HCQ involves nearly 4,000 people in Queensland Health’s COVID-19 response

1 Sep 2022

At the end of July 2022, HCQ submitted our report on the COVID-19 additional funding we received at the start of the pandemic from Queensland Health’s Community Services Funding Branch.

During the past two and half years, this additional funding enabled HCQ  to support Queensland Health’s COVID-19 response in the following ways by enabling:

  • 3,974 health consumers, carers, health staff and NGO partners to engage with Queensland Health’s COVID-19 response (HCQ supported QH by finding consumers and often facilitating focus groups).

  • 632 consumers to provide advice, views and feedback on 76 Queensland Health consultations, projects, and resources
  • 108 consumers, Queensland Health executive staff (including the Chief Health Officer) and NGO partners to contribute to the independent report commissioned by HCQ of the evaluation of the effectiveness of consumer engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic in Queensland between January 2020 and January 2021.
  • The weekly amplification of consumers’ voices via the production of 36 issues papers, situation reports and briefs to the Health Minister’s Office, leaders across Queensland Health, all Hospitals and Health Services, Primary Health Networks and NGO partners.
  • 2,000 health consumers and carers and staff across Queensland Health to listen and share concerns, recommendations , information and solutions through the establishment and facilitation of 59 online and face-to-face opportunities (these were HCQ initiated activities including Consumer Conversations, Q&As and webinars).

Melissa Fox, HCQ’s CEO, said, “Without this funding, Health Consumers Queensland and our network of health consumers across the state, would not have been able to as actively contribute to the pandemic response in the way we did. Nowhere else in Australia nor internationally, was there mechanisms that enabled health consumers and community members to directly raise and address their concerns in the way that was possible in Queensland. We look forward to sharing the impact of this work in more detail at our upcoming Annual Forum.”