The newsletter of the Health Care Consumers’ Association Inc.
Volume 11 / Issue 15 / 22 May 2025

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There is a nationwide shortage of IV fluids. This is due to manufacturing issues, an increase in international demand and shipping challenges with overseas supplies. The Canberra Health Services (CHS) will establish a temporary intravenous (IV) Fluids Product Committee. This committee will manage the shortage of sterile fluids across public and private hospitals. Clinical plans are in place across CHS, and hospital stock is being sufficiently refilled. Health care, elective surgery or ambulance services across the ACT are fully functioning

At present fluids are being conserved through consumption of oral fluids and the concentration of medicines into smaller volumes. If you attend hospital or go in an ambulance, you may notice staff encourage you to drink fluids rather than offer an IV drip. Or, IV drip fluids may be different to ones you have used before, clinicians are trained to know which fluids are best for each situation.

HCCA has provided feedback to the Quality and Safety Commission on the development of fact sheets for consumers on the issue. We will share these once they are finalised.

Safety in Health Care is a web based tool with up-to-date information about the safety and quality of care being provided in Australian hospitals.
It has been developed by the Australian Commission for Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC). Consumers across Australia can search for safety and quality data from their local hospital or a hospital they are considering for their health care. The data available provides a high-level picture of the safety and quality of any hospital.

The tool is intended to:

• Strengthen clinical governance and improve the culture of safety in Australian hospitals,
• Improve transparency and accountability across the health system, and
• Help consumers understand how the safety and quality of health care are monitored, supported and promoted.

The safety and quality indicators currently included are:

• Assessment against the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards,
• Results from National Hand Hygiene Audits, and
• Rates of Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections.

Over time, the tool will be expanded to include additional safety and quality indicators.

You can learn all about the tool and the data it uses on ACSQHC’s website. You can search for your own local hospital using the Safety in Health Care tool.

Darlene Cox
Executive Director

In this Issue

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

Infrastructure Update

On Saturday, August 17 the new Emergency department opened at the Canberra hospital. The new Emergency Department is in Building 5. The old emergency department in Building 12 is closed.  

Services Moving to Building 5  

• Emergency Department  

• Intensive Care Unit (ICU)  

• Operating theatres and day surgery admission  

• Inpatient cardiology services and cardiac labs  

• Medical and surgical inpatient units  

• Medical imaging  

• Helipad 

For more information visit the Building 5 webpage or watch this video about Building 5 

— Darcy
(Infrastructure Project Officer)

Policy and Research Update

This week C and Jess attended the launch of Go Gentle Australia’s State of Voluntary Assisted Dying in Australia and New Zealand report.

Photo of Linda Swann, Andrew Denton, Kate Chaney and Mark Butler

 You can read the report on Go Gentle’s website. In his address, Andrew Denton described voluntary assisted dying (VAD) as ‘beautiful, compassionate, and peaceful’. He described ‘a revolution, but not one associated with violence and anger’. More than 2,500 Australians have accessed VAD to date.

Some of the key findings from the report that were shared with the gathering included that nearly all VAD applicants die at home, that most VAD applicants are receiving palliative care - the two are proving to work hand in hand very well.

However, Australian VAD laws are among the strictest in the world, and Linda Swann reflected that maybe we haven't got that balance right yet. There are changes to be made at every level of government to ensure equitable access for all who may benefit from VAD. We need:

• more practitioners to avoid burning out those who are currently providing VAD
• access to telehealth to improve accessibility
• to revise safeguards that have turned out to be barriers
• better ways of working with faith based care providers.

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

The Canberra Health Services Office of Research & Education has drafted a Toolkit for consumer partners in research.

The toolkit is designed to guide consumers, carers or community members in partnering with researchers at CHS. It helps them bring their personal experiences and ideas into the research process to shape it from start to finish.

Additionally, the Toolkit can act as a 'train the trainer' resource to assist others to work with researchers. The aim is to create a strong community of informed consumer research partners across the ACT and surrounding NSW.

If you would like to see a copy of the draft Toolkit and provide input please contact [email protected] or telephone (02) 6230 7800.

Health Literacy Update

C and Pene at the Welcome 2 Canberra Expo

It has been a fun fortnight for the Health Literacy team with a number of events and presentations. On 3 August, Ivapene and C attended the Welcome 2 Canberra expo, hosted by Multicultural Hub Canberra where we got to meet a number of consumers and connect with a range of organisations supporting new migrants in Canberra.

We have also run some training on Health Literacy with a group of staff from the Australian Medical Council and held sessions on Advance Care Planning for Dying to Know Day and with Dementia Australia.

— the Health Literacy team
(C and Ivapene)

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, 4 September 2024

The 'First Impressions’ Project is looking for consumers to help to improve the experience of visitors to Canberra Health Services (CHS) facilities. We are looking for consumers to participate and provide feedback on wayfinding, signage, and overall navigation. The project is a collaboration between HCCA and Canberra Health Services (CHS). It runs from September to November 2024, with key activities in October. Participants will receive a $250 Visa gift card for their time. 

To learn more, please visit the Consumer Opportunities page on our website or call Darcy on 6230 7800 

 Closing Soon!  Closing date: Wednesday, 28 August 2024

The ANU School of Medicine and Psychology is looking for a consumer representative to join their Medical Program Advisory Board. The role of the board is to provide a community and health consumer perspective to the activities of the ANU medical program, including education, research, and service.

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

Items of Interest

Have you experienced any safety or quality issues with medical imaging? Medical imaging involves capturing images of a person’s body to aid in identifying or monitoring a medical condition. This includes X-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans, MRIs, mammography, angiography, nuclear medicine, and fluoroscopy.

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has developed National Safety and Quality Medical Imaging Standards. These new standards establish the expected level of patient care in medical imaging practices.

You are invited to share your experiences, review the new standards and share your insights on whether the safety and quality issues in medical imaging have been effectively addressed. Give your feedback on the Commission’s website by Friday 27 September.

For more information, please contact the project team at: [email protected] 

AHPRA have release the latest edition of their quarterly community newsletter. This edition discusses telehealth, making complaints, and other issues relevant to consumers.

read more here 

**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 Darlene Cox.

Contact Us at: 
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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