3 Oct 2018
June 2017
Twelve Youth Mental Health Forums were held across the state, with representatives from Health Consumers Qld, Queensland Health and the Department of Education presenting on the Barrett Commission of Inquiry Implementation Project. You can stay up to date with the outcomes from the forums at the Queensland Health website www.health.qld.gov.au/improvement/youthmentalhealth
The final Implementation Steering Committee meeting will be held on 19 July and further information on the next phase of this work will be made available as soon as possible. With the exciting announcement in the Queensland Budget of a $70M allocation to the new facility, 2 Step Up/
Step Down facilities and 2 Day Programs, there is still much work to be done.
Final reports on each aspect of the implementation will be made available also on the Queensland Health website.
26 Jun 2018
This letter has been submitted to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care by each state’s Pelvic Mesh Support Groups and the Health Consumer organisations in each State and Territory across Australia, asking the Commission to comprehensively address the recommendations tabled in the Senate Report (see below post).
Excerpt:
This letter is a joint appeal from each state’s Pelvic Mesh Support Groups and the current Health Consumer organisations in each State and Territory across Australia. On behalf of all mesh injured women of Australia, and those who may in the future access treatment for stress urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse we write to you, the Australia Commission for Safety and Quality in Healthcare to comprehensively address the recommendations tabled in the above report. We need and value your support in addressing the urgent call for action to prioritise the management of this medical disaster that is crippling Australian women and their families.
Women from the Support Groups are struggling with lifelong complications, physical and mental ill health, pain, suffering, financial burden and significant loss of life as they knew it. They feel that there needs to be a dramatic cultural change in treatment, reflected from the top and ensured by ACSQHC.
There is a significant lack of trust in the medical treatment these women have received; they have been dismissed, ignored and gaslighted into believing their ailments were “all in our heads”. As Senator Rachel Siewert, Chair of the Senate Inquiry, stated in her report release speech: They have suffered for so long without being heard. They have not been believed. In some cases, they’ve been belittled. They have been ignored. Well, for no longer shall they be ignored.
Appropriate pathways for lifelong care are now required. A trauma based model is needed for treatment moving forward; together with empowerment for all women at every stage of their journey.
Download full PDF letter >
