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MSWA Bulletin Magazine Summer 15 WEB

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From the desk of the CEO

From the desk of the CEO Marcus Stafford As we approach the end of what has been another successful year at the Society, we find ourselves in a strong position where we can focus on our future with confidence. We arrive at this point having put in the hard yards. Today, we have a strong balance sheet, with a dedicated team that sits behind this success. The actions we take in the next two years will secure our future in the next decade. So, what do the next two years look like? MSWA is proud to hold the title again in 2015 as the largest contributor to MS research nationally, with a record .5 million investment made this year alone. As part of this contribution, we set aside 0,000 to support WA based MS research projects and due to the importance of research, our determination will not waiver as we hunt down the cause and cure for multiple sclerosis. We will also be closing out our strategic footprint in WA, resulting in 18 locations across the State, the most in the Society’s history. This work will see us finalising new facilities in the South West and Perth’s northern suburbs – key areas to complete our Western Australia footprint, to provide quality and convenience for people living with MS in this State. For the South West, that will mean a new services hub in Bunbury offering a base for a health care team to provide therapy and counselling, an Outreach Group and the delivery of further community services and programs. I look forward to providing you more detail around our northern suburbs plans soon, once they are finalised. But I can tell you today that our plans are to provide allied health care and high support accommodation in that area. In further good news, the State Government has confirmed they wish to honour our request to provide us with land in the Shenton Park area for high support accommodation. These initiatives will meet the Society’s accommodation and services needs for the next decade. So what about the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), and how will our work here shape our future? Well we now have a broad framework of services and support to help people living with other neurological conditions; in fact we have been doing this for a number of years now. So when the NDIS rolls out in full next year, we will welcome the NDIS funding that participants with other neurological conditions will bring us. This new income stream will allow us to continue to support people living with MS who are not eligible for the NDIS funding. They are, mainly – the newly diagnosed, those classified as low support and those who are 65 years and over. Our analysis shows that only 30% of people living with MS will be eligible for NDIS funding, so these tactics will be critical to build the scale necessary to prosper. Pleasingly, the work that we have conducted in the last decade means that we find ourselves in a position of leadership in the disability sector with an organisation of size and scale. I know that I speak for all of our staff when I say that we see this as a double positive. Firstly we will be able to support more people living with the challenges of disability. Secondly we will be able to broaden our charter and service offering for all people with MS. We are determined to put in the hard yards over the next two years, to set us up for a strong and solid future for the next decade and beyond. Do you want to receive the Bulletin online? Want monthly information updates? Register your email address today to start receiving our monthly Vitality e-newsletter and the Bulletin magazine online. Just email bhavna.jagtiani@mswa.org.au or call 6454 3114 and let us know your current email address. 4 Summer 2015 The MS Society of Western Australia

A message from the General Manager – Member Services Sue Shapland “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” Jimmy Dean Well I know I say this every year but where has the year gone!? They say time flies when you are having fun, or are busy, and 2015 has been no exception. We have had great successes again this year across the Society and many achievements which we can be proud of. The wonderful part about working here for me is I get to meet so many inspirational people living with MS while working with so many enthusiastic staff members across all departments. We are very fortunate at MSWA to be able to continually grow our services and expand our footprint, resulting in better coverage and greater opportunities for our Members. We sometimes don’t have time to actually reflect on some of our great achievements as we just get on with the next job. In November we had three young ladies from Victoria, who are working on a project to build a supported accommodation and slow stream rehabilitation facility for younger people, visit our Hamilton Hill facilities. I felt so proud as the staff and residents showed off these two facilities. The visitors were clearly blown away with what we have achieved and by how ‘homely’ the units are. They took many photos as reminders of their visit. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) trials in WA are going well and really opening up new opportunities for eligible participants. Mark Douglas, NDIS Project Officer, has provided us with another update in this edition of the Bulletin. As we learn more about how the ultimate scheme will roll out in WA, we will be able to run forums to ensure that our Members know what the NDIS is, how to check if you are eligible and what types of supports you may want to consider to support you in achieving your goals. There has been so much change this year across the sectors including health with the opening of the state of the art Fiona Stanley Hospital and more recently the new Midland Hospital replacing the Swan Districts Hospital. Coming up next will be the very welcome new Princess Margaret Hospital for children. MSWA has once again led the way in funding MS research in Australia with a .5 million contribution, including a generous ###COLUMNCONTENT###.5 million allocated for WA based projects via a WA managed Research Funding Round. We will keep you posted in Bulletin about the researchers who were successful in receiving funding for their projects 2016 will be another very exciting year. The Bunbury service centre and hub will be built and we will be able to share our plans for a centre and supported accommodation in the north metro area. For the newly diagnosed and low support Members, we will be promoting some new Peer Support Group opportunities as well as a series of Information Forums and much more. I do hope that you have some down time over the festive season as we head into another New Year! I hope you stay cool and safe. Please remember that our Member Services staff are here to help with information and advice. The switchboard here at Wilson is closed over the holidays but for non-urgent contacts you can ring the numbers provided below or via the contact form on our website, mswa.org.au/get-in-touch which will be monitored by staff. MSWA Christmas closure Our office is closed for the Christmas and New Year holiday period from Friday, 18 December 2015 and will re-open at 8.30am on Monday, 11 January 2016. However, some staff will be returning before this date. If you have been newly diagnosed and require information about MS or training on therapies, please contact our on-call Nurse on 0458 362 188, or for counselling services please call 0458 999 422. For enquiries about in home supports please call 0417 982 814. These are not emergency services and are only available during office hours over the holiday period. You can also reach us via website at mswa.org.au/get-intouch. This will be monitored by the Member Services staff over the break. If you have an urgent situation please call your local GP, nearest hospital or Health Direct on 1800 022 222, or the Crisis Line on 9381 5555. The MS Society of Western Australia Summer 2015 5

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