The cost of chronic wounds in Australia is estimated to be $3 Billion per year, impacting 420,000 Australians. Not only is this a national economic concern, but more importantly, is the suffering the person may be going through.
Australian Health Journal met with Hayley Ryan, Board Director and Chair at Wounds Australia and Director at WoundRescue to hear her work in chronic wound management, palliative wounds and pressure injury prevention to comfort those living with a wound.
Hayley has over 22 years’ experience in nursing and has 18 of these in wound care during this time. Hayley has a passion for healing wounds as a Clinical Nurse Consultant across Australia and New Zealand.
She gave testimony at the Royal Commission into Aged Care in July 2019, through the Wounds Australia’s submission, on several topics including: wound care statistics, the causes of wounds, prevention of wounds, the use of appropriate wound dressings, substandard wound care, and recommendations to improve wound management within aged care.
In this interview Hayley talks about how she first got interested in wound management before talking through the current issues with wound management in the Australian health system. These issues include access, education and awareness as a health priority.
Hayley also talks about Wounds Australia’s 11 Point Plan. It has been produced to be a clear and effective blueprint for governments to follow. The plan draws on the knowledge and skills of Australia’s top wound care experts to dramatically cut patient numbers and the funds to treat them.
There is a goal in handling the complications of delivering treatment across primary care, community care, hospital and aged care settings turning into a more defined and streamlined process.
In terms of growth in specialist wound care knowledge in health workers, Hayley talks about the education and training pathways health care professionals can take, including through Wounds Australia, Monash University and Wound Rescue.
You Might also like
-
Supporting the mental health of the Australian health care workforce
Tara Hurster, is the CEO of The TARA Clinic and a psychologist who started working within the area of addiction in 2010. The TARA clinic, short for Therapeutic Addiction Recovery Assistance, recently started offering online programs to overcome and recover from addiction.
Tara spoke with Australian Health Journal about the early warning signs of anxiety and stress in health staff and executives, including irritability, changes in sleep patterns and diet leading to more serious mental health decline. These behaviours and symptoms increase the risk of substance abuse that could take the form of excessive smoking, drinking alcohol and drug use, porn, sex and gambling.
-
Nuclear medicine funding a win for men with prostate cancer
Australian men with higher risk prostate cancer now have access to a nuclear medicine scan to help detect and treat metastatic disease, after it was listed on the Medical Benefits Schedule (MBS) from 1st July 2022.
In 2021 over 18,000 Australian men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, resulting in over 3,000 lives being lost – and making prostate cancer Australia’s second most common cause of cancer death in men.
Australian Health Journal spoke with AANMS President Associate Professor Sze Ting Lee and Dr Geoff Schembri on the MBS listing and the efforts to get it listed.
-
Study on digital tool for pharmacists in aged care
In March 2022, the Australia government announced $350 million of funding over 4 years to employ on-site pharmacists in residential aged care, starting July 2023. In April 2023, the government made changes to the proposed on-site pharmacists, where the new program will now be delivered by and through community pharmacies. Regardless of how the model will be implemented, the goal remains the same – to improve quality use of medicines and medicines safety for aged care residents.