The newsletter of the Health Care Consumers’ Association Inc.
Volume 11 / Issue 10 / 22 May 2025

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We have finally landed in our new offices at Chifley (71 Maclaurin Crescent), and from next week you can once more meet with staff at our office (or nearby café!). We are still among the boxes at the moment, but things are taking shape.

HCCA members can keep an eye out for an invitation to two upcoming events at Chifley – a drop-in afternoon tea at the end of June, where you can catch up with staff and all the great work we’ve been doing, and our Election Forum in July, where we will hear from Labor, Greens, and Liberal candidates about their plans for health services in the ACT.

In early May we sent our Chronic Conditions Network Coordinator, Michelle, on a journey of discovery to a conference in Brisbane about HealthPathways, and she returned to us with many thoughts and ideas!

HealthPathways is a database used by GPs and other health professionals to help with diagnosis and primary health treatment. A ‘Pathway’ is a step-by-step clinical instruction manual for diagnosing a specific condition, and includes referral information and patient resources. In the ACT, Capital Health Network manages HealthPathways.

Michelle presented with Melissa Morthorpe (Capital Health Network) on their collaborative project, which enlisted chronic conditions organisations from HCCA’s Chronic Conditions Network to review and provide feedback on condition pathways used by GPs. Over August and September of 2023, Michelle and Melissa gathered 14 organisations (including Dementia Australia, Meridian, Down Syndrome Association of the ACT, Motor Neurone Disease NSW, Epilepsy ACT, and more) and gave them access to the HealthPathways platform to comment and review pathway information.

This gave organisations an opportunity to get the information they wanted GPs to be passing on to consumers correct, and in the right place to be seen and used in a timely manner.

Above: Bianca (Coordinaire), Melissa (Capital Health Network), Michelle (HCCA), and Gill (Capital Health Network), at the HealthPathways Conference.

The presentation at the conference was titled ‘When Networks Unite!’ and spoke to the efficiencies, saved time, and reduced costs – as well as the collaborative relationships that developed when Primary Health Networks leverage off the insightful knowledge and expertise of the community health sub-sector. The presentation received positive reviews and questions from the audience.

Michelle also learnt about how the platform is used in New Zealand (where it originated) not only for GPs and Primary Health, but for Allied Health professionals, hospital staff, consumers, and a brand-new audience – schools!

These are the take-away messages from the HealthPathways 2024 Conference:

• How can we do better in our region to make HealthPathways information accessible to consumers?
• How do we give consumers a place to get easy, evidence-based, local information searchable in a number of languages by health condition?
• How should HealthPathways in our region promote health equity among our communities and populations?
• Are there groups of people with poorer health outcomes in our region that could benefit from GPs doing things differently for them?

On 20 May, Canberra Health Services staff came to talk to members of HCCA’s Health of Older People Consumer Reference Group about Geriatric Streaming at the Emergency Department (ED) in the new Critical Services Building at the Canberra Hospital, set to open August of this year.

The goal of geriatric streaming is to improve the experience and quality of care for older people who visit the ED. With special acute pods for older patients, geriatric streaming will allow older adults to be assessed and receive treatment quicker. Streaming seeks to improve productivity by managing a busy environment and competing priorities for staff. Staff will receive support to assess and triage patients correctly, including training on recognising and treating delirium.

Kate Gorman
Acting Executive Director

In this Issue

• Infrastructure Update
• Policy and Research Update
• Health Literacy Update
• Consumer Involvement and Representative Opportunities

Infrastructure Update

Some Consumer Reference Group members, other HCCA members, and HCCA staff were lucky enough to get a sneak peek inside the new Critical Services Building recently. It was great to see the new design features that members of CHEP Consumer Reference Group have spent so much time and energy advocating for! It was exciting to see better wheelchair accessibility, very colourful and inviting children’s areas, a children’s sensory room, comfortable family lounges, green outdoor spaces, large windows to show the surrounding mountains, and an inviting welcome hall.

The public tours of the new building booked out quite quickly – but a few more tickets for small tours on Sunday 23 June have just been released! If you’re keen to have a look for yourself, get in quick to book your spot on Eventbrite here: Behind-the-scenes tours of the Critical Services Building at Canberra Hospital - Tickets | Eventbrite.

The main reception at Canberra Hospital has now moved to the Critical Services Building (Building 5). The entrance to this new reception is from Hospital Road. It has been designed to be more inclusive, especially with features like wheelchair-accessible desk heights, and CHS hope to make the space welcoming for everyone. It’s going to be a beautiful space honouring the traditional owners of the land with stunning artwork, creating a culturally rich environment.

For more information on the new space, read the media release here: New Canberra Hospital Welcome Hall opens next week | act.gov.au.

The new welcome hall and reception will be open from Monday, 3 June, and it's well worth checking out the new space next time you are at the Canberra Hospital.

The ACT government announced the health services for the new South Tuggeranong Health Centre last week. This is the second centre out of 5 new health centres being delivered in the ACT. Services for the Tuggeranong centre include paediatrics, pathology collection, diabetes clinics, falls and falls injury prevention, dementia care, chronic disease programs, community nursing, and a virtual care interview room.

Some of you may have heard about Head to Health’s free mental health services. However, the name of this service is slowly changing from Head to Health to 'Medicare Mental Health Centres'. It is important to note that despite the name change, you do not need a referral, a Medicare Card, or a Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP).

— Darcy
(Infrastructure Project Officer)

Policy and Research Update

Canberra Health Services are developing a range of ‘TuckaTalk’ fact sheets to support parents to feed their children safe and nutritious food. We are looking for parents (or grandparents) who may be interested in providing feedback on these resources. You can find examples of existing ‘TuckaTalk’ resources on the Canberra Health Services Website.

If you would like to provide input to the new ‘TuckaTalk’ fact sheets, please email Jessica Lamb ([email protected]) or phone the office on 6230 7800 by Friday, 21 June 2024.

This year’s Canberra Health Annual Research Meeting (CHARM) will be from 17 to 21 June, 2024.

CHARM highlights the importance and value of health research in the ACT. It offers a chance to network and collaborate to promote multidisciplinary research.

Consumers, carers, researchers, students, health professionals, policy makers, and other partners in the ACT health system are welcome to attend.

You can find the program and register to attend on the CHARM website.

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

Health Literacy Update

In other activities, Ivapene and C both presented health sessions to seniors at Communities@Work. Ivapene presented “How to make the most of your health appointment” to the Tuesday group in Ngunnawal, while C presented “Navigating the Health Service” to the Friday group in Holder.

— the Health Literacy team
(C and Ivapene)

This is the last week for the first round of the Active Beginnings activity program. To celebrate, the team is hosting a cultural dance event! Come join the Active Beginnings team in this free event to celebrate women, dance & culture. Food and refreshments are provided.

When: from 5:30pm, Saturday 8 June, 2024
Where: Theo Notari Multicultural Centre, Level 2, 180 London Circuit, Canberra City
Book your free ticket: Cultural dance night - Active Beginnings | Eventbrite

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: Wednesday, 3 July 2024

Canberra Health Services (CHS) is looking for a consumer to join their Oral Health Services Consumer Reference Group. The role of the committee is to provide a space for discussion, advice, and feedback between Oral Health Services, consumers, and consumer organisations.

To learn more, please visit the Consumer Opportunities page on our website.

 New! 

Are you a migrant who speaks up for consumer needs in healthcare as a consumer representative? Have your experiences shaped how you advocate in unique ways?

Sona Jerry, an Honours student at ANU, is doing a project to understand the important role migrant consumer representatives play in shaping healthcare decisions on committees and the challenges they face while participating in committee settings.

You are invited to participate if you:

• identify as a migrant, and
• are currently serving or have served as a consumer representative in healthcare.

Your thoughts well help us have a deeper understanding of intersectionality and the challenges migrants face when advocating for better healthcare.

Learn more about how to participate.

Download the participant information sheet for more information about the project.

If you would like to express your interest, please fill out this short form, and the team will be in touch with you.

For more information, please contact Sona directly at 0420 573 681, or email: [email protected].

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

© 2024 Health Care Consumers' Association Inc, All rights reserved. Edited by Kate Gorman.

Our mailing address is:
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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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