Consumer Conversations
Since the beginning of COVID-19, Health Consumers Queensland has been running regular Consumer Conversations.
These online sessions are a two-way flow of information. Consumers have the opportunity to hear from key people in health, and also to have their voices heard on some of the most topical health issues of the day.
We summarise the key themes from these conversations and produce an Issues Paper. We share these papers here, as well as with key leaders in Queensland Health. The Consumer Conversations and Issues Papers are one of the ways we help to create a bridge between consumers and the health system. By taking part in a Consumer Conversation, you can be sure that your experience and views are heard by the people who make the decisions.
We would like to thank each and every one of the amazing consumers who have joined one or more of these conversations. Your insights and perspectives are valuable and help us to influence and shape the system.
Upcoming and recent Consumer Conversations
How are the latest COVID-19 outbreaks in Queensland affecting you?
Friday, 6 August 2021
10.00-11.15am via Zoom
Health Consumers Queensland invites regular users of the health system from right across the State to talk about how the latest COVID-19 outbreaks are affecting you and your health. By sharing your experiences and solutions, we can identify the key issues and help shape the health system’s response.
Register >
After you have registered, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the conversation.
Why not take part?
We warmly invite all consumers in Queensland to join us in the Consumer Conversations. We publicise dates, topics and how to register in our eAlerts and on Facebook.
Don’t get our eAlert? Just join our network to start receiving a weekly digest of consumer opportunities, including Consumer Conversations.
Issues Paper: Making sense of Omicron
Key topics in this issue: System capacity is a concern for many consumers, with ramping, backlog of delayed treatments and screening, and underutilization of the surge workforce COVID Information is still challenging, although improved Consumer and clinicians are often not finding the information they need. Complacency: There is a perception that the public consider Omicron no more dangerous...
Issues paper: We are still feeling lost and we still have questions.
What consumers told us during the week ending 25 February 2022. This week, we were all reminded by a long-standing consumer, that we are lucky in Queensland. He asked us where else in the country are consumers at the table, asking questions, being heard, and getting the chance to help work with staff to improve our health system. So if we don’t say this often enough, here it is again, loud and...
Issues Paper: We are not just statistics. We are people.
Key topics in this Issues Paper: People with disability and other ‘at risk’ people are feeling a sense of abandonment and disregard for their lives. Consumers are concerned about how backlogs and waiting lists are being managed Telehealth and virtual care have huge potential but is it always safe, consultative and high quality? Consumers have an expectation that the same mistakes are not...
“Working together for the best care possible” – What health consumers and carers are saying on Friday 4 February 2022
During a conversation with Torres Strait Islander Elders this week, one of the Elders asked: “Are we doing the best we can?” HCQ asks each of us to consider that question. Are we working together with the right people, inside and outside our organisations/networks, to do the best we can? Key issues for health consumers and carers this week focus on what's working well with communications about...
Issues Paper: Get Back to Basics
As the first month of 2022 draws to a close, Health Consumers Queensland continues to listen to health consumer and carers across the state of their experience of accessing, getting and receiving healthcare and information. This week the key themes that have emerged from health consumers include significant concerns for people’s safety and wellbeing in Residential Aged Care Facilities, those...
“There is no time” – What consumers have told us this week (17-21 January 2022)
From a system that doesn't support people with any vulnerabilities, including those with a disability, to a growing sense that we've run out of time, both consumers and health staff want a plan forward rather than crisis management. The key themes you raised during HCQ's Thursday evening online Coffee & Connect session and other online engagement included: • Access to care and care for COVID...
What‘s the information you need right now? What consumers are saying today?
Health consumers and carers identify key issues and give suggestions of key actions. Issues include: Consumers online today were very worried. They feel like there is no plan. They are very worried that people are going to die unnecessarily because there is no plan. Current consumer experiences shared today include being unable to get food or medications in rural and remote areas. Consumers want...
Urgent Consumer Issues
Queensland’s border opening just prior to Christmas, coupled with the dramatic rise in cases from the highly infectious Omicron variant and recent adoption of national policy shifts has meant Queensland’s pandemic preparedness has been deeply tested. An exhausted health workforce and Queenslanders have faced the challenges of the last three weeks with agility, resilience and commitment. During...
Do Queenslanders Feel COVID-ready?
With our state border due to open on 17 December, Health Consumers Queensland hosted 3 webcasts. Our aim was to increase the COVID-readiness of Queensland health consumers and carers. We did this by providing a forum for information-sharing by clinical experts and leaders from Queensland Health. What we heard was that Queenslanders feel uncertainty and want to: Hear from their local health...
Responding to Delta: Chance to change how care is delivered IF WE GET THIS RIGHT NOW
Queensland’s COVID-19 pandemic response has exposed the existing disparities in access to healthcare. Just as the state’s vaccination response has needed to focus on our more vulnerable citizens, so too has our health system long needed a reset based on equity and value. The safety and wellbeing of health consumers relies on a Queensland Health system that operates wholistically, collaborating...
August 2021: Lockdown in South East Queensland
Faced with an outbreak of the Delta variant and a swift lockdown in South East Queensland, HCQ asked consumers around the State: How are the latest COVID-19 outbreaks affecting you and your health? Read the situation report >
The COVID-19 vaccine rollout – What’s working and what could be better
Last week, Queensland Health gave a record 80,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. This issues paper shares consumers’ most recent experiences of the rollout up until 22 June 2021 and includes your reactions to ATAGI’s latest revised recommendations for the Astra Zeneca vaccine. It also presents your ideas and suggestions about what needs to improve so that the roll-out feels well-run, safe and...
The COVID-19 vaccine roll out in Queensland: Are you still on board or now feeling de-railed?
Exploring the impact of the slow progress of the vaccine roll-out program across our states and territories and the decision to suspend the distribution of the Astra Zeneca vaccine for under 50s, on health consumers and carers across the State. There is an urgent need for health professionals known to and trusted by their high risk patients to offer a proactive, joined up, team-centred approach...
Magic bullet or bitter pill: What the COVID vaccine means vulnerable people
Many consumers are living with chronic or multiple conditions which mean they are in category 1B, which is rolling out now. For this reason they experience a real sense of urgency for them to get the information they need about the vaccine: is it safe for them (and their specific circumstances), how and who can they have this safety conversation with, and when they will be vaccinated. Read the...
Your questions and concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out in Queensland
In the past 4 weeks, Health Consumers Queensland has hosted two Q&A Forums about the COVID-19 vaccine roll out in Queensland: The first enabled consumers from across our network to put their questions to Queensland’s Chief Health Officer (CHO), Dr Jeannette Young. The second was specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health consumers who put questions to the CHO and the Chief...
A seat at the decision-making table
As the State faces an uncertain economic future with the pandemic draining the public purse, a looming recession and a significant burden of chronic disease and health inequity, key decisions about funding, resourcing and service priorities are only going to get tougher. However, currently, consumers do not have a seat at the table to help shape these decisions even though their health care and...
The COVID-19 vaccine roll-out in Queensland: What would build your confidence?
Amidst intense media coverage and the release of limited information by the Commonwealth and State Governments, our first Consumer Conversation of 2021 focused on hearing what consumers are looking for from Queensland Health’s engagement and communications to underpin informed decision-making and instill public confidence in the plans to roll out the COVID-19 vaccination. Prior to the event, Dr...
What does safety in healthcare mean to you?
Safety is at the very foundation of healthcare, but how often do we think about what safe care looks and feels like to us? How often do we consider what the healthcare system does to keep us safe? Have you ever felt uncomfortable or unsafe when receiving healthcare? Do you feel you can speak up if you do start to feel unsafe? This was Health Consumers Queensland’s 21st conversation with...
Are culturally and linguistically diverse consumers having their needs met during COVID-19?
Health Consumers Queensland facilitated a conversation between culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) and non-CALD consumers*, NGOs representing the interests of CALD consumers and staff from Queensland Health’s Disability and Multicultural Health Unit who have been leading engagement with CALD communities on the health response to the pandemic, the Social Policy Department, the Deputy...
Face masks: What more do consumers need to know
Recently the Chief Health Officer confirmed that Queenslanders should wear face masks when we can’t socially distance. However, wearing face masks continues to be a topic of discussion and confusion amongst consumers. Eleven consumers from Health Consumers Queensland’s COVID-19 Community of Interest joined Jordan Medlock from the Strategic Communications Branch’s Project Team to explore the...
A COVID-19 vaccine: Health consumers’ views
Although a vaccine for COVID-19 is not yet available, it’s high on the news agenda this week and keenly anticipated. According to peer-reviewed research published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal, we need up to 80% vaccination to ensure herd immunity. Yet the results of an Australian study in April showed that 14% of Australian adults would reject or were unsure about...