Current Topics and Trends in Australian Healthcare

APA Annual Awards

Who will win our national patient awards?

We have had more than 3000 nominations among the different categories.

Join us for a great evening of Celebrating the good things in Healthcare. This is your last chance to pick up tickets for the Gala Dinner and Awards Night, on 25 July at Sofitel Melbourne on Collins, recognising the excellence in healthcare industry. Click here to book your tickets through trybooking.

Australian Healthcare Index Survey

What do patients really think about our Healthcare system?

The Australian Healthcare Index survey report will be released later during this month, and we’re pleased to announce that there will be a webinar that does a deep dive into the findings. Keep your eye out for the details to be announced shortly, and once launched, the report will be available for everyone to read through on our website.

Drug trial – improving treatment for advanced prostate cancer patients

A trial program at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital is helping refine treatments for patients with advanced prostate cancer. During the trial 79 participants were given enzalutamide while 83 were given enzalutamide on top of radiation treatment Lutetium-PSMA-617. It was found that the combination therapy had an improved response to the treatment and experienced fewer side effects. Click here to read the complete article published on 2 July in 9News. Click here to access the interim findings that have been published in volume 25, issue 5, of The Lancet Oncology.

Zable Health – a great new initiative for finding specialists

Did you know that when you get a referral to a specialist, that referral can be used for any specialist in that discipline? If you are worried about the time it’s going to take to see the specialist you’re referred to, you now have the power to find someone sooner.

Zable Health has just launched a new online platform which enables patients, in just a few moments, to locate a specialist in their area, see what the average wait time for that specialist is, and see the cost of an initial consultation. You can also search using different languages spoken.  This puts extra decision making in the hands of patients, and is a great initiative. Check it out here.

New National mental health peak bodies

The Government is establishing two national mental health peak bodies, one to represent consumers and the other to represent families, carers and kin, to support people with lived and living experience of mental ill-health to shape the policies and programs that affect them. Click here to access the Media Release from 2 July by the Department of Health.

New vaping laws to commence 1 July 2024

The new legislation introduces a single, consistent framework that applies nationally to regulate the importation, domestic manufacture, supply, commercial possession and advertisement of all vapes. These new laws help address the increasing health risks posed by vaping, while preserving legitimate patient access to therapeutic vapes for smoking cessation and the management of nicotine dependence, where clinically appropriate. For more information visit the TGA website by clicking here.

Winter illnesses: What’s the difference between a cold, flu, RSV and COVID-19?

You’re not imagining it – we do tend to get sick more often during the cooler months.

Various factors are often at play: being in close quarters with others, lower humidity levels (which means virus droplets hang in the air longer), and a lowering of our immunity due to the impact the colder weather has on how our upper respiratory tract functions. Click here to identify each illness’s symptoms to help you identify the culprit.

Dry July

In July, an average of 11,181 Australians will be diagnosed with cancer. No one asks for cancer, so the Dry July team is inviting Aussies to help by giving up drinking this July to raise funds for people affected by cancer. For more information visit Do Something Near you.

Click here to Support APA to advocate on behalf of patients by making a tax deductable donation prior to year-end. Have a story to tell click here.