Consumer representatives and advocates gather in Canberra for a workshop on topical health issues.

Eighteen experienced consumers attended a CHF interactive workshop in Canberra on 9 November.

Consumers from First Nations, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse and disability communities were represented, as well as conditions such as mental health, musculoskeletal, and immunodeficiency disorders among others. Geographically they came from across Australia, from as far away as Port Hedland in WA, to North Queensland and Hobart in Tasmania.

Participants were invited to share their views on:

• MyMedicare, the new voluntary patient enrolment model,
• Community Pharmacy, which is undergoing a review and
• Telehealth, after a new set of recommendations was released by the MBS Review Advisory Committee (MRAC)

The face-to-face event was an enormous success and positive feedback from attendees included:

“Very very valuable to be representing patients, better than a cold survey or teams call.”

“This actually feels like we have a quality voice not a quantity voice.”

“I felt valued, and my feedback listened to.”

CHF would like to thank our member organisations and state peak bodies who supported consumers to take part in this event.

A reminder to CHF organisational members to complete the survey we sent out last week. We are very keen to hear about your membership experience including what you think we do well, where we can improve and what you’d like to see us do more of. The results will be used to influence and shape the future direction of CHF's membership offering.

The survey closes on 22 November 2023.

If you did not receive an email and think you should have, or you would like to share more about your membership experience, please contact email [email protected]

The Commonwealth Government’s Covid-19 Response Inquiry has begun and CHF is committed to making sure your thoughts and experiences reach the decision-makers. This will help them understand what worked and what didn’t, so they can improve the response to future pandemics.

To collect your experiences and feedback, we have created a survey touching on five main Covid-19 topics. These are testing, vaccination, support services, access to health services, and Covid-19 health information.

The survey is now open, and we invite everyone interested to share their thoughts. Register or login to Australia’s Health Panel to complete the survey by November 30th.

You can also send your own submission directly to the Inquiry.

Consumers Health Forum received a Highly Commended Award for a research paper: Development of the Consumer Involvement & Engagement Toolkit: a digital resource to build capacity for undertaking patient-centred clinical trials in Australia, which was published by the Public Health Research and Practice Journal in March 2023.

CHF Senior Policy Officer James Ansell was a co-author of the paper which set out to examine how a toolkit would support meaningful consumer involvement in clinical trials, and be a guide for future projects.

The Department of Health and Aged Care has released the replay of a webinar co-hosted with CHF on the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Post-Acute Sequalae of COVID (Long Covid) Research Plan.

CHF CEO Elizabeth Deveny, who is on the Expert Advisory Committee for the Research Plan, and Dr Masha Somi, CEO for the Health and Medical Research Office at the Department of Health and Aged Care, led the discussion.

The webinar covers; what the plan means for consumers, and how consumers were represented in its development. It included presentations from consumer representatives and a ‘Questions and Answers’ session.

CHF held a consumer webinar last month to discuss the implementation of 60-day prescriptions – a new government policy to provide eligible consumers with cheaper medicines.

Facilitated by CHF CEO Elizabeth Deveny, consumers were able to have their questions answered by David Laffan, a senior representative from the Department of Health and Aged Care (DOHAC).  

While many consumer questions were answered during the session, it was clear further clarity is needed on some issues and these will be incorporated in a range of upcoming communications from CHF and DOHAC.

In the meantime, many of the original fact sheets and associated consumer materials have been translated into seven different languages

The Australian National Cancer Plan was launched by Cancer Australia CEO Professor Dorothy Keefe at the 50^th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) in Melbourne on 1 Nov 2023.  

The 10-year plan has goals and ambitions designed to improve cancer outcomes for all Australians. It will focus on improving equity amongst vulnerable population groups, and address issues such as location and cancer types with poorer outcomes.

It sets out strategic objectives and priority actions for world class cancer diagnosis, treatment, research and management, and aims to support patients and their families to navigate the system smoothly, throughout their cancer journey.

Significantly, the Plan aims to achieve equity in cancer outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Cancer Australia encourages all stakeholders to lead or partner in actions that improve cancer care across the country.

The Plan is available via an interactive website, or visit Cancer Australia.

Are you interested in hearing from DHAC updates on health issues? You can subscribe to alerts on your special interests from Aged Care, Allied Health, Indigenous Health, MBS review, primary care, to nursing and more.