Migraine Australia has slammed NSW Health Minister Ryan Park for dismissing migraine as “minor aches or pains”.
In a press release today intended to praise the government’s efforts in diverting people away from hospital, an explanation of Triage Categories 4 and 5 stated “minor aches and pains, sprained ankles, migraines, earaches, rashes, coughs and colds.”
Chair of Migraine Australia, Raphaella Kathryn Crosby, said the migraine community is used to dealing with the ‘just a headache’ stigma of migraine on a daily basis, but rarely is it so blatant.
“Migraine should never be considered a minor ailment, and certainly not triaged Category 5.”
While migraine is very common, and very misunderstood, it is still a very serious condition that must be managed appropriately. Migraine attack can cause stroke (called migrainous infarction) or other serious complications, including coma and death, if not managed appropriately. When a migraine attack is so severe that it requires emergency intervention, it is called migraine crisis.
“When people with rarer or more serious forms of migraine, including myself, call Health Direct in migraine crisis, Health Direct more often than not calls an ambulance.
“When we get triaged by people that are not prejudiced against migraine, we are often triaged in category 2 or 3, as we are usually experiencing extreme pain, extreme dehydration, uncontrollable vomiting, loss of consciousness, stroke-like symptoms or other very challenging symptoms,” she said.
Migraine Australia would like to see migraine always triaged at Category 3 or higher, but appreciate that with the severe shortage in primary care and no migraine management plan or system in place at all, lower severity migraine attack may still present at emergency from time to time. However, Crosby explained that no one with migraine is in Emergency unless they have exhausted all other options.
“If someone with migraine presents to the emergency department or has called an ambulance, it is because they need to, and they should never be discouraged or made to feel bad because they chose to seek appropriate medical care while in migraine crisis.
“Emergency is the worst place for us - it’s loud and bright and is guaranteed to aggravate migraine attacks in most cases. The experienced migraine warrior is going to do everything they can to avoid it.
“Denying a migraine patient appropriate care, or discouraging them from seeking emergency care, is discriminatory, extremely offensive, and downright dangerous,” she said.
“If any hospital is dismissing migraine as just a headache, they should be reprimanded and corrective action taken, including compulsory education on the significant shift in migraine science that has taken place in recent years.”
Migraine was redefined as a genetic sensory processing disorder in 2017. The scientific breakthrough that busted the ‘vascular headache’ myth has led to an extraordinary revolution in migraine care, including the advent of the first ever medications developed for migraine, and many migraine patients starting to get adequate care for the first time.
Crosby said that if Minister Park was serious about relieving the pressure on both GPs and emergency, then the NSW Government would take action on migraine.
“We welcome any opportunity to improve migraine care and help to reduce the burden on our hospitals, but have struggled to get a hearing with anyone in NSW in the past.
“We need to give migraine a break. The Minister can start to do that simply by no longer dismissing our complex genetic sensory processing disorder as anything minor.”
Migraine Australia, as the peak advocacy organisation for migraine and the only migraine patient body in Australia, would welcome the opportunity for discussion with the NSW Health Minister to discuss appropriate migraine care models in order to better serve the more than two million NSW residents living with migraine.
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