BreastScreen NSW (Greater Western) is recruiting representatives for its Consumer Advisory Committee, including a primary care provider, and women aged 40 and above who are clients of the service.

Women who speak a language other than English at home, or who are Aboriginal, are encouraged to apply. Committee members need to live or work in areas covered by Western NSW and Far West Local Health Districts.

Ms Deon Adamson, Manager, BreastScreen NSW (Greater Western) says the committee’s role is to provide consumer input, advice and feedback in order to enhance access, planning and development of screening and assessment services. 

“Members of our Consumer Advisory Committee are our eyes and ears on the ground, providing us with valuable local insights that help us to continually monitor and improve our services,” Ms Adamson says.

“Breast screening saves lives, so please consider joining us, knowing you will make an important contribution to the health and wellbeing of your community, helping to shape the services we provide.”

Committee meetings are held twice yearly and it is possible to attend remotely. 

For further information or to apply please email: kay.smith@health.nsw.gov.au

Chief Advocate Ian Henschke.

Aged care homes are closing as they struggle to meet new standards. From 1st July they need a registered nurse 24/7 and more workers to give more care minutes per resident. 

National Seniors has put forward a solution in its budget submission to help retain and attract staff. 

Chief Advocate Ian Henschke said that pensioners are discouraged from staying in the work force, working more, or returning to work because they lose 50c in the dollar on income earned above the $11,800 work bonus limit. 

“Our research shows almost 20% of pensioners are considering returning to work but under current rules after about one day’s work they’re losing 50c in the dollar from their pension, reporting to Centrelink and paying tax on top,” Mr Henschke said. 

“Many older workers walk away because it’s too complicated trying to understand what you can earn before your pension takes a hit. We propose care sector workers be exempt from the harsh pension income test. Then you can work as much as you want and simply pay tax.” 

The skills and labour shortage casts a shadow over more than aged care. It’s a growing problem in health care, disability care, and childcare. All are desperate for workers. A year ago there were 60,200 vacancies across the wider care sector. The latest ABS figures show this has blown out to 72,400. 

Beyond Blue is calling for mental health and mental wellbeing to feature strongly in the Federal Government’s new framework that aims to accurately gauge and understand how people’s lives are tracking in Australia. 

The government is developing a Measuring What Matters Statement and Australian Wellbeing Framework to discuss how Australia might measure its success in ways that will go beyond traditional economic indicators such as productivity and growth. 

In its submission, Beyond Blue states mental health is central to overall wellbeing and national prosperity. Beyond Blue recommends mental health and mental wellbeing indicators are included in the national framework to better measure overall wellbeing, due to the significant impact our mental health has on the way we live. 

Beyond Blue CEO Georgie Harman said the framework was a chance to consider how social conditions influence our mental health and wellbeing. 

“The framework must include ways to measure and better understand how employment, housing, racism, discrimination, and social inequality impact people’s mental health and wellbeing in Australia,” Ms Harman said. 

“And it must be based on thorough consultation with communities, especially those experiencing mental health conditions and suicidal thoughts, and people impacted by homelessness, unemployment, racism, and poverty.” 

Beyond Blue Support Service: 1300 22 4636 or beyondblue.org.au/getsupport. 

The good news is that heart disease is largely preventable. The bad news is that the best tool for heart disease prevention – the Medicare Heart Health Check – is about to expire. 

The Heart Foundation is seeking a guarantee from the Australian Government that funding will continue beyond 30th of June this year. 

Nearly 440,000 Australians have seen their GP for a Medicare subsidised Heart Health Check since they were introduced. 

The Heart Foundation is asking the Government to invest $11.5 million per year, to continue subsidising Heart Health Checks into the future. 

This is a relatively small investment compared to the $1 billion in healthcare costs that could be saved with broad uptake of Heart Health Checks in high-risk Australians and more importantly, the 67,000 heart attacks, strokes and heart disease related deaths that could be prevented over five years. 

It’s not too late for people to take action: Help save Medicare Heart Health Checks by signing our petition, writing to local MPs and sharing the petition with friends and family. 

To take action, please visit www.heartfoundation.org.au/save-heart-checks 

Four new lifesaving BreastScreen NSW vans will roll into regional and remote communities under a $21.7 million investment by the NSW Liberals and Nationals Government to make breast cancer screening more accessible.

The NSW Liberals and Nationals are committed to improving health services for women, with re-election announcements of $16.3 million for new endometriosis and pelvic pain services, $7 million in research grants for gynaecological cancers, a $4 million expansion of the $80 million Affordable IVF Initiative, $2 million to help women suffering miscarriage, pregnancy loss, stillbirth and a $95 million infrastructure overhaul for The Royal Hospital for Women’s Newborn Care Centre and Birthing Unit at Randwick.

The NSW Liberals and Nationals in Government have also committed $40 million as part of the 2022-23 NSW Budget to establish four Menopause Hubs and 12 specialised services across the state.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the new BreastScreen NSW vans will visit up to 50 more communities for the first time, including in Northern and Western NSW, saving women significant travel time. “Making sure that every woman in NSW has the opportunity to detect breast cancer early,” Mr Hazzard said.

The School of Rural Health in Dubbo provides Andrian Anderson with the opportunity to pursue his dream, while remaining close to family.

Adrian Anderson recently embarked on his journey to becoming a doctor, studying the University of Sydney’s Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree at the School of Rural Health in Dubbo. Adrian will complete the entire four-year postgraduate degree in Dubbo with clinical training centered on Dubbo Hospital.

Originally from Narromine, Adrian returned to Dubbo 18 months ago to be closer to family and to work as a paramedic, all while following the development of the Doctor of Medicine program in Dubbo. Adrian was attracted to the rural focus of the program, the opportunity to study locally and the small cohort size which offers a more personalised study experience and more face-to-face time with clinicians and tutors. 

“I have been working as a paramedic for a while now and wanted to further the care I can provide for patients. I don’t think I can single-handedly solve the rural doctor shortage, but I want to do my bit to improve the access of country people to medical services. I have been watching the development of the full four-year program at Dubbo and saw it as a fantastic opportunity to pursue the dream,” said Adrian.

Adrian is part of the second cohort of students now studying the University of Sydney’s entire four-year Doctor of Medicine program in Dubbo. Students in Dubbo study the same world-class medical education as their peers in Sydney, while gaining hands-on experience in rural and remote medical practice. 

The Dubbo Stream is only available to students eligible for Commonwealth Supported Places and pathways are available for First Nations students and those with rural backgrounds. 

The School of Rural Health in Dubbo features state-of-the-art medical education facilities including learning studios, anatomy teaching lab, and six-suite simulation training centre.

For more information visit sydney.edu.au/medicine-health/dubbo 

Earlier this month, Life Pharmacy Group (LPG) gathered in Forbes for its 8th annual conference, to review the group’s strategy and plan for the year ahead. 

This year, attendees had the opportunity to hear great bush poetry and stories by local identity “Tractor” Rennick hosted by Debbie Prior at The Book Dispensary. The team were lucky to enjoy a delicious meal at the soon to open Donna’s Table restaurant! 

CEO Michael Flannery awarded Shannon Nash from Life Pharmacy Forbes the LPG 2023 Pharmacist in Charge of the Year award. Shannon has taken on extra responsibilities as PIC throughout the year and been a fantastic leader to the team and community during not one, but two devastating floods in Forbes at the end of 2022. 

The LPG 2023 Pharmacy of the Year award was presented to joint winners Life Pharmacy Forbes and Flannery’s Pharmacy. Both pharmacies showed resilience and amazing support to the local community during the Forbes floods. 

Forbes CanAssist hosted a BBQ breakfast at the picturesque Forbes Golf Club. Life Pharmacy Group proudly donated $2,500 to CanAssist.