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 >
29 Mar 2018
The Senate have released their report into transvaginal mesh.
Joint State/Territory Peaks Media Release
Vindication for mesh injured women: but suspend mesh until after audit results
Australia’s state and territory based health consumer organisations have welcomed the recognition of the extent and impact of harm to women, and the recommendations contained in the report from the Senate Inquiry into transvaginal mesh implants released yesterday. But they say they hoped the report had gone further.
“We are very pleased that the Senate’s recommendations reflecting our calls to strengthen provisions for informed consent, only using mesh as a last resort, requiring mandatory reporting of complications, establishing a register (which should be retrospective and for all transvaginal mesh devices) and having the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care do an audit of transvaginal mesh procedures in Australia. The Commission must be resourced to do this in a timely manner and the audit should also include procedures done by private specialists” said state and territory consumer peaks spokesperson Melissa Fox, CEO of Health Consumers Queensland.
“However until the community sees this accurate, retrospective data we won’t know just how many women have been harmed by all types of mesh including POP, tapes and slings. We are disappointed that a more cautious approach wasn’t taken, to recommend the suspension in use of all mesh until the data is in to establish their safety and efficacy. These devices will continue to be implanted in women in hospitals across Australia tomorrow, and not one more woman should be unwittingly subjected to this high-stakes surgical intervention until we can be assured of their safety”, said Ms Fox. (more…)
13 Mar 2018
Young people’s voices the key to improving youth mental health services: PDF
Health Consumers Queensland is advocating for increased involvement of young people and their parents/carers to improve mental health services for children and adolescents across Queensland.
“Sadly, there are too many stories like that of Murray Benton and his family who shared their situation on social media last weekend”, said Melissa Fox, CEO of Health Consumers Queensland.
“Families report profound challenges in helping their children find the care that they need, when they need it, from a health professional they trust, and in a location that is accessible to them”.
“Improving access to mental health services for young people is a high priority and needs to remain a key Queensland Government focus. It is an area of high need for support across the state, both at a strategic level and an operational level”.
“Input from young Queenslanders who use mental health services and their loved ones and carers is key to the development of better services”, she said.
Health Consumers Queensland has been a key partner in the Queensland Government project to deliver outcomes based on recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry into the closure of Barrett Adolescent Centre. The partnership has resulted in the inclusion of young people, carers and families at all levels of the project. The result so far has been an unprecedented approach to designing a new youth mental health facility, to be built at the Prince Charles Hospital, commencing later this year.
END
For more information on this project, go to: https://www.hcq.org.au/our-work/barrett-inquiry/
Media contact: Melissa Fox, CEO, Health Consumers Queensland 0404 882 716
