Health Consumers Queensland has been honoured to support the codesign and Ministerial announcement today of the location of the new statewide Queensland Pelvic Mesh Service based out of the Gold Coast, to open in the first half of 2019.
See below for a statement from our CEO Melissa Fox.
Today is a momentous and emotional day for mesh affected women in Queensland and their advocates.
Thank you to the individual woman who originally brought this issue to our organisation’s attention. Today was for you.
Thank you to the women who bravely shared with us and Queensland Health your most intimate and awful experiences of being let down by our health system. What you so clearly articulated as your health needs, have formed the basis of the model of service that will be delivered.
That so many of you hadn’t been listened to and taken care of by the health professionals that you trusted, is an indictment on how we treat mothers in our society. Hopefully today is another step towards your healing and you receiving the care that you need to live your best lives possible.
To the women who have guided the development of this service, thank you for your patience and ongoing commitment.
Thank you to the Clinical Excellence Queensland in Queensland Health and the Health Minister Steven Miles MP. You have listened with compassion, respect, at times horror at the experiences the women have shared and most of all a solid commitment to Queensland meeting the health needs of these women.
To the clinicians and Gold Coast Health who have stepped up to provide this service, I know you understand the privilege and responsibility that this comes with. Thank you for commitment to do it in such a meaningful and holistic way.
We are uniquely placed at a national level to have what I think is the deepest level of consumer co-design in our service – from basing the scope of the service on what women want, to involving consumers in the co-design as planning moved forward, to a commitment to continue to work with and listen to women in the ongoing design, evaluation and improvement of the service. It shouldn’t be a postcode lottery as to whether an Australian woman can receive a co-designed, multidisciplinary service and we call for greater consistency across the country in terms of co-design, appropriate funding and model of service.
And finally, to the women who will receive this service: know that you will no longer be alone. And when the service opens, please speak up about your experience of care through the service. It’s been because of your voices that this service is being set up, and it will be because of your voices that it is continuously improved to meet your needs.
Health Consumers Queensland looks forward to continuing to walk alongside everyone involved in the continued co-design and implementation of this service in 2019.
Read the Queensland Health Minister’s press release >
Queensland Health have updated their website with more detail >