By Angela Norval
As many of us know, women’s health can often be a somewhat confusing and often frustrating area, so consistent care of a local service can make all the difference.
This is where the help of the Mobile Women’s Health Service comes in.
The service is a network of specially trained women’s health nurses who provide a free and confidential Well Women’s Clinic to Queensland women including throughout the Wide Bay.
It is a safe, confidential and non-judgemental service for all women and no referral is needed but a wealth of services covered.
One of the regular faces of the Mobile Women’s Health is clinical nurse consultant Klare Hughes, a role that wasn’t where she has originally thought she would end up.
Klare originally trained in the United Kingdom and began her career as a dental assistant.
Sharing that while she loved it, Klare realised she needed more diversity and decided nursing was a great fit.
“I have really enjoyed lots of the areas I was exposed to through my training, but felt particularly drawn to midwifery and sexual health,” she said.
“The Mobile Women’s Health role allows me to combine these passions, and I genuinely love working with women from all works of life to provide support and education.
“The Mobile Women’s Health Service is great in that it brings important services to the community, and women are able to meet with me in their own towns, rather than having to travel to a bigger centre.
“Because of this, clinic days kick off with travel, set up, and then I see up to 10 ladies a day.
“Predominantly, women access the service for cervical screening, and I am hoping to do more with young women over the coming years, discussing contraception and providing sexual health advice and screening.”
Having a dedicated person in Klare’s line of work continues to be important because continuity of care is key.
“This service works hard to ensure that women can see the same person each time they are screened, have follow up, or want to discuss any concerns.
“The testing we do is obviously of a very personal nature, and having a female nurse helps to ensure women are as comfortable as possible when accessing services.
“In conjunction with this, the discussions that occur as part of the service are incredibly personal, and feeling comfortable with the clinician and having a rapport with them is so important to ensure women receive the right care.
“As we get the word out more, clinics are really revving up and I’m seeing more women than ever before, which is fantastic.
“Also, I am about to kick off study to become a nurse practitioner, which means I will be able to offer even more services to the women of Wide Bay and North Burnett.
“This will be particularly beneficial for women who live in smaller regional towns and don’t have ready access to a broad range of services.
“This is where I feel I make the most difference, knowing the community is comfortable to see me again and again speaks volumes.”
One thing that remains consistent for Klare is her role in working in a preventative role, where she continues to help women to detect any abnormalities earlier and they’re able to access treatment before things progress too far.
“As with any role, it is difficult to have to tell a patient they have an illness or disease, especially cancer.
“You would imagine it would be even more difficult and heart wrenching to be helping women catch and manage any cancer related to their reproduction, but I truly believe that arming women with information, a treatment plan and all the support they need makes a huge difference.”
For more information visit health.qld.gov.au or for an appointment phone 1300 090 760.
