In the latest Little Haven Newsletter, CEO Sue Manton has asked the newsletter recipients for help in the funding fight with the Queensland Government. With the current State Government funding offer Little Haven will have a deficit of $1 million dollars this year following a $550,000 deficit last year.
The Gympie Times has launched the ‘Save Little Haven’ campaign, publishing 4 articles and a number of people have written letters and made phone calls to the Health Minister & Premier. This has put pressure on the State Government to promise to ‘review’ the funding, but we have been here before.
Gympie Times and News Corp have launched the ‘Save Little Haven’ Campaign and created the Save Little Haven logo.
The current Little Haven Newsletter is asking for community help:
If you’d like to help Little Haven By Contacting the Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk or Health Minister Shannon Fentiman and urge them to consider the ripple effects of their policy departments decision which will put more strain back on the hospital system here are their contact details:
The Premier, dpc@premiers.qld.gov.au | (07) 3719 7000
The Health Minister health@ministerial.qld.gov.au | (07) 3035 6100
Whilst we hope you would communicate your own experience with Little Haven as others have, below are some talking points and links to more information that might also help you:
1. Emphasize the Impact of Little Haven:
Highlight that Little Haven served 306 terminally ill people in their homes just last year. Stress how this not only brings immense relief to patients and their families, but also helps decongest the already overwhelmed hospital system by reducing QAS use, DEMs visits &; hospital bed occupancy.
2. Highlight the Funding Issue:
Discuss how despite the obvious benefits and successes of the program, Queensland Health is effectively reducing Little Haven’s funding with the potential implications of this leading to hundreds of patients losing access to home-based palliative care.
3. Share the Bureaucrat’s Response:
Detail the response from the health department suggesting that patients who lose access to Little Haven’s services would just have to go to the emergency department like everyone else. Explain why this is an inadequate solution, given the current capacity issues facing Gympie Hospital.
4. Request for Transparency in Funding:
Advocate for the development of a transparent funding formula that considers growth in patient numbers, inflation, and other significant factors. Discuss how this would be fairer than an arbitrary, flat rate contract.
5. Value of Home-Based Palliative Care:
Discuss the importance of home-based palliative care, not only for patient comfort and dignity but also as a practical solution to help alleviate pressure on overloaded hospital systems and the public perception Gympie hospital services have been downgraded. A real reduction in LH funding exacerbates that perception.
6. Community Support:
Emphasize the local support and recognition Little Haven has received for its work. Use this as evidence of the community’s understanding and appreciation of the service Little Haven provides. Suggest while QHealth seems to have a strategy of centralising some hospital services to major nodes e.g SCUH and Nambour, this model does not work for palliative care which requires a local, community-based response.
If you need more information you can find it in the posts and video below:
Thank you for your advocacy for our community x.
