Surviving Healthcare in Australia: Get the Support You Need

Praise for Surviving Healthcare in Australia

The Australian Healthcare system has the potential to be world-class but is undermined by complexity, incongruity and a lack of systemic coordination. There is a need for patient-centric, holistic, value healthcare. In Surviving Healthcare in Australia: Get the Support You Need, Anne Crawford draws on her own extensive experience to provide insights and valuable tips on how everyday Australians can navigate the healthcare system to access better care and how our system can be improved to fulfil its potential.

Dr. Elizabeth Sigston

MBBS FRACS PhD

Surviving Healthcare in Australia is a ‘must read’ if you want to know about the support and care options available to you. Patient care doesn’t have to be one dimensional, as it sometimes seems!

Rachel Johnson

Founder of HAAA and wSw

Overall, this book is a great introduction to the history and complexity of Australia’s healthcare system, while introducing us to a potential solution or mechanism that will make this journey simpler.

Tom Voigt

Senior Policy & Research Officer,

Australian Association of Gerontology (AAG)

Anne Crawford’s book demonstrates the need for modern approaches to remove the complexity that exists today in our healthcare system and restore trust back into the community. It highlights the importance for putting patients and their families at the centre of decisions and working alongside healthcare professionals to get the best possible outcome. Surviving Healthcare in Australia is a great book.

Paul Montgomery

Chair, MediSecure Limited and Wellways Australia,

Director, Melbourne Primary Care Network

SURVIVING HEALTHCARE IN AUSTRALIA

Get the Support You Need

SECOND EDITION

ANNE CRAWFORD, MPH

Foreword by Felicity Smith OAM

Surviving Healthcare in Australia: Get the Support You Need

Second Edition

Copyright © 2023 Anne Crawford

Cover design by Mark Gerber

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Books published by Emerald Lake Books may be ordered through your favorite booksellers or by visiting emeraldlakebooks.com.

ISBN: 978-1-945847-52-3 (paperback)

978-1-945847-53-0 (epub)

978-1-945847-54-7 (large print)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022901869

This book is dedicated to:

My husband and daughter.

I have always wanted to write this book and they are the reason I have been able to. My husband has been my anchor, my partner, friend and mentor. My daughter has been my inspiration for this topic.

My ever-loving parents.

They have always been there for me and supported my development.

Contents

Chapter One

The Missing Ingredient in Our Healthcare System

Chapter Two

The Role of the Primary Health Professional

Chapter Three

The Promise of Public Health

Chapter Four

The COVID-19 Pandemic

Chapter Five

Cracks in the Healthcare System

Chapter Six

The Dental Care Element

Chapter Seven

Aged Care and Its Options

Chapter Eight

The Growth of Disability Services

Chapter Nine

The Importance of Preventative Care and Community Support

Chapter Ten

The Problems of Mental Health Policy

Chapter Eleven

The Hurdle is Asking for Help

Chapter Twelve

The Relevance of Healthcare Assessments

Chapter Thirteen

When Medicine Lacks Answers

Chapter Fourteen

Improving Patient Care and Reducing the Risk of ‘Falling through the Gaps’

Chapter Fifteen

The Final Decision Maker

Conclusion

Appendix

A Short History of the Australian Healthcare System

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Foreword

As a population, the health and health experiences of Australians compare well with those of other countries. And our life expectancy at birth remains among the highest in the world.

However, Australia’s healthcare system is striving for efficiency. As a result, busy health professionals may tend to treat patient conditions solely on the basis of symptoms and scientific evidence. Unfortunately, this can lead to a reduced consideration of the patient as a person, who may be suffering from more than one condition or have other factors that should be taken into account before settling on a treatment plan.

The Australian health system is often too complicated for patients to navigate on their own. This issue is amplified by an ageing population and the anticipated rise in chronic disease. Therefore, we need to strengthen primary healthcare to better co-ordinate the care of patients and decrease the risk of medical errors that are unacceptable to patients and costly for everyone.

When health professionals, patients, families and carers work in partnership, the quality and safety of healthcare improves, costs decrease, provider satisfaction increases, and the patient care experience is enhanced.

This book draws on Anne’s experience as an industry healthcare professional, as well as being a patient and a carer for a child with a severe disability. It provides a compelling solution to improve a complicated system and is worthy of discussion well into the future. This book will present any reader with great insight into what is missing in the healthcare system.

I have known the author for a many years and am intimately acquainted the challenges she has faced. As Anne has dealt with each of these issues, she has always looked for ways to make things better.

As a mother of three adult sons with their own particular health issues, I too have dealt with my own challenges within the Australian healthcare system. Navigating a system that seems more intent on refusing you help when you most need it has been difficult and disheartening for me.

I commend the dedication of her determination in preparing this book, and highly recommend reading it.

Felicity Smith OAM

Chair, Board of Directors

Link Health & Community

Introduction

Healthcare systems around the world are constantly changing and developing, dependent on costs and demands like any service industry. In Australia, we have a world-class healthcare system, Medicare, that is the envy of most of the developed world. But it is still very confusing and inaccessible.

By profession, I am a nurse and midwife, and I have earned my Master’s degree in Public Health. I have also worked in hospitals, aged care homes and in the community alongside general practitioners. I am currently on the board of several community health services. So, I have an intimate knowledge of Australia’s healthcare system from a professional perspective.

However, I also have extensive experience with it from a personal standpoint. As a young adult, I cared for my grandmother in her final years, and I now have a daughter with special needs. In addition, a number of years ago, my eyes were injured in an accident and I came to experience how rare it is for our healthcare system to work to its full potential.

This exposure as a medical professional, patient and caregiver has provided me with an intimate understanding of how our healthcare system is supposed to work.

In writing this book, I am motivated by the following concern: If I can’t negotiate my way around the healthcare system (despite my extensive education, experience and knowledge), how does anyone else do it?

As you read, you will discover that this book is purposely not academic in nature. In it, I use real case studies to illustrate what can go wrong in healthcare and why.¹ Yet each story ends on a positive note and shares key points you can use to help you manage your own way through the healthcare system in Australia.

My hope is to convey some ideas about how to navigate through the system, as well as to provide an overview of where we have come from and how the system works today. Finally, I will provide some possible solutions to the current inequalities and frustrations that people experience.

While this book is intended for people who are currently going through diagnosis and treatment, or who are supporting a loved one with a health crisis, it is also relevant for lawmakers and policy changers. As world-class as our healthcare system is, there is still room (and need) for improvement.

The current system must begin to provide more well-rounded (or holistic) care for people and to acknowledge patients as the decision makers about their own treatment and ongoing care.

This approach requires that healthcare providers share enough appropriate information and guidance for their patients to make informed decisions. However, our current healthcare model works on the premise that the treating provider is the one who knows what is needed for the individual. This book challenges that viewpoint.

Although healthcare providers are starting to talk about partnering with patients, these professionals must understand that patients are not partners—healthcare professionals do not share in the problems these individuals are facing. There is no impact on the life of a healthcare provider when a patient is sick, except that it provides them with a job.

For example, if a patient requires surgery followed by a six-week recovery, the surgeon does not have to cope with the pain or manage home affairs while the patient is recovering. The surgeon performs the surgery and then prescribes the medication