JOURNALIST: You're here for the Upper Queensland's first dedicated endometriosis and pelvic pain clinic that opened in February this year. This was part of an announcement of 11 additional endo clinics across the country. Are these all open now?
ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: They are, and I'm so pleased to hear that more than 22 local women have already had the chance to access the service locally. We know that in Australia, about one in seven Australian women have endometriosis or experience pelvic pain. And that's about a million Australians, and that often it's taken about six to seven years for someone to be able to have a diagnosis. And it has a really big impact on women and girls, on their life, on their fertility. And to know now that we're bringing this care closer to home for more women and girls, it's making a difference.
JOURNALIST: It's taken a long time to get this specialised care anywhere that's not in a city, and obviously, there is a lot of women out here that are impacted by it. Why do you think it's taken so long?
MCBRIDE: When we came to Government, we had a particular focus on the health and wellbeing of women and girls. We're also one of the first federal governments that has a majority of women members. And I think when you see the advocacy that we've had from women over a period of time to see then a government that has women in decision-making roles and leadership roles, we're really seeing a change in the priorities of the Government and where investment is going. Our Assistant Minister for Women, Rebecca White, is doing a brilliant job in continuing to advance this work. But I think it's something that we've known for a long time, that there are barriers to women being able to access the right care, that often it was considered that their pain wasn't properly recognised. But now, with this, now the 33rd clinic open, we're seeing a really big improvement in access to care and the timeliness of that care.
JOURNALIST: And this clinic in Blackall, there's still people travelling from Mount Isa or Charleville, which is still so far away. Is the Government going to be putting forward funding for more clinics? What's ahead in the future?
MCBRIDE: And just to talk about the clinic itself, so the way this clinic has been introduced is quite unique in that there's a two-stage approach. So the first appointment will be a telehealth appointment, where they're able to collect all of the information that the clinician needs ahead of the appointment so that someone then has a face-to-face appointment and hasn't had to travel twice. So we're trying to make it as accessible as possible, understanding the distances that people will still have to travel for care.
But this is part of, as I mentioned, a big focus of our government. When we came to Government, we invested close to $40 million. We've now furthered that investment another $22.5 million. We're continuing the work. As the Minister responsible for regional and rural health, I'd of course welcome more support for women and girls, and we're looking forward to continuing to progress this work and improve access.
JOURNALIST: You're heading to Blackall for the official opening. Do you know why in particular Blackall was chosen?
MCBRIDE: So for the Commonwealth, for any of these endo and pelvic pain clinics or other health services that we introduce, they're commissioned through the Primary Health Network. The Primary Health Network are part of the local community, and they do sort of consultation and co-design to make sure that the service is introduced into the right place that's most accessible. The decision was made through the Primary Health Network to identify the most appropriate location.
JOURNALIST: So the Primary Health Network said that they sort of put out that expression of interest in August last year, which sought providers to service that endo clinic. And then this grant, the Government funding, was to enable the potential to expand the service into additional communities. So is that going to happen? Do you have any timeframe on that? Are you working with the PHN on that?
MCBRIDE: We work really closely with the PHN to make sure that services meet the needs of local communities and that we understand that in more rural and remote parts of Australia that accessing service traditionally has been harder, whether that's through cost or time. And I'm particularly pleased to let your listeners know that with this service, they don't need a referral. So they don't need to see a GP to be able to have a referral to come to this clinic. Also, it's fully bulk billed because we know that the cost of accessing care has often been another barrier to care. So we will continue to work with the Primary Health Network to make sure that this has the reach that is needed to make sure that all women and girls can have a much more timely diagnosis and access to the right kind of therapeutic treatment and care. Because as I mentioned, this is one in seven Australian women and girls, almost a million Australians. And in the past, it has been about six or seven years to diagnosis, which has such a big impact on women and girls. So really keen to continue that work with the Primary Health Network.
JOURNALIST: You might not be able to touch on the nitty-gritty of this, but the clinic's not open all the time?
MCBRIDE: In terms of the hours, that's something that the Primary Health Network, when they're commissioning providers, that they work on with the providers. But I can let the listeners know that in addition, because of the boost in funding, that workforce now includes a nurse and a practitioner and also a GP with advanced credentialing specialised in sexual and reproductive healthcare. So for people who do need that extra specialist support, that is also available to them.
JOURNALIST: Yeah, and is that full time at the clinic?
MCBRIDE: As I understand it, how it works with this particular clinic is that a woman doesn’t need a referral, they can contact the clinic directly. They’ll then have that first appointment over the phone via telehealth and then a second scheduled appointment at a time that’s convenient to them at the clinic.
JOURNALIST: You’re meeting everyone at the clinic, doing sort of an official opening ceremony?
MCBRIDE: Yes. As a health worker myself and someone who’s worked in kind of regional health for most of my working life, one of the things that in my role to be able to see services officially open, the best part of that is seeing the access to care, seeing support that is now available that hasn’t been available before. And importantly with services like this that you don’t need a referral and that it’s fully bulk billed makes such a difference to people being able to access care affordably close to home and when they need it.
JOURNALIST: Absolutely. And I believe you also wanted to talk about the launch of a new national early intervention service. What is this?
MCBRIDE: In Australia today, we've seen a big increase in distress including amongst young people and what we have now launched is Medicare Mental Health Check In, a new free national digital mental health service where someone doesn't need an appointment, doesn't need a referral and can get free support by trained mental health practitioners. We know that earlier support makes such a big difference to people and I'm so pleased that we've partnered with St. Vincent's Health Australia, who are one of the leading providers of digital mental health care. Since we launched the website in January we’ve had tens of thousands of people who have worked through the website. But at the end of this month, we'll also be launching the new next stage of this, which is where someone can access it completely independently. So they won't need to make a phone call to be able to link into the service. And we know that getting rid of any of the hoops or barriers to care makes such a big difference to people. So free digital mental health care provided by trained mental health practitioners, all available backed by Medicare.
JOURNALIST: So how does it work? You go onto the website. Walk me through it for anyone listening.
MCBRIDE: Yes. Yes. So at the moment, you can call Medicare Mental Health on 1800 595 212 and you'll have an initial consultation with a trained mental health worker and through that consultation they'll work out what is the most appropriate option for you. If it is Medicare Mental Health Check In then you'll be sent an email and you'll be able to then book an appointment at a convenient time for you and that appointment will be with a trained mental health practitioner, psychologist, social workers, counsellors, to work through particular modules or things that are of concern to you. And we know that the model of care is low intensity cognitive behavioural therapy, which is the most evidence-based therapy for people with mild to moderate mental health challenges. When these type of services have been introduced internationally, they've had a really big impact. And what I'm particularly keen to see when we're in more remote parts of Australia is bringing access to people close to home and for free. And that's what Medicare Mental Health Check In does. So at the moment, you need to make that phone call. But from the end of this month, the 30th of May, you'll be able to jump onto the website to Medicare Mental Health Check In and then be able to navigate that independently if that's your preference and at any point in time if you're seeking more guided support you can then check in with a mental health practitioner.
JOURNALIST: How do you think this might benefit people in the bush especially in small communities, they don't want to walk in and see a psychologist or go- did you have this in mind sort of when you were building this model?
MCBRIDE: Yes, because what we saw in Australia was that with any of the services that had been introduced previously, that people who were missing out were people who lived in the bush, were people who didn't traditionally have access to GPs or to psychologists within their own community. And so I'm really pleased this is now available so that people in the bush, and importantly, it's available to anyone 16 years and over, because we wanted to make sure as many people as possible were able to access the service. So we anticipate that there will be a big demand for this service. And I'm particularly keen to see the impact that will have in the bush and in more remote communities, bringing access to trained mental health practitioners for free in your own home at your fingertips.
JOURNALIST: Is this something that's been trialled or you're committed to it for however many years?
MCBRIDE: We've committed to this. It is fully funded and ongoing because we know that in Australia today that there has been a big increase in distress and there’s lots of different drivers of that distress. We were just hearing earlier today about the 11 year drought. Whether it’s people having kind of relationship problems or challenges in employment, all of these things can drive distress and we wanted to make sure that people had support sooner to be able to equip themselves with the skills that they need to be able to thrive. And so we’re really proud to be able to launch Medicare Mental Health Check In in January this year and as I mentioned, at the end of this month to have the service available for people can use completely independently because we know that reducing any barrier to accessing care means that more people are likely to use it and more people will be able to benefit from it.
JOURNALIST: Awesome.