CEO Report – October 2019

The end of the year is fast approaching and the team at Gold Coast Primary Health Network (GCPHN) has been working tirelessly on the redevelopment of our HealthyGC website.

The new and improved online platform is being redesigned to best meet the needs of our users and we expect that our newly developed website will go live mid-January 2020.

As part of the redevelopment, GCPHN have made the decision to decommission our service directory and move to using the National Health Service Directory (NHSD), a government-owned, not-for-profit organisation who deliver telehealth and digital health services to all Australians.

In preparation of the decommissioning of our HealthyGC service directory we recommend that if your services are not already listed on the NHSD directory, you get in touch with them to add your listing. You can find out more about NHSD and adding your service to their directory here.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our Communications team on communications@gcphn.com.au

Lives Lived Well has launched Lighthouse, a new community based mental health treatment service on the Gold Coast, designed to provide long-term clinical support for young people with severe and/or complex mental health needs.

Funded by GCPHN, the service was officially launched today, Friday 11 October, during Mental Health Week. The Australian Government Department of Health has provided $2 million dollars over four years to fund the new service and we believe thi sfunding will help to make a huge difference in the lives of our young people. Find out more

In addition to the new Lighthouse service, I’d like to remind you of the range of psychological services GCPHN fund for the Gold Coast community, including:

• The New Access program – which helps people cope with day-to-day pressures with mild levels of depression and anxiety. It’s free, confidential and available to anyone over 16-years-of-age. To find out more call 1800 010 630.
• For youth aged 12-25, we also fund Headspace Southport, who provide tailored mental health support. Headspace can be contacted on 07 5509 5900 or online for eheadspace. eheadspace   offers people the option to connect via phone call on 1800 650 890, chat online or send an email to a clinician.
• Primary and Community Care Service – provides service information, intake and triage service into currently GCPHN-funded organisations, clinical care coordination and an afterhours community-based space. For ages 12-65 years.

Additional information about these and other programs is available on the MentalHealthGC website. I encourage you to share this website with your family and friends as it includes links to immediate mental health help, phone and online support and local mental health services.

October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month and a great opportunity to talk to patients about their breast cancer risk and regular screenings. Patients can register electronically for appointments on the BreastScreen Queensland website. There are also a range of resources available on HealthyGC.

Matt Carrodus