Report finds people with chronic pain continue to suffer from stigma
The report found this year - 2025 - 54 per cent of survey respondents reported waiting more than two years for a diagnosis, and 44 per cent waited over three years.
Chronic Pain Australia's report calls on the federal government to make chronic pain a national priority through changes like providing more localised funding to primary care and the coding system.
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The Australian
28 minutes ago
- The Australian
How Australians rate chronic health management
By modern measures, Lesley Hoatson just might be a medical unicorn. In the past 40 years, she has been treated by only two general practitioners. Even then, she only switched doctors because one retired. She attributes it to her local clinic's knack for retaining staff. 'I think it's because the practice I go to is a community health centre and to work there you probably have to be pretty committed to that sort of service to the community,' she says. Ms Hoatson, 74, looks the picture of health. She leads an active lifestyle and is preparing to hike through the French Alps. She is also a frequent gym-goer, enjoys pilates and regularly volunteers in her local community. But what might not be as obvious is that, like half of all Australians aged over 65, Hoatson lives with multiple chronic health conditions. She has high blood pressure, high cholesterol and anxiety, all of which she says are managed effectively with the help of medication and a trip to the GP every six months. 'He monitors those medications each time I go, and that's fairly straightforward,' she says. Ms Hoatson feels her GP includes her in all conversations about her health and talks through her treatment options, and lets her decide the course of action. He supports whatever decision she makes. She says it is a relationship built around trust and respect, and that has filled her with confidence in the health system. 'Without him sort of breathing down my neck, I feel comfortable about having made decisions and managing what I'm doing with my own health,' she says. 'I've never known any different. Maybe it's a little bit of luck. I think if you were swapping to a different doctor every time, it would be a much more basic exchange of what's happening and that's it. 'Whereas this is actually about you, the person, and you should feel like (the doctor) is actually interested in you. Even though my doctor has a short amount of time to see me, he does it efficiently, and I come away feeling like I have been heard and he has responded to what I needed.' Ms Hoatson has documented her experience as part of the international Patient-Reported Indicator Survey. The survey focuses exclusively on the experiences of patients in primary care and compares how 19 OECD member nations perform. More than 100,000 patients who live with chronic illness took part globally, including 2392 from Australia. Respondents were patients aged 45 and over, had at least one chronic condition, and visited a GP in the six months prior to the survey. They were asked about their experience, outcomes, and how they accessed health information and services. Associate Professor Liz Marles is a spokeswoman for the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, which conducted the study on behalf of the Health Department. She is also a former president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and says Australia held its own, performing better than or close to the OECD average across 10 health measures, and ranking in the top five in quality of care, co-ordination of care, person-centred care and physical health. However, there were three areas to improve, especially in mental health, wellbeing and social functioning – which considers how well someone can perform everyday activities and responsibilities. 'What we're looking at here is how people with chronic conditions, what their experience is in terms of healthcare delivery,' Dr Marles says. 'It's that in-depth perspective that allows us to see how well we're performing and probably gives us much greater insight, really, into what are the strengths in the system and what are the areas that we probably need to focus on.' One key finding was that patients with greater continuity of care had better outcomes than those without, and those who maintained the same GP had a greater level of trust in the system. 'As a GP, I know when I see a person that I'm familiar with, it's just a much easier consult,' Dr Marles says. 'I already know what their preferences are, so whether they're someone who is very anxious about their health and wants to have lots of investigations, or whether they're someone who maybe doesn't pay enough attention to their health, and I need to be a bit more proactive with that person. 'Knowing a person's preferences really helps, and that's what person-centred care is. And we rated really highly on person-centred care; Australia was 94 per cent versus 85 per cent for the OECD average.' The results further highlight the postcode lottery and other health inequalities, with patients in cities and those with higher levels of education and income reporting better experiences, which then led to improved health outcomes. David Fong is a general practitioner at Co Health, a multidisciplinary community health centre in the Melbourne suburb of Kensington. The clinic works closely with allied health professionals and was one of dozens nationally that had patients participate in the survey. A lot of Dr Fong's patients are from non-English-speaking backgrounds and include refugees, concession card holders and pensioners. Not all of them are familiar with how to navigate Australia's health system, which could lead to confusion and distrust if not managed appropriately. He says managing chronic conditions requires careful planning. 'Many patients do recognise the value of seeing the same doctor or the same clinicians, or nurses they're familiar with as well, who have learned this story,' he says. 'But it's also a supply problem … sometimes one particular doctor is not available. For chronic conditions, though, if you plan ahead you can always see your doctor, you just might have to wait.' Australia has a high burden of chronic disease, which is growing as the population ages. It's a trend that adds pressure to the broader health system, care providers and the community. According to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, in 2022, half of Australians had at least one chronic condition, and in that year alone $82bn was spent on treating chronic disease. 'Chronic conditions were recorded as an underlying or associated cause of 90 per cent of all deaths, and were responsible for 91 per cent of the non-fatal burden of disease,' the report states. Further, chronic conditions represent the fastest-growing segment of healthcare users in Australia. The most common chronic condition reported in this country was high blood pressure, followed by arthritis or joint pain, depression or other mood disorder, breathing conditions, and cardiovascular or other heart conditions. The survey found patients with multiple chronic conditions were less confident of managing their own care but also had less trust in the health system and doctors. People living with chronic conditions including liver disease, neurological or mental health conditions reported having the worst experiences of all chronic care patients. The survey also revealed a breakdown in communication between doctors and patients when it came to explaining care, finding that while many doctors were completing personalised GP Management Plans for patients, they were not always informing or involving the actual patient at the centre of the plan. 'In about 50 per cent of cases, people are not even aware that they've had one done,' Dr Marles says. 'We need to create those plans in partnership with our patients so that they actually understand what the tasks are for them in terms of self-management; what are the goals that we're hoping to achieve? Who are the other people involved in their care? It's a really important plan and I think it's an area that we need to focus on a bit more.' Dr Fong suspects that will change following amendments introduced on July 1 that replace the existing GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangements with a single GP Chronic Conditions Management Plan. As part of the change, GPs may have access to additional Medicare billing benefits if they develop a plan for a patient with chronic conditions. 'As of July 1, there's much more emphasis on reviewing the plan periodically, approximately only three, four to six months,' Dr Fong says. The report also found men were far more likely to trust the healthcare system than women, a trend that was not influenced by the gender of the healthcare provider. Dr Marles says the cause of the distrust was not obvious from the findings, speculating it could be the result of more women seeking medical help for complex conditions including psychological issues. 'That's not to say that they have more psychological issues, it's just that they may seek help for mental health complaints more than men,' she says. 'Maybe there's some element of that medical misogyny, where they may feel dismissed around their concerns. It's very hard to drill down and find out exactly why that statistic is there based on the results.' Dietitians Australia president Dr Fiona Willer believes the findings show the need for allied health professionals to be better embedded into primary care. 'We're failing at best practice here, it makes no sense for Australians at risk of, or living with, diet-related chronic diseases, like type-2 diabetes, not to be getting adequate access to dietitians,' she says. 'We can't expect GPs to be managing complex chronic conditions alone, for patients with multiple chronic conditions, comprehensive multidisciplinary team care is absolutely essential – and not the reality in Australia yet.' It is hoped the findings will be used by policymakers and doctors to help fill national healthcare gaps. Lesley Hoatson hopes that happens. 'This is really about social justice issues, because not everyone gets access to those sorts of services like continuity of care,' she says. 'It's made a big difference to my life, and I reckon there'd be very few people who wouldn't want that. It's just that they can't necessarily get access to it.'
The Australian
31 minutes ago
- The Australian
Beriman calls for concussion protocols to be strengthened
Nikita Beriman has called for jockeys who suffer any kind of head knock in a fall to be stood down for a mandatory 21-day period. Beriman would like to see the 12-day stand-down period for concussion in Queensland racing extended after being forced to deal with her own health problems following a nasty four-horse fall at Ipswich early this month that left fellow jockey Mark Du Plessis with a broken rib and three fractured vertebrae. Beriman passed all her SCAT tests and was given the green light to compete on Caloundra Cup Day at the Sunshine Coast on July 5 when she had eight rides, including a winner on Chakra Boy in a $200,000 sprint race. PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! But when she was called to a stewards' inquiry late in the day, she started to feel sick and had to leave the room to vomit, sparking a series of post-concussion symptoms which are still adversely affecting the veteran hoop. 'The body's good, it's just the brain that's not 100 per cent,' she said. 'There are so many components to this, it's so frustrating. READ: 'This isn't a novelty': Female hoops set up for success 'I just need to rest the best I can and get back to being fighting fit and doing normal things. 'The doctor said it's like shaking the trunk of a tree. You're moving all the branches and leaves and you don't know what part of it is the worst.' In February last year, new concussion guidelines for junior and community sport recommended that athletes wait at least 21 days before resuming competitive contact action. The guidelines were developed by the Australian Institute of Sport in co-operation with Sports Medicine Australia. A race at Grafton in 2018 when three jockeys fell from their horses Beriman said at one stage she struggled to even touch her knees, and being sidelined from the job she loved had been a massive psychological blow that had left the normally happy-go-lucky hoop battling depression at times. 'I've never been depressed but I've had to navigate my way through that,' she said. 'I'm an active person but lately I've been up for half a day and then back in bed resting.' After visiting renowned sports doctor Peter Friis in Brisbane last Thursday, Beriman has been told to rest for the next six weeks before being reassessed for a return-to-riding date. The tough-as-nails Beriman never thought she would become an advocate to keep concussed jockeys sidelined for longer than the current 12-day period but the recent fall has changed her perspective. READ: Waller praises Berry's bold move to give rivals the Flick 'If you fall from a horse at speed, you should automatically be stood down for 21 days because you don't know what the symptoms will be,' she said. 'People can land on their feet and get concussed, it's not all about getting knocked out. 'Concussion works in so many different ways. When it shakes the brain, there are so many things inside the brain that control the way you speak, your sight, your vision, your balance. 'It only takes one to be off, especially in racing. I'm not even allowed to drive a car.' Nikita Beriman steers gelding Chakra Boy to victory on Caloundra Cup Day at the Sunshine Coast on July 5. Picture: Grant Peters, Trackside Photography Kevin Ring, the health and safety officer for the Australian Jockeys' Association, said every state and territory, except NSW, had a mandatory 12-day stand-down period for concussion. In NSW, some jockeys are back riding at the track just a few days after suffering a head knock, with each individual case treated differently. Racing Queensland boss Lachlan Murray said a review of the governing body's concussion protocols had been underway since April to discuss how other racing jurisdictions and sports managed the issue. 'The long-term health and wellbeing of our participants will always inform our decision-making,' Murray said on Sunday. 'The introduction of a mandatory 12-day stand-down period was, in our belief, a necessary first step and one that demonstrated the seriousness in which we viewed concussion for our participants.' READ: 'Monumental for racing': PVL in talks for global racing channel Ring said that checking footage of any race fall to see how a jockey had landed was crucial to determining whether that person needed to be stood down from riding. He cited the example of Braidon Small, the son of former champion Vo Rogue's rider Cyril, who was involved in a jumps fall at Pakenham in April 2019. Like Beriman, Small passed all the medical tests and was driven home by his partner. But that night he was admitted to hospital at Warrnambool after experiencing a severe headache and was later diagnosed with bleeding on the brain and placed in an induced coma. Jumps jockey Braidon Small seemed fine after a race fall in 2019 but he later ended up in an induced coma. Picture: Racing Photos Small recovered from his injuries but in 2023 he had to overcome two bouts of brain surgery to remove a tumour. 'They ended up looking at footage of the race afterwards and he was in the foetal position for about 15 seconds,' Ring said. 'This has now become a test case. One important thing is to check the film of the race and see how the jockey fell. 'If the rider is taken to hospital, then show the attending doctors how the rider landed. 'But just to stand down a rider because they fell, you're going to have a lot of jockeys up in arms. 'They already have to stand down for 12 days when they have a concussion. Eventually it'll probably be a longer period. 'At the end of the day, we're not the experts on concussion. We have to be guided by the medical experts.'
The Australian
32 minutes ago
- The Australian
Labor denies David Pocock's call for more aged care packages
Labor has refused calls from the crossbench and the aged care sector to immediately release 20,000 extra home care packages, as elderly Australians wait up to 15 months for care they have already been deemed eligible for. The government's decision to delay the release of tens of thousands of additional packages from July to November has sparked outrage from all sides of politics, with Anthony Albanese facing having the move scrutinised by a Senate committee later this year. David Pocock, Zali Steggall, Jacqui Lambie and other crossbenchers wrote a letter to Health Minister Mark Butler and Aged Care Minister Sam Rae last month, recognising the need to delay some elements of the multibillion-dollar aged care reforms but demanded 20,000 care packages be released in the meantime. Mr Rae on Wednesday evening formally rejected the calls. 'We made the difficult decision to defer the start date of the Act until 1 November, so that providers, clients and staff working in the sector are ready for the transition,' Mr Rae said in a letter to crossbenchers, seen by The Australian. 'We recognise that the deferral of the Act has implications for those who are receiving or eligible to receive home care, and that the consequence of deferral is that new funding for Support at Home packages will commence rolling out at a later time. 'We will continue to monitor the impact of the deferral.' Senator Pocock slammed Labor's decision to ignore the calls for additional packages to be put online immediately. 'Australians are dying waiting to receive home care packages and we're hearing report after report about bedblock,' he said on X. 'The (crossbench) asked the government to bring forward 20,000 packages to help with the 87,000 backlog and the minister said no.' Senator Pocock, the Coalition and other crossbenchers are preparing to vote for an inquiry to investigate handling of the policy. It is less clear whether the Greens will support the inquiry, having this week sided with Labor on other matters. But Greens spokeswoman for older people Penny Allman-Payne said in a statement on Thursday she was concerned there was 'a world of pain coming to aged care from this November unless Labor urgently gets serious about care'. Politics The steelmaking giant will have access to rival proposals for the SA facility under a 'right of last offer', giving it a significant advantage over competitors. Politics The UN climate change official issuing doomsday appraisals of Australia's future should spend more time lecturing the world's biggest emitters in China, India and the US.
