Home is where the heart is!

_{07, April 2006}

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Geoff with Her Excellency Governor Quentin Byrce, Mrs Jo-Ann Miller, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and patient carer, Mrs Beverly Smith-Harding at the launch of a "Hospital to Home Program", at the NW Community Health Centre, Keperra.

The Heart Failure Hospital to Home Program an exciting new initiative of Queensland Health was launched yesterday at the North West Community Health Centre, Keperra by Jo-Ann Miller MP Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health.

Jo-Ann Miller MP, said that this collaboration between two extremely busy hospitals – the Prince Charles Hospital and the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital which will benefit the whole of the State.

“This Heart Failure Program has attracted recurrent funding from the Queensland Government and is part of Queensland Health’s Chronic Disease Strategy which fits in with the new Cardiac Services Plan,” Mrs Miller said.

State Member for Ferny Grove Geoff Wilson said at the launch of the new Program that it was good news for northside residents experiencing heart disease, their carers and families.

“The program will provide support to patients in their homes and through other community services,” Geoff Wilson said. 

“It will provide the latest, up-to-date information about their condition - especially medication regimen which can be extremely complicated - and empowering them to help themselves.”

Health professionals at the Prince Charles Hospital and Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital have developed a Heart Failure Support Service based on models of care shown to work internationally.  The international research reveals that programs to support patients with heart failure in the community have had excellent outcomes for patients and carers, reducing readmissions to hospital, increasing life expectancy and improving the quality of the patient’s life as they gain more control over the condition.

This was confirmed by Mrs Beverley Smith-Harding who spoke from her experiences as her late husband’s carer (13 hospital admissions in four years) who praised Queensland Health for its initiatives in keeping chronic sufferers out of hospital by providing home and community care to patients. 

As part of the Queensland Government's $6.4 billion dollar action plan, $210.9 million has been allocated in extra funding for cardiac services” Mrs Miller said.

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