Proposals for big changes to primary health care have recently been presented to the Government so this week’s #CHF Talks webinar on the subject was timely. The 20 recommendations in the discussion paper of the Ministerial Primary Health Reform Steering Group include extensive options for reform,...
senior woman seated looking at viewer with other aged people in the backgroubd
The challenges in providing vitally important health care for older and frail people have been amply demonstrated by the Government’s struggle to ensure all residents in aged care homes are vaccinated against COVID-19 in good time. It is not as if the Government is not mindful of the needs for...
The power of modern drugs makes it more important than ever that consumers are supported to know and understand their impact. Think of the potency and benefits of opioids, antimicrobials and anti-psychotics, yet all too often they are also associated with harms that could have been avoided. It’s...
CEO Leanne Wells talks about the health Budget to ABC Radio News interviewer Glen Bartholomew. (Edited) Overall reaction “We are pretty happy. The budget has promised record spending in areas of greatest concern to health care consumers. Aged care and mental health are big winners. But it has only...
Text  on image: Croakey News Service #Shifting Gears Summit
After the scores of speakers and hundreds of conversations at CHF’s Shifting Gears Summit, reporting on the proceedings presents numerous opportunities. CHF’s ejournal Health Voices provided articles from 15 of the contributors to the Summit. Yet a comprehensive conference report by Croakey News...
Jennifer Doggett in @CroakeyNews writes that the recent Shifting Gears Summit hosted by the Consumers Health Forum of Australia highlighted the changing role of consumers in health care, moving from a tokenistic “charity and volunteer” model to one of co-design and co-creation. The Trans-Tasman...
a girl receives a vaccination
The benefits and safety of COVID-19 vaccines need to be clearly communicated to many diverse communities.
Health consumer organisations (HCOs) have a major and growing voice in health policy, including through submissions and discussions about government subsidy for new medicines. Health consumer organisations are funded in a variety of ways and many accept pharmaceutical industry funding. This...
CHF’s Consumer Commission report whose key recommendations included a focus on mental health, came out just days after the release of the Productivity Commission’s final report on mental health. The two reports produce broadly similar findings about the widespread dearth of services and pressing...
Mind the Gap - London Underground
Much health policy decision-making is a contest between government and the powerful vested interests in health. That poses a constant challenge to ensure the interests of the most important player, the consumer, are not squeezed, or in fact squeezed out, of the process.

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