Organisations We Support
Organisations We Support
At 8Pillars we are passionate about supporting the community. We currently support the Australian Patients Association and would love you to learn why!
Why support the Australian Patients Association?
The vision of the APS is “to give patients a strong advocate and an influential voice in developing a higher quality, more affordable and readily accessible healthcare system for all Australians”.
To date the healthcare system in Australia has been high-jacked by healthcare professionals and vested interests.
It is the AMA, the Australian Nursing Federation, the Ambulance Union and the Pharmacy Guild that sets the healthcare agenda in Australia and influences the public and the respective Ministers of Health (state and federal).
Australia needs a body like the APA to :
- Promote patients’ interests
- Promote patient issues
- Improve the patient experience
- Advise patients of their rights
- Help navigate patients through the healthcare maze ie. tell them who can help them
- Help the weak and needy
- Develop sensible remedies to shortcomings in the healthcare system
- Provide a counter balance to all the vested interests in the healthcare system, and
- Provide assistance, advice and representation in cases of justified patient dissatisfaction
About the Australian Patients Association?
BACKGROUND OF THE APA
The Australian Patients Association (“APA”) is the VOICE for patients in the healthcare system.
The APA is a NFP charity established to represent patients’ interests, promote patient issues and improve patient outcomes.
The APA:
- Supports patients
- Advocates on behalf of patients
- Educates patients about their rights and choices, and
- Develops healthcare solutions.
The APA aims to expose poor and inequitable patient care and highlight deficiencies in the public and private healthcare system.
We also research and develop sensible remedies to benefit members and the community.
WHAT ARE THE AIMS OF THE APA?
The APA aims to improve patient outcomes by improving the healthcare system throughout Australia, ensuring affordable healthcare for all by eliminating waste and inefficiencies, and by educating patients of the need to be fully informed about a proposed medical treatment.
We also aim to speed up the drug approval process so that the best drugs and medicines in the world are available in Australia at affordable prices.
The APA also supports medical research projects that will ultimately improve the quality of patients’ lives.
WHAT DOES THE APA DO?
This is a frequently asked question and the following is a list of some of the things we do to help patients and members.
- We support patients by listening to their problems, offering solutions or advice, caring for them and even visiting them
- We provide Patient Advocates for meetings with hospitals, State Health Complaints Commissions and AHRPA
- We offer free legal advice or consultation
- We educate patients about their rights and the standard of care to expect
- We provide members with a comprehensive (self- help) Members Handbook
- We provide a quarterly newsletter The Patients Voice
- We develop healthcare solutions and policies
- We advocate on behalf of patients and their interests
- We are the VOICE of patients in the Australian healthcare system
WHAT DOES THE APA HOPE TO ACHIEVE?
The APA plans to become the voice for patients in Australia.
Our role is to act in patients’ best interests and represent patients at a national level
To achieve our aims we plan to educate patients about their rights and choices and the standard of care to expect.
We plan to advocate on behalf of patients’ best interests, develop programs to improve patient well-being, expose poor and inequitable patient care, and highlight deficiencies and wastage in the private and public healthcare system.
It is the AMA, the Australian Nursing Federation, the Ambulance Union and the Pharmacy Guild that sets the healthcare agenda in Australia and influences the public and the respective Ministers of Health (state and federal).
Australia needs a body like the APA to :
- Promote patients’ interests
- Promote patient issues
- Improve the patient experience
- Advise patients of their rights
- Help navigate patients through the healthcare maze ie. tell them who can help them
- Help the weak and needy
- Develop sensible remedies to shortcomings in the healthcare system
- Provide a counter balance to all the vested interests in the healthcare system, and
- Provide assistance, advice and representation in cases of justified patient dissatisfaction
Not-For-Profit's the APA is assisting and patient testimonials
Apart from helping individuals who are seeking justice, but are up against the system, we are also helping a number of extremely worthwhile organizations, most of which would like us to advocate on their behalf in the future.
Some of these organizations include:
- Parenteral Nutrition Down Under – which supports research and informs patients, carers and providers of PN for intestinal failure. It involves life-sustaining liquid nutrition fed via a major vein directly to the heart in case of intestinal failure.
- MadCap Café – which assists those that have been unemployed for a significant period, and who have suffered from mental or social illnesses re-engage with society by working in the coffee shops.
- YGap – which assists to relieve poverty in Africa. Save your 5cent coins.
- Patient Opinion – with Professor Michael Greco. PO records patient opinion and ensures it is accessible to patient providers.
- Spinal Injuries Association / Polio Australia – these organizations have partnered with us believing that we will be able to effectively advocate for better treatment for the disabled in our hospitals
- Men’s issues – we are working with Laurie Brock in promoting men’s issues.
- Coeliac Victoria and Tasmania – by educating the public about the needs of coeliacs and the necessity of avoiding contamination
- Hearts4Heart – by working co-operatively with this charity to raise issues relevant to those suffering from heart problems
- Ambulance Victoria – by reviewing material given to ambulance patients and by providing consumer / patient representatives as required
- Eat2Thrive – we present “wellness workshops” to various business and consumer groups in conjunction with Eat2Thrive.
- Prahran Mission & Creative Ministries Network – we work with the Mission with a view to assisting those with mental health issues
- Gathering of Kindness – we were invited to participate in this gathering and we continue to promote the need for more kindness and empathy to be practiced throughout the healthcare industry.