Getting stoma supplies while in Australia is essential. There’s no two ways about it. Let’s not begin to imagine the reality where they’re not available. In this blog post I’m going to talk about how I sourced my usual prescription in Australia. Feel free to read out of pure curiosity or as a guide for someone who is considering a similar path to me after ostomy surgery.
Preparation
I’ll begin by saying I packed over 3 months’ supply with me. I had been hoarding the bags I didn’t use, and making sure I had ordered them on time so I could build up a stock of spare. Then I contacted the NHS and asked for a 3 month supply as I’d be travelling long term. I stuffed these in my hand luggage and it was plenty to last me the 3 months it took to secure stoma supplies in Australia.
Why has it taken 3 months? Mainly because my medicare card took about 8 weeks. The application took 8 weeks to process, the delivery of my medicare card went to my friends house in Sydney which needed to be posted to me. The medicare card number is the key to accessing the health services in Australia.
Medicare
Just a note: as a UK citizen, I’m able to access the Australian healthcare system like a permanent resident due to the reciprocal healthcare agreement.
I don’t know if it’s an Australian thing or not but I was never sent any sort of confirmation about my medicare card application. If you know me, you’ll know I make a lot of silly mistakes when it comes to this sort of thing. I chased up about the progress of my application which was more of a hassle than it should have been. Emails bounced back, phone calls were cut off. The only thing that did work was going into a Centrelink, where they asked me to repeat the application and then they’d get back to me about whether the old one was being processed or whether they’d have to re-submit. About a week after this visit they gave me a call and told me my card was in the post to Sydney. A bit of a faffy system!
Finding a nurse
Once I knew my card was on the way, I found stoma nurses near me by visiting https://www.nswstoma.org.au/stomal-therapy-services-and-locations/ nswstoma.org and looking in my area for community stoma nurses (avoiding the private practices). This gave me a list of names, numbers and emails of stoma nurses nearby. I sent 3 emails to the closest community stoma nurses to me explaining my situation and included my name and phone number.
I’ve gotta say, my stoma nurse in England was pretty epic, and it seems there’s an Australian version too. I got a phone call within a few minutes of sending the email and she explained I could get bags immediately by contacting coloplast for samples if I needed them, and outlined how I could become a member of the stoma association ONL (Ostomy New South Wales Limited).
The way it works in Australia is you have ostomy surgery, you’re assigned a stoma nurse, then with their help, you become a member of a Stoma Association. You can’t apply to be a member without the help of a stoma nurse.
Stoma Associations
There are many stoma associations dotted around Australia. You pay the membership fee of the stoma association ($70 for ONL) and the postage for each delivery ($15). Each month you fill out an order form with what you want your delivery to contain and they post it to you which arrives in around 10 days.
You’re allowed a maximum of 30 bags a month and the other supplies you’d expect such as adhesive remover spray, circular seals, barrier wipes, elastic tape. What they do not provide is the disposable bags to put your rubbish in and the dry wipes, which I’ll have to source separately from a shop like Coles or Kmart.
If you’re travelling around like me, or have no permanent address, you can have your parcels delivered to the post offices here. You just need to remember to take your passport when it comes to picking them up. If you’re moving around Australia, you can change the delivery address on each order form every month. Just make sure you’ll be around your chosen post office in the 10 days it takes the parcel to arrive. I.e. If you’re moving north and you know you want to be in a certain area within 10 days, choose a post office near your destination. It may be a little annoying but hey, if you’re an ostomate life is just a little more annoying for us now, something we just have to deal with.
In summary
Apply for a medicare card (if you’re part of a reciprocal healthcare country) as soon as possible.
If you’re worried about how long it is taking, go into a Centrelink to ask about the progress of your application and let them know you need it to set up a prescription you cannot live without.
Use this website to contact a stoma nurse near you who can help you with the application.
Plan ahead where you’ll be to get your supplies delivered to a convenient location for pick up.
