qld Health App that manages all my patient needs in one place, so I can log into to see my referrals and how they’re progressing, be offered appointments, confirm them or request reschedules, and that syncs with my phone’s calendar app, so that all my appointments are automatically loaded into my calendar with reminders set.
- The ability to have multiple appointments booked for the same day and preferably not with massive gaps between them. Whether patients are travelling in from a regional area for appointments, have to arrange childcare or time off work to attend, or they have a chronic illness or disability that makes getting here difficult, let’s find a way to make it easier for them to access their appointments on the same day.
- Ensure that you and your surgical team are aware of your patient’s allergies. We get asked to recite them all a bazillion times from the moment we enter the hospital to moments before entering the operating theatre, so PLEASE make sure you know them too. Trust me, removing micropore off my quickly blistering skin on my nether regions several times post-op this past couple of years has not been fun!!
- Roll out programs like PODDS and SRAU at all hospitals in QLD that offer surgical services, as they’re so valuable in streamlining surgical admissions at the front end of the consumer experience and reducing post-op complications and readmissions through ED at the back end, as we’d prefer to not be frequent flyers in the ED due to lack of support post-operatively.
- Can we make it so we don’t need to sell a kidney to afford parking at public hospitals?!
- More awareness of the special needs of neurodiverse patients and the ability for ED’s, wards and operating theatres to try to accommodate the communication and sensory needs of these consumers. It doesn’t take much to ask us our needs and make small adjustments to help reduce sensory overwhelm, which in turn can then reduce our anxiety and make it easier for us to stay calm, and it generally improves our communication, as we’re not so internally distracted then by what we’re feeling and can concentrate on you and your questions.
- More singing surgeons. 10 hospitalisations and 7 surgeries in 21 months at the Mater and I still haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Dr Muduioa, so the only solution is that Qld Health needs to fund singing lessons for more of you. Seriously though, I know many surgeons listen to music when operating, so maybe give patients the option to choose to have some music playing when they’re heading into theatre, before they’re sedated, as it can help ease our anxieties and give us something else to focus on.
- Admit when you don’t know what’s wrong with us, rather than tell us there’s nothing wrong with us. Let’s stop medical gaslighting! Just because you can’t work it out, doesn’t mean it’s not happening.
As I walked into the Mater Hospital yesterday for my post-op check up with my surgeon, I noticed David William’s lovely Reconciliation Action Plan artwork, that features the statement “The Heart to Heal, the Strength to Grow”, and it got me thinking that it’s not just strength that’s needed to grow, but vulnerability, because until we can allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to admit we don’t know everything; own that our actions may have caused harm to others, whether intentionally or through ignorance and lack of education; and be willing to open our minds to another’s perspective and experience, we can’t truly grow as people, organisations or as a society.
So as the solo consumer representative standing here with you all today, I ask that as 2024 rounds out and you hopefully get some time to reflect on the year that’s been and the upcoming New Year, you make a resolution to be willing to be more vulnerable in 2025, and take the opportunity to learn from everyone around you, not just those you consider your mentors and peers.
25 Nov 2024
Our eAlert newsletter is emailed fortnightly to consumers and healthcare staff across Queensland to share information about ways consumers partner with the healthcare sector to help influence the future development and delivery of services to benefit all consumers within the state.
Each edition of eAlert includes information for consumers and health staff about partnering, free training and education, news, events, and opportunities for consumers to join a wide range of activities – from providing feedback at focus groups to attending forums, meetings or symposiums, reviewing information, promotional materials or documents, and more.
Please complete the form below to subscribe to eAlert and receive the newsletter delivered to your inbox each fortnight.
24 Oct 2024
Our eAlert newsletter is emailed fortnightly to consumers and healthcare staff across Queensland to share information about ways consumers partner with the healthcare sector to share experiences and help influence the future development and delivery of services to benefit all consumers within the state.
Would you like to find out more about what it means to be a health consumer representative and how you can get involved? Each edition of eAlert includes information for consumers and health staff about partnering, free training and education, news, events, and opportunities for consumers to join a wide range of activities – from providing feedback at focus groups to attending forums, meetings or symposiums, reviewing information, promotional materials or documents, and more.
If you would like to subscribe, please complete the form below.
27 Sep 2024
HCQ partners with consumers and carers regularly to host Kitchen Table Discussions (KTD) and Yarning Circles in their communities to hear the voices of locals who may not generally participate in formal consultation, have access to, or feel confident to share their experiences for the development of future healthcare policy, decision-making or design.
We are always looking for dedicated consumers with experience of the health system to act as hosts to bring people together from their community to share their experiences, comments and ideas, whether it’s at someone’s home, a café, library, or even outdoors in a park.
New opportunity
We are currently partnering with the Darling Downs and West Moreton Primary Health Network (DDWMPHN) to support a series of KTDs and Yarning Circles within their region to hear from community members to aid the planning and development of their work with chronic health conditions.
We are seeking consumer representatives in the Darling Downs and West Moreton Region – Ipswich, Toowoomba, Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim, Somerset, South Burnett, Cherbourg, Southern Downs, Goondiwindi and Western Downs – who would like to host a KTD or Yarning Circle on the topic of chronic health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal conditions and respiratory conditions such as asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) between mid-October and early November 2024.
Register your interest as a host for this opportunity. Simply complete this Form and submit to us by 6 October 2024.
If you have any questions, please contact us by email at info@hcq.org.au or phone 07 3012 9090 to speak to one of our engagement advisors.
Not in the Darling Downs and West Moreton region?
If you are living outside of the Darling Downs and West Moreton region, we welcome you to contact our team! We can learn more about you and what areas or topics within the health system you may be interested in. We will keep you informed of any future opportunities to be a Host.
Find out more
19 Sep 2024
Join our free information sessions during Get Online Week
Health Consumers Queensland (HCQ) is proud to support Get Online Week, an initiative of Good Things Foundation to encourage free events across the country between 14-20 October 2024.
As this coincides with National Carers Week, HCQ will host fun, user-friendly interactive information sessions for consumers and carers to discover the benefits of getting online to find helpful information, connect with key health services that are important for carers, and learn from other carers who will share their experiences and tips.
Getting online to find the help you need can be daunting but HCQ is here to help and, joined by carers from our member network, we will host 2 sessions online which carers and consumers from anywhere in Queensland are welcome to attend.
HCQ will host one session live from Ipswich Central Library on 15 October 10.30am to 11.30am, and a community hub will link in from Tully Support Centre. If you would like to join from one of these hubs, contact the HCQ team and we can connect you with your local Get Online Week community hosts!
OUR HOSTS
Chanelle Moar and Heidi Jones from HCQ will co-host the sessions with carer representatives Georgia Railton-Stewart, Carol Mock and Caroline Polak Scowcroft from HCQ’s own member network who have years of experience with the health system between them to share with helpful tips, tools, and resources.
Above, from left: Chanelle Moar, HCQ Senior Engagement Advisor and Heidi Jones, HCQ Engagement Officer
The information sessions will be fun, user-friendly and interactive to encourage all participants to ‘have-a-go’. The sessions will help attendees to:
- find and access health information and resources important to them
- use online tools to connect with others
- understand their healthcare rights, and
- discover how consumers are sharing their own experiences with the health system to influence change and improve services for all Queenslanders.
Do you have a question about getting online for our session hosts? Submit your question ahead of the session when you register.
ONLINE INFORMATION SESSIONS
15 October 2024 10.30am-11.30am online via Zoom or from Ipswich, Tully, Toowoomba and Bundaberg community host hubs – contact us for details
Register to attend this session
16 October 2024 10.30am-11.30am online via Zoom
Register to attend this session
Contact us for further information
Please contact the HCQ engagement team at info@hcq.org.au
16 Sep 2024
Are you a First Nations person living in Queensland and interested in an exciting opportunity to develop genomics and genetics resources?
This is an opportunity to partner with Queensland Health, Health Consumers Queensland and CQUniversity to build community awareness and health literacy by developing genomics and genetic healthcare resources.
We are looking for 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from across Queensland to act as Community Champions.
To learn more about genomics and why it’s important, we encourage you to watch this short video – Your Blood, Your Story.
Genes, DNA & Genetic Healthcare
DNA holds your family history [stories] in your blood and your body. These are passed on to you through your parents, grandparents and ancestors. Everyone has their own unique DNA.
DNA is the recipe for genes and holds the instructions on how your body works. Genes are arranged within the DNA in most cells in your body. Some differences in the arrangement or structure of these genes can cause illness, cancer other conditions. We can tell a lot about you by reading your gene stories.
Health services are moving towards using your DNA stories to look at which treatments will work better for you. The more DNA stories they read, the better treatment they can design.
Information Sessions
We will be holding 2 Information Sessions for interested applicants to learn more about the project and the role of Community Champions. Sessions will be approximately 30 minutes.
Dates
1. Tuesday 8 October 2024 – 10am
2. Thursday 10 October 2024 – 2pm
Please Note
During these sessions the project team will be available to answer questions about the project. While we will be providing general information, we may not be able to answer specific questions about genomics and genetic healthcare.
Attendance at an Information Session is voluntary and is not a requirement to apply for the role.
To register to attend an Information Session – Complete form here
Apply to be a First Nations Community Champion for this project
If you need any support to apply, we encourage you to call or email us and we will get in touch with you.
Find out more about the project, what will be required of Community Champions, remuneration and more in this Project Outline and in the Terms of Reference
Contact Us
We welcome any questions! Please reach out to Candice Field or Heidi Jones at HCQ, on (07) 3012 9090 or email info@hcq.org.au.
13 Dec 2023
Closing date: 9am Thursday 18 January 2024
If you have at least 6 months’ committee experience, a good understanding of the health system, and an understanding of health needs assessments, we invite you to apply for the consumer representative position on the Joint Needs Assessment Working Group. (more…)
6 Dec 2023
Closing date: 9am, Monday 5 February 2024
Have you or someone you care for required health services in a rural or remote area of Queensland?
Queensland Rural and Remote Clinical Network (QRRCN) Steering Committee invites a consumer or carer to participate. The position requires personal experience as a health consumer and the ability to present practical advice that reflects health consumers’ real-life experiences. (more…)
