28 May 2020
While talking about funding priorities for the next financial year, it was clear that health consumers have an appetite for major changes in health. Consumers have suggested major reforms to long-held ways of providing health care. Identified reforms are:
- to the way patients are categorized for care
- re-imagining HHS borders
- funding healthcare
- collaborating with consumers to design new models of care, service improvements and
- funding models to actively address the social and cultural determinants of health and the systems barriers that keep some people in a cycle of poverty and ill-health.
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22 May 2020
At the Queensland Clinical Senate meeting on Monday, clinicians and consumers from across the state examined the innovations and improved models of care which have come out of the response to COVID-19, and made recommendations about what should be kept and developed beyond this pandemic.
As the public health system starts to look forward, Health Consumers Queensland has also been continuing to talk with consumers this week about who is being left behind.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted inequalities, inequities and discrimination in the healthcare system and our daily lives so we asked our COVID-19 Community of Interest Group, members of the Health Consumers Collaborative of Queensland and our own Consumer Advisory Group (CAG) as well as HHS CAG Leaders and Engagement Advisers:
- Who is being left behind?
- Why are they being left behind?
- What can the system do and what can consumers do to address some of these issues?
Whilst many Queenslanders are now starting to enjoy life with some recent relaxations to restrictions, consumers and advisers identified over 25 groups of people whose health and/or social circumstances mean they are still unable to leave their homes or are particularly vulnerable to infection and the effects of prolonged isolation.
Continue reading eAlert >
19 May 2020
19 May
Consumers identified health consumers and carers at risk of being left behind during COVID-19. This helped form their views on who should be included in priority Queensland populations and what healthcare should look like for them. Consumers also saw the value of focusing on the commonalities between these groups as their challenges may be similar e.g. accessing healthcare, navigating between health care services and health literacy.
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15 May 2020
Queensland Health has just released two new videos and key messaging, which consumers and the team here recently reviewed, to reassure the public that hospitals are open and ready to provide safe and essential care. Their release comes after staff raised concerns about patients not attending scheduled appointments or going to hospital when they are very unwell or in need of urgent care.
Experienced consumers had already highlighted the lack of information for consumers about what hospitals were doing to make them feel safe. Good communication prior to a visit is important. Once there, consumers then feel more comfortable about the practices in place to ensure their safety. It is encouraging to see that the videos have incorporated this feedback and acknowledge the confusion caused by the changes in public messages.
In order to assist Queensland Health to deepen its understanding of what matters to patients and continue to build renewed trust and confidence, this week we asked our COVID-19 Community of Interest, CAG Leaders, members of the Health Consumers Collaborative of Queensland and our own Consumer Advisory Group if healthcare feels safe to them right now in public hospitals and health service settings. Specifically:
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- Are measures such as PPE and distancing enough to make you feel protected? Are they being used adequately in healthcare you have experienced recently?
- Are distancing guidelines being followed by others, or being enforced by the healthcare service?
- After being in lockdown for weeks, do you feel confident to go out in public to seek healthcare?
Continue reading eAlert >
15 May 2020
From what consumers shared, a picture emerged of mixed messaging, inconsistent application of protective and safety measures, and varying levels of confidence in the health system’s ability to keep patients safe from potential infection. Some people feel frightened, vulnerable and forgotten.
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