The newsletter of the Health Care Consumers’ Association Inc.
Volume 12 / Issue 8 / 22 May 2025

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Next week, 11-17 May, is National Palliative Care Week.

Do your loved ones know what matters most to you at the end of life? Don’t leave them guessing- you can support them to support you. Head over to the Canberra Health Literacy Hub to learn more about palliative care and Advance Care Planning, or go to the Palliative Care ACT website, and make a plan for your future care.

Canberra Health Services (CHS) is setting up a new acute palliative care unit at The Canberra Hospital. Construction will begin in the coming months. With the unit’s design almost finalised (you may have recently read about our team’s tour of the space), now CHS is looking for feedback on how the care in the unit should be delivered.
To obtain a copy of the draft Model of Care and give feedback please contact Jessica Lamb at [email protected] or call the HCCA office on 6230 7800 by Friday 16 May 2025.

Kate Gorman
Acting Executive Director

In this Issue

• Upcoming HCCA Events
• Infrastructure Update
• Policy and Research Update
• Health Literacy Update
• Chronic Conditions Network Update
• Consumer Involvement and Representative Opportunities
• Items of Interest

Infrastructure Update

Construction is set to begin on the new South Tuggeranong Health Centre in Conder, which is a big step forward in making healthcare accessible for Canberra's southern residents. This facility is the first of four new health centres planned across the ACT, with additional centres coming to the Inner South, North Gungahlin, and West Belconnen.

Designed with input from clinicians and the local community, the centre will feature 11 consultation rooms and a flexible layout to support various services, including paediatrics, pathology collection, dementia care, diabetes clinics, falls and injury prevention, chronic disease programs, and a virtual care room.

Construction is expected to be completed in August 2026, with the centre opening in September 2026.

For more information, visit the Built for CBR website.

— Yelena
(Infrastructure Project Officer)

Policy and Research Update

Canberra Health Service Alcohol & Drug Service is seeking feedback on their Diversion and Therapy Services Operational Procedure (“the Procedure”).

The Procedure details the clinical and operational processes for the following areas:

• Police & Court Diversion Services;
• Counselling & Treatment Services; and
• Drug & Alcohol Sentencing List.

If you are interested in reviewing the Procedure and providing feedback, please contact Stephen Lawton by email: [email protected] or by phoning the HCCA office on 6230 7800 by Friday 16 May 2025.

ACT Health has created a draft ACT Virtual Care Strategy and is now seeking community feedback.

This strategy will help shape how virtual healthcare is delivered in the ACT. It looks at areas that need improvement and explores successful virtual care models used in other places.

Virtual care is the use of technology to enable care, education, and information sharing between consumers, carers, and clinicians, or between clinicians from different locations.

This consultation will also look at ideas such as:

• A virtual hospital linked to the new North Canberra Hospital
• Using HealthDirect as a partner for virtual services
• Expanding mental health virtual care
• Improving coordination with Southern NSW health services

Your input can help shape the future of virtual healthcare in the ACT.

If you are interested in reviewing the draft strategy and providing feedback, please contact Jessica Lamb by email: [email protected] or by phoning the HCCA office on 6230 7800 by Friday 6 June 2025.

— the Policy and Research team
(Jess, Stephen, and Shivana)

Health Literacy Update

This fortnight, C was invited to present on health literacy at Grand Rounds at
North Canberra Hospital. It was great to talk to such a wide mix of clinicians about some practical ways to support health literacy no matter what your clinical role might be. Communicating risk with consumers to support decision making was a particular area of interest – check out the health sector and consumer resources on Canberra Health Literacy Hub if this interests you.

C and Ivapene also headed over to the ANU to present a session on health care in the ACT and getting the most out of appointments to students for the ANU Disabled Students’ Association. It’s particularly hard to manage chronic health conditions while studying in a new city so we were glad to share some tips and services that can help.

We’re very happy to report that the Advance Care Planning team over at Canberra Health Services are back online and will be running their community sessions at COTA and the hospitals. All the details on how to book an appointment are on our website.

— the Health Literacy team
(C and Ivapene)

ACT Down Syndrome and Intellectual Disability Association can run free workshops that are 100% co-designed and developed with people with intellectual disability and will be co-facilitated by people with intellectual disability! These workshops will cover:

• What is a decision?
• Who can help you make decision?
• Your right to make decisions
• Guardianship
• Consent and changing your mind

To learn more about the workshops or to organise to have a workshop delivered at your venue or group please contact [email protected] or call 02 6290 0656.

Have questions about antidepressant medicines? A new webpage Antidepressant medicines – What do you need to know? is now available. It answers frequently asked questions about antidepressant medicines, including:

• What they are and how they work
• Possible side effects
• What to consider when starting or stopping them

Visit the Antidepressants FAQ page on the Quality Use of Medicines website.
You can also visit the Antidepressants in Older People page for more information on managing your medicines.

Chronic Conditions Network Update

We had a great event this fortnight at the EQUIPD Allied Health Community Gym. We had Dylan Grubb the Director of EQUIPD talk to consumers with chronic health conditions about the benefits of exercise and how to exercise safely within your limits. I highly recommend visiting the Chifley community gym and having a look at what they offer if you are finding it hard to approach exercise but want to make a start.

— Michelle
(Chronic Conditions Network Coordinator)

Consumer Involvement and Representative Opportunities

Please visit Consumer Opportunities on the HCCA website to learn more about, and nominate for, any of the following opportunities.

 New!  Closing date: Monday, 2 June 2025 

Canberra Health Services (CHS) is seeking consumers and carers to join the CCRG, a group dedicated to advising and enhancing cancer services through consumer, carer, and community participation. CHS welcomes diverse perspectives to ensure our services are inclusive and effective for all.

About the Canberra Region Cancer Centre: The Canberra Region Cancer Centre offers comprehensive cancer treatments, including screening, diagnostics, and various interventions from a range of health professionals.

Who can apply?: If you have a lived experience with cancer or have cared for someone with cancer, you are invited to apply. CHS values diversity and encourage applications from people of all ages, cultural backgrounds, abilities, and identities, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and LGBTQIA+ individuals.

Role of the CCRG:

• Advise CHS on community concerns regarding cancer services.
• Identify priority areas needing consumer input.
• Participate in strategic planning as required.
• Participate in consumer-based sub-groups as needed.
• Advocate for consumers and the community.
• Facilitate communication between consumers, carers, and CHS.
• Support CHS in meeting National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards.

How to Apply: To express your interest, please email [email protected] or call Naree Stanton at (02) 5124 9677 by 5pm on Monday, June 2, 2025. Please include how you meet the role's requirements in your nomination. For more information or assistance, contact Naree Stanton.

Please note that consumer and carer participation as a committee member is reimbursed in line with the  Canberra Health Services Consumer Carer and Community Reimbursement Policy

HCCA is involved in co-creating an educational video to help and support older adults make informed decisions about the safe use of antidepressants.

We would love to hear from you if you are:

• 65yrs +
• based in Sydney
• have current or previous lived experience as a consumer or carer, of using antidepressants for 6 months or more.

This video production is being led by the Quality Use of Medicines Alliance and funded by the Australian Government under the Quality Use of Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Pathology Program.

• Filming will take place in Sydney in mid to late May 2025.
• It will take around 2–3 hours of your time on one day
• All participants will receive a gift voucher as a thank you for participating.

If you are interested in taking part, please contact Nadia Owuor at [email protected].

 New!   Closing Date: Tuesday 3 June 2025

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is seeking consumer representatives members to join to the following advisory committees:

• Biologicals
• Medicines
• Vaccines
• Complementary medicines
• Medical devices
• Chemical scheduling
• Medicines scheduling

These committees meet 3-6 times a year. You can go to TGA statutory advisory committees for more information about these roles.

If you are interested you can apply via the Department of Health and Aged Care jobs list.   

Applications must be received by 11:30pm, Tuesday 3 June 2025.

Items of Interest

If you have questions about the project you can contact the project team on : 02 6206 8585 or email: [email protected] / n[email protected]

**FREE interpreter services available over the phone via the Australian Government’s Translation and Interpreting Service (TIS) on 131 450**

© 2025 Health Care Consumers' Association Inc, All rights reserved. Edited by Kate Gorman.

Our mailing address is:
70 Maclaurin Crescent Chifley ACT 2606
02 6230 7800

Consumer Bites is the newsletter of the Health Care Consumers' Association. Consumer Bites provides a small snippet of health related articles our members might find interesting to consider and analyse. The HCCA does not endorse any opinions or the claims contained within the articles.

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