NEWSLETTER

Haemophilia Care Update

Since writing to you last, HFACT has been actively liaising with the Canberra Hospital administration staff and health professionals to ensure that the Haemophilia Treatment Centre has the ability to provide the best level of care to the Haemophilia Community in the ACT and surrounding districts. The initial area of concern for HFACT was staffing of the Centre.

We have been fortunate to receive two new additions to the haemophilia community over the past month.

I am delighted to introduce Liz Gregg as our new Specialist Haemophilia Nurse and Clare Reeves as our new Haemophilia Counsellor. Liz and Clare introduce themselves in this newsletter.

Liz has been working with Hilary Young over the past two months to get up to speed with haemophilia treatment centre operations. Please drop into the Centre and welcome Liz next time you are due to pick up treatment. On behalf of HFACT and the haemophilia community, I would like to thank Hilary Young for temporarily stepping into the Specialist Haemophilia Nursing role over the past four months.

Clare Reeves commenced employment with HFACT from the beginning of March. She is currently working 15 hours a week.

I would like to officially welcome Clare and Liz to the haemophilia family and thank them both for choosing to help improve the quality of life of people with haemophilia and related bleeding disorders and their families.

In other news, the Haemophilia Treatment Centre has now moved from the office opposite the kitchenette to the consultation room around the corner from where the Centre used to be. Contact numbers for Liz and other haemophilia carers have not changed.

HFACT will continue to work with the Canberra Hospital health professionals to ensure the continuation of haemophilia services in the ACT.

Joe

Joe Guarnieri
President, HFACT
2^nd April 2004

Haemophilia Awareness Week

Haemophilia Awareness Week is an annual event leading up to World Haemophilia Day that is celebrated on April 17th. This year the slogan is "How AWARE are you?"

Events are being held worldwide and round Australia to raise public awareness of haemophilia, von Willebrand disorder and other bleeding disorders. If you have not already received the recent issue of "National Haemophilia" that discusses the topic, you can find out more by visiting the HFA website: www.haemophilia.org.au

Locally, HFACT will participate in two ways. There will be a haemophilia display in the foyer of the Canberra Hospital during the week.

Members of HFACT will also be attending the Red Cross Blood Bank to talk to blood donors about haemophilia. We will be there on Wednesday 14th April between 11am and 5:30pm. This activity is highly beneficial for both donors and patients. On one hand it gives us, as recipients of blood products, an opportunity to say "thank you" to donors who give not only blood but their time and energy, while on the other hand it gives the donors the opportunity to interact first hand with the people they are helping, to ask questions and find out how their donations make a difference.

HFACT members who have visited the blood bank in past years found it to be a highly rewarding experience. If you haven't given it a go you are encouraged and welcomed to do so. Please contact Ron Lees (phone 6288 8115) or Clare Reeves if you require further details.

HFACT Dinner Tuesday April 27^th

Ann and Sharon have expressed their desire join us for a social opportunity to meet with local members and we are happy to oblige. Accordingly there will a informal dinner at the River Kwai (Thai) restaurant in Weston at 7pm on Tuesday 27th April.
The evening will give everybody the opportunity to meet not only with Ann and Sharon but also Clare Reeves if they have not already done so.

The venue is BYO, moderately priced, and is located in Trenerry Street in Weston, opposite the post office.

Please RSVP to Ron Lees (phone 6288 8115) by Saturday 24th April if you are coming.

Our new Haemophilia Nurse

I have been nursing on and off for 25 years. I completed my nursing training at the Royal Canberra Hospital and have been in Canberra for the whole of my nursing career.

As well as my nursing qualification I also hold a Graduate Certificate in Cancer Nursing. I have worked in Haematology/Oncology for the past nine years, although mostly in oncology - my area of specialty.
I am looking forward to learning more about haemophilia and other bleeding disorders and of being of service to the local haemophilia community.

Liz Gregg

Specialist Haemophilia Nurse

Our new Counsellor

Hello. My name is Clare Reeves. I am the new counsellor for HFACT.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you.

I am married to Warren and have two adult sons, one daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. I have been a counsellor working within the Canberra community for the past twenty years, mainly with the Royal Blind Society, and also with Combrook Rehabilitation. Both these positions involved considerable liaison and interaction with clients, their families, general practitioners, specialists, community nurses, employers, psychologists and a range of support agencies. I have also had liaison with pain management personnel at Royal North Shore Hospital, (Sydney) and physiotherapists, particularly within the ACT, dealing with conditions relating to chronic pain reduction.

For the past four and a half years, Warren and I have been in Samoa. We returned in December 2003. During my time in Samoa, I was involved with helping Samoans set up a suicide prevention counselling service. This has now become incorporated with Lifeline International. I was also involved with the organisation, Habitat for Humanity, which provides low-cost housing to low income families. This involved assessing families in their home environment within villages. I also assisted the Nutrition Centre, based in the National Hospital, to set up some strategies for opening up lines of communication with their clients and with various wards in the hospital.

I will be working two days a week; Wednesday and Thursday, but I would be happy to meet you on other days if the need arises. I plan to be at the Haemophilia Clinic at Canberra Hospital each Thursday. If you are coming to the clinic, please let me know and I will do my best to be there when you come in.

In the next few weeks, I will make contact with all who are on the HFACT address list. I look forward to meeting with you, getting to know you, assisting you when you require it and learning heaps more from you about haemophilia. For those of you who aren't on the Haemophilia list I would welcome hearing from you.

Please feel free to contact me on 0409 830472, or at the clinic. You can also email me at Counsellor@hfact.org.au.

Thank you for welcoming me into your community.

Clare Reeves

HFACT Counsellor

Mobile               0409 830472

Email                Counsellor@hfact.org.au