Kelly Vincent – 5RPH Interview on Transforming Health and Spinal Cord Injury Services
30/09/2015
On 30th September 2015, Dignity for Disability MLC Kelly Vincent was interviewed on radio station 5RPH to discuss concerns about the proposed plans under Transforming Health to relocate spinal cord injury services from the Hampstead Centre to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Here is the audio and transcript from the interview.
Pam Green: Time to welcome to 5RPH Dignity for Disability MLC, Kelly Vincent. Hi Kelly.
Kelly Vincent: Hi Pam.
Pam Green: Well there’s been a lot of discussion this week by Dignity for Disability, Paraquad SA, and the Opposition Health Minister about Transforming Health and rehabilitation services to be relocated from the Hampstead Centre to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Do you have some concerns about this plan?
Kelly Vincent: Unfortunately there are a lot of concerns about this plan Pam. Initially when Transforming Health was first announced back in February of this year, Paraquad SA, people with spinal cord injury, and the general community were told that most of the spinal cord unit would be relocated to the QEH and would have better services there than they currently have available to them now. However, as plans passed it would seem that through meetings with SA Health and the architects that have been involved that there will be a lack of a physical therapy gymnasium, that won’t be provided as we understand in the new unit at the QEH. Some people might think that a gym is a luxury item but when you’re recovering from a spinal cord injury, you really need every resource available to you to regain muscle strength and to learn new skills to live with the life that you are now going to lead. Whether that be as a wheelchair user or as some other disability. So physical therapy certainly is an essential part of rehab and of gaining re-independence. Having qualified, experienced staff on site at all time, is also essential to make sure that the rehab is holistic and effective.
Pam Green: So what kind of facilities do people recovering from spinal cord injury need, to get the best long-term outcomes and to ensure that they have some level of independence in the long-term?
Kelly Vincent: Well Pam there’s also significant concerns that it seems that each room at the new unit at the QEH will not have an ensuite bathroom. Again, this may sound like a luxury item but I understand that when someone has become paraplegic or quadriplegic for example, they will need to develop new skills for toileting including relearning how to do bowel care in a new way. So privacy and time is certainly needed when someone who just recently, especially acquired a spinal cord injury is developing these skills with the support of staff. So I understand that ensuite bathrooms are really necessary to provide that privacy and that time to readjust to doing bowel care after a spinal cord injury. And we have to remember too that many people might be in this rehab environment 24 hours a day for 3, 6 or even 12 months. So it needs to be a comfortable, private, respectful environment for them to be in.
But in terms of the other types of facilities that people are needing when rehabilitating from spinal cord injury to get the best possible, long-term outcomes there are of course qualified, experienced staff; psychosocial support, so not only dealing with the physical side of things but the mental health aspect of a spinal cord injury; physical therapy gymnasiums with specialist equipment as we’ve just talked about; the private bathrooms which we’ve talked about; hydrotherapy pools of course are also essential; and a nice environment on the outside for longer stays, so it could be a garden or a park…
Pam Green: Mmhmm
Kelly Vincent: Which are not only good for mental health but can be important I understand for people learning to use mobility aids on different terrains as well. So there’s also a great need to look at what’s going to be on the outside of this hospital; and also I think the need for formal and informal peer mentoring services to ensure that people are getting connected to people who are either going through or have been through a spinal cord injury themselves, to get that support in place for a friendship angle as well.
Pam Green: So why do you think the Government and SA Health haven’t properly consulted with people with spinal cord injuries about this change to services?
Kelly Vincent: Well Pam, I guess all I can say is that’s a very good question. It’s hard to know for sure, but it’s certainly been pointed out time and time again, that Transforming Health while its aims are laudable; aims of providing equitable health care all across South Australia, that’s a laudable aim. But unfortunately on the practical side of things, there has been a lack of consultation, the consultation has been shown to be flawed and to have not included people with lived experience or people actually using the services that they are talking about changing here. Maybe it’s a lack of funding, I don’t know. But the inability to recognise the need to ask people who will actually be accessing the services that they are talking about changing here is a big concern. So we’ll certainly from Dignity for Disability’s perspective make sure that we do get that lived experience in there as part of this conversation. Because the more independence we have around people recovering from a spinal cord injury, the more skills they can learn, the less they will have to rely on tax payers’ dollars through support provisions. So this really is about not only providing the right services from a social perspective but saving the tax payer dollar as well. So we’ll certainly keep on, keeping on.
Pam Green: As always, thanks again for your time today Kelly.
Kelly Vincent: Thanks Pam.
Pam Green: Dignity for Disability MLC, Kelly Vincent.
