MSWA Bulletin Spring 16

From the desk of the CEO
MARCUS STAFFORD
Times of change require strategic vision, steered by the
steady hand of confident leadership.
The disability world is currently going through significant
change via the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The
Scheme represents Australia’s most significant change within
the disability sector, and will mean that people living with a
disability will have the choice and control over how they receive
their services and support. But with any change of this scale,
there are teething problems, delays and sometimes confusion.
I hope, through our continued communication, you feel informed
about the impact of the NDIS and what it means for you.
The Scheme has been in a trial phase in WA since 2014 in
three key areas and in the next couple of years, the whole of
WA will be covered. The next step started this month, with
trials expanding to cover Armadale, Murray and Serpentine-
Jarrahdale and Bayswater, Bassendean, Chittering, Toodyay,
York and Northam.
Prior to the roll-out in your area, we will be in touch to help
you with every step of the process.
The reality, however, is that the NDIS won’t deliver as much as
we’d like for everyone, most notably for the newly diagnosed
and low support Members; and for our Members aged over
65, it won’t deliver at all.
That’s where our service provision to people with other
neurological conditions comes in. While it’s nothing new and
a service we’ve been delivering for years, it takes on an even
greater importance in the current climate.
Basically the NDIS ‘dollars’ that flow from people with other
neurological conditions, and their NDIS funding, will finance
our ability to serve people with MS who aren’t eligible for
inclusion in the Scheme.
This will allow MSWA to more formally extend our service
provision to the people we are here to serve, and continue our
growth plans and ambitions.
I believe now is the perfect time to embrace a new-look logo
that builds on MSWA’s history and reputation, but presents a
more contemporary and accurate look and feel. Put simply,
we need to tell the story of who we are now and what we do.
So, I am delighted to present this first Bulletin to you with our
new logo and branding, which you would have seen from our
cover page, but here it is:
So change definitely awaits us, and we are ready and excited
by the opportunities that this change brings. The strong
foundations that we have built over the last decade position
us perfectly to continue to provide more and more services to
people with MS, and to cement our leadership position as the
highest funder of research in Australia.
We recently consolidated this position, with a record breaking
contribution of $2.2 million towards MS research. That
includes a second year of funding for the five WA based
research projects that received fellowships from MSWA
in 2015. This important work ranges from bio-medical to
applied research and leaves me with an optimism I have not
felt before.
We also continue to grow and develop our Member Services
Team, delivering physiotherapy, nursing, occupational therapy
and care support work – and all points in between, for people
with MS and all neurological conditions. Services have been
going up 12% year on year, with the highest quality rating.
I am also really pleased with our progress for new developments
across WA which are all in various stages of progression:
• our Bunbury Community and Health Services Centre will be
completed before Christmas;
• our northern suburbs accommodation and services facility
in Butler is currently in the hands of the planners and is next
in the pipeline; and
• once the various building requirements have been
met, we will commence the build on our Shenton Park
accommodation facility.
Where some see the problems, we only see the opportunities.
We say that now, but it hasn’t always been that way. A
decade or so ago we were well intentioned, with lofty goals,
but little substance. Today we are acknowledged as a leading
organisation with the finest team of over 600 staff. That
allows us to relish the opportunities that the new world of the
NDIS marketplace presents.
It allows us to continue the strong growth of Member services
and to continue to lead research funding in Australia.
Importantly it also allows us to say, with confidence, that
we will support you on every step of your unique journey.
Whether it’s about grappling with the difficulties of new
diagnosis, struggling with the planning process of the
NDIS, or something else…we will be there for you.
4 | MSWA BULLETIN SPRING 2016