National Close the Gap Day

Today is National Close the Gap Day, a day of action to pledge support for achieving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equity.

It provides an opportunity to come together in workplaces, homes, and communities right across the country to share information—and most importantly to take meaningful action in support of achieving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equality.

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2020-2022 data shows there is still a significant life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Queenslanders, a gap of 7.4 years for males and 7.0 years for females.

A milestone in the Close the Gap journey for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders was when legislative requirements passed by Queensland Parliament in 2020 and 2021 for Hospital and Health Services to develop and implement Health Equity Strategies.

Last Friday, Metro North Health held a special gathering to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, and the partnership organisations supporting our health equity journey.

Pictured: (L-R): A/ED Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Tess Symes, Chief Executive Jackie Hanson, A/Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Sherry Holzapfel, Senior Director of Chief First Nations Health Office Jess Oostenbroek, and Board Chair Jim McGowan AM.

Close the Gap Day provides an important opportunity to acknowledge our staff paving the way towards health equity, creating system improvements, and introducing programs and initiatives that contribute towards closing the gap on life expectancy. There is such great work happening across Metro North Health. Every bit helps and makes an impact, and we thank you all. Some of the recent highlights include:

The state-wide Indigenous cadetship program attracted a record 68 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students. Make sure you welcome the 13 cadets across Metro North Health if you see them working on the wards and in our community centres.

The Sistas Shawl has been provided to 850 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women accessing BreastScreen clinics on the northside, providing a sense of safety and comfort when screening.

The Deadly Feet program continues to expand with the service recently visiting Cherbourg and Kingaroy to deliver clinics and improve community access to culturally safe multidisciplinary foot healthcare.

The continued success and positive statistics of the Metro North Better Together Medication Access program has led to the introduction the development of a new Health Service Directive to provide a medication co-payment subsidy for First Nations peoples who access Queensland public hospitals. HHSs will now waive, in full, co-payments for all medicines prescribed by Queensland Health prescribers on hospital prescriptions dispensed by hospital pharmacies to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients.

Pictured (L-R): Aboriginal patient with TPCH Indigenous Hospital Liaison Officer Mark Budd.

The Women’s Business Shared Pathway operates in multiple locations across Metro North including Morayfield, Deception Bay, Pine Rivers, and Nundah. Since 2020, 409 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have accessed the service.

The HOPE Program is in week four of operations and has so far held 6 clinics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients. HOPE reduced the Metro North Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cardiology waiting list by 11 patients with a further 20 patients due to be seen in the coming weeks.

We encourage you to participate in local events held this week and to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff to attend the upcoming wellness expo.

Metro North Health is committed to supporting the safety and wellbeing of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce. The key priority is to create a workplace where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees feel proud, safe, and supported. This month the Social and Emotional Wellbeing team will be hosting a staff wellness expo at Deception Bay Community Hall on Thursday 28 March from 9am – 2pm. All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff members are welcome to attend. The event will
provide an opportunity for staff to connect with health and wellness providers, learn more about Metro North Health and community
support services, and receive resources to help keep the mind, body, and spirit strong.

Yours in unity,

Jackie and Tess