15 January 2020 — Submission

Establishing and sustaining regional rural and remote radiation therapy centres: CHF submission

Consumers Health Forum

CHF's recommendations to the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists, Faculty of Radiation Oncology on the comprehensive guide for Establishing and sustaining regional, rural and remote radiation therapy centres. 

CHF notes that where the guide refers to engagement with consumers, the information should be clear, direct and tangible to avoid confusion or inaction. We recommend including additional information to emphasise the role of the consumer advisory committee with examples to illustrate how this has been done well by organisations such as Primary Health Networks. We have asked that the guide include references to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care’s Partnering with Consumers Standard. Read our submission below:

19 December 2019 — Report

Safety and Quality in Healthcare Special Interest Group - General Purpose and Operation of the Group

19 December 2019 — Submission

CHF Response to the Report from the Psychiatry Clinical Committee

Consumers Health Forum

Thirty years following the creation of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS), a review is long overdue. CHF believes that this review and a commitment to the regular evaluation of Medicare items is an essential to maintaining a world class health system and ensuring that funding is available for high value care.

In March 2019 CHF undertook a consumer survey on mental health services to hear from people with lived experiences about how the current health service system works for them. In that survey we asked about people’s experience of care, from a system integration and patient centred perspective and asked for ideas about how it could be improved.

The results from that survey echoed the evidence from a plethora of other reports on mental health service provision that there is a need to improve access to services and provide more choice. We agree that more needs to be done to help people access services closer to where they live and to make those services affordable.

CHF wants to see a service environment that helps reduce health inequities and helps people get the care they need when they need it. We support the development of stepped care models as a way of facilitating that and ensuring valuable and scarce resources are used to the best effect.

Click on the link below to read the CHF Response to the Report from the Psychiatry Clinical Committee

19 December 2019 — Submission

CHF Response to the Report from the Ophthalmology Clinical Committee

Consumers Health Forum

Thirty years following the creation of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS), a review is long overdue. CHF believes that this review and a commitment to the regular evaluation of Medicare items is an essential to maintaining a world class health system and ensuring that funding is available for high value care.

Through CHF’s ongoing research work and engagement with our members, we consistently hear that issues of access, cost and quality are critically important to consumers when accessing healthcare. All three issues are especially prominent in relation to specialist care. These three factors shape the way we have considered this report and our response to the recommendations.

We believe many of the recommendations in this report present the opportunity to improve the value and quality of care consumers receive. We have raised concerns in relation to some areas where we believe the recommendations as proposed would lead to unintended consequences that would increase costs for consumers and ultimately limit access to care.

Click on the link below to read the CHF Response to the Report from the Ophthalmology Clinical Committee

19 December 2019 — Submission

CHF Response to the Report from the Consumer Panel

Consumers Health Forum

Thirty years following the creation of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS), a review is long overdue. CHF believes that this review and a commitment to the regular evaluation of Medicare items is an essential to maintaining a world class health system and ensuring that funding is available for high value care.

There is a substantial body of research supporting the importance of consumer involvement in health decision-making and a growing literature focussing specifically on the role of consumer representatives. Given the growth in both recognition and evidence to support consumer representation in health policy making, it was disappointing that a specific committee dedicated to consumer elements was not in place from the start of the MBS Review in 2015.

However, CHF appreciated the opportunity to engage with the Taskforce to establish the Consumer Panel in September 2016 and is pleased to see the results of the 2018 survey show it has provided significant value to the process, both from the consumer and the clinician perspectives. In particular, the Panel has developed a number of tools and templates to support the inclusion of consumer evidence and perspectives into committee deliberations. We hope these tools will continue to be used to support consumer engagement in the ongoing review of MBS items.

Click on the link below to read the CHF Response to the Report from the Consumer Panel

17 December 2019 — Health Voices

Health Voices — Issue 25, November 2019

Consumers Health Forum

In this issue of Health Voices leading health care professionals, consumers and researchers examine what personalised care really means for patients navigating the health system in Australia.

Read the November 2019 issue of Health Voices

16 December 2019 — Report

Collaborative Pairs Australia National Demonstration Trial - Review of existing evidence

As background to this demonstration trial, this report reports a scoping review of the extant knowledge to identify practical and relevant information related to the Collaborative Pairs context, program, methodology and outcomes. 

16 December 2019 — Report

Collaborative Pairs Australia Final report

Consumers Health Forum

Collaborative Pairs is a leadership development program which brings together a consumer, patient or community leader to work with a service provider, clinician or manager to develop new ways of working together. Each pair identifies a joint healthcare challenge or project that they are passionate about and will work on for the duration of the program.

The program, which originated in the UK, aims to develop partnerships and to break down the cultural barriers that often exist between those providing services and those receiving them. 

Collaborative practice between the consumers and clinicians is an emergent area of health system management and service development, with broad reaching benefits and there is evidence of benefits to improving services, but better organisational cultures as well. In 2019, CHF concluded a demonstration trial in an Australian context, with over 40 pairs participating. A literature review and an external evaluation of the trail has now been finalised.

16 December 2019 — Consumers Shaping Health

Consumers Shaping Health - December 2019

Consumers Health Forum

This year closes with Consumers Health Forum able to demonstrate a solid record of achievement. As we highlight in our Report Card, we are more focused and prepared than ever to press for our health services to reflect the potential benefits of 21st Century knowledge when it comes to care and wellbeing in both urban and rural Australia.

16 December 2019 — Fact Sheets

Collaborative Pairs: National Registration Program — Invitation to apply

Jennie Parham

We are seeking interested, enthusiastic consumers and health service providers who want to improve their collaborative practice and leadership skills to build effective partnerships that can “influence change” to undertake the Collaborative Pairs program.

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