2023-24 AT A GLANCE

During the year ended 30 June 2024, the funds held by the Health Services Charitable Gifts Board grew to $183.36 million.

Over $21 million in income was received which included $6.9 million received from gifts and donations and $10.8 million in investment income.

Further information on the financial performance of the Board and the trusts administered by the Board can be found within the 2023-24 HSCGB Annual Report.

During the year ended 30 June 2024 the Health Services Charitable Gifts Board approved Public Health Entity (PHE) budget requests of $20.6 million, of which $9.85 million was spent by PHEs on various purposes such as:

Clinical and Medical Research Equipment
Research costs including grants and fellowships
Conferences and Training; and
Other expenditure such as Volunteer support.

The Health Services Charitable Gifts Board provided over $2.9 million in research funding. Some of the research funded includes:

Multiple CALHN CEO Clinical Rapid Implementation Project Scheme projects:

Next Generation Sequencing as a Precision Medicine Tool in the treatment and management of patients with Prosthetic Joint Infection.
Integrating telehealth and triage tools to improve outcomes in diabetes-related foot disease and chronic limb-threatening ischemia.
Timely management of acute heart attack patients through real time smart technologies to connect interventional cardiologists with first medical contacts.
Assessment of safety and hospital resource utilisation of ED initiated CTCA (Coronary artery CT) in intermediate risk ACS patients: a randomised control trial (SHRUED).
The impact of an emergency department protocol and rapid access AF clinic to reduce hospitalisations for atrial fibrillation (REDUCE AF).
Electronic Penicillin Allergy Screening with Machine Learning (EPAS-ML) with Systematic Allergy Delabelling.

Professor Guy Ludbrook – 2020-21 CALHN CEO Clinical Rapid Implementation Project Scheme grant recipient for his project: Advanced Recovery Room Care – an iterative model to improve outcomes and reduce cost in perioperative care

“For some years we had concerns about the care general wards could offer higher risk patients after surgery. Their numbers are growing rapidly as our population ages and has more chronic disease.

Based on some early pilot work, the HSCGB provided a grant to allow us to run a clinical trial of a new form of post operative care, termed Advanced Recovery Room Care, or ARRC. This extends the concept of a Recovery Room from 2 hours to care overnight, and utilises especially trained anaesthetists and nurses.

This trial, also supported by PARC Clinical Research, showed ARRC halved major complications, greatly reduced the need for hospital beds, increased the time patients spent at home, and decreased mortality by 35%. These findings, possibly the largest improvements in outcome after surgery demonstrated, have been published in the world’s leading surgical journal, JAMA surgery.

The ARRC model is being taken up by a growing number of hospitals, in Australia and overseas. CALHN is now leading the development of an international ARRC Network, under its Centre for Peri-operative Health Economics and Policy (C-PHEP). This Network will assist hospitals take up this concept, allow sharing of information on improving practice, and will help drive new research into further improving early care after surgery.”

Other significant research projects and grants

Research Project: Investigating novel biomarkers of Rheumatoid Arthritis pathogenesis and response to conventional disease modifying agents in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Research Project: New azithromycin derivatives to address off-target effects for autophagy and the selection of antibiotic – resistant bacteria in COPD.
Research Project: Utility of a Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY) probability calculator and exome sequencing to diagnose monogenic diabetes in the Australian clinic setting.
Research Project: Preclinical and clinical studies of CAR-T cell therapy for solid tumours.
Research Project: The Genetic Epidemiology of Hereditary Pancreatitis in Australia and its effects on patients of Total Pancreatomy with Auto-Islet Transplantation
Research Project: Identification and targeting dormant leukaemic stem cells in chronic myeloid leukaemia: a pathway to a cure.

Other funding initiatives

The Board was pleased to be able to provide $4.8 million to the RAH to purchase and install a Da Vinci XI Robotic Assisted Surgical System. The Da Vinci XI System provides world class minimally invasive robotic assisted surgery offering advanced treatment options for complex head and neck operations, kidney, bowel, and uterine cancers, as well as colorectal surgery.

CALHN Office of the CEO:-“ CALHN sincerely thanks the HSCGB for its generous donation toward the new Da Vinci robotic surgical system: a cutting-edge technology that enhances surgical precision, control, and minimally invasive capabilities through robotic arms operated via a console.

The HSCGB’s support is transforming patient care, enabling advanced, precision-driven and high-quality care across urology, gynaecological oncology, head and neck, colorectal, and now thoracic surgery. This state-of-the-art technology has greatly enhanced the quality of our surgical procedures and improved recovery times for our patients.

In its first year, the robotic surgical program has led to better post-operative outcomes, shorter hospital stays, and fewer ICU admissions. It has also reduced ambulance transfers from private sectors to RAH and TQEH, benefiting patients and easing the ambulance service strain. This initiative strengthens CALHN’s vision for a Centre of Excellence in robotic surgery, attracting leading surgeons and promising trainees.

We deeply appreciate the HSCGB’s commitment to advancing healthcare for the South Australian community.”

In additional, the Board provided funding for various patient support initiatives such as:

Specialised Podiatry chairs in a regional based hospital reducing the need for these clients to be transferred to metropolitan hospitals.
Various mental health support initiatives such as sensory room equipment, glider chairs, animal assisted therapy, cognitive remediation software and other sensory resources.
Establishment of a Wellness Garden – a safe and tranquil space for vulnerable patients living with dementia, intellectual disability and mental illness.
Replacement of chemotherapy chairs.
Funding for wards to provide Christmas cheer for patients that spend the Christmas period in hospital.

The Health Services Charitable Gifts Board continued funding the South Australian Cancer Research Biobank during 2023 -24. The Board has provided over $1.3 million in funding for this service since its inception.

See the 2023-24 HSCGB Annual Report for further projects and programs that have been funded during the year.

As trustee for the Ray & Shirl Norman Cancer Research Trust, the Health Services Charitable Gifts Board has provided over $3.7 million in funding for cancer research projects over the past 10 years. $470,000 was provided during 2023-24.

During the year the following projects were finalised:

BCR-ABL1 independent genomic factors that influence treatment decisions and outcome for patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia.
Assessing novel therapeutics for the treatment of chemotherapy-resistant ovarian cancer.
Can senolytic agents, which target senescent bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells, inhibit the progression of multiple myeloma?
Development of new combination immunotherapies for glioblastoma based on Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T cell and Bispecific T cell Engager (BiTE) technologies.

and the following projects commenced:

Finding the needle in the haystack of NPM1 AML.
Microbial infiltrates in head and neck cancers as mediators of chemotherapy responsiveness.
Enhancing CAR-T-mediated bystander killing to overcome tumour escape.

Further information about the trusts administered by the Board can be found in the 2023-24 HSCGB Annual Report.

Professor Branford – Recipient of a Ray & Shirl Noman Cancer Research Grant for her project BCR-ABL1 independent genomic factors that influence treatment decisions and outcome for patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia

“The grant funding from the Ray and Shirl Norman Cancer Research Trust has enabled an advancement of scientific knowledge that could have a direct impact for the improved management of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia and, more broadly, to gain a better understanding of cardiovascular disease biology. The knowledge will continue to be disseminated and has enabled local and international collaboration, led to further grant funding and applications, enabled research participation by higher degree research students and directly contributed to the design of a clinical trial.”

As Trustee for the DE Brown Charitable Trust, the Board continues to support Holiday Dialysis with over $148,000 being provided since becoming Trustee in 2014-15.

Chris Kelly – Renal Advanced Nurse Consultant, Rural Support Services: “I would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for the generous funding provided by the Health Services Charitable Gifts Board to support holiday dialysis for individuals reliant on haemodialysis. Your commitment to facilitating respite for these individuals, who are often unable to travel due to their medical needs, is truly invaluable.

Your contribution ensures that we can offer vital holiday dialysis services using the SA Dialysis Truck. This initiative not only provides necessary medical care but also greatly enhances the health and wellbeing of both patients and their caregivers by allowing them a much-needed break. The opportunity for travel and a change of scenery can significantly improve their quality of life.

Thank you once again for your invaluable support and dedication to enhancing the lives of those dependent on dialysis. Your generosity makes a significant difference, and we are deeply grateful for your partnership.”

As Trustee for the three PF Beinke Trusts, the Board continued to support education and training and associated expenses for Chaplains in their roles at the RAH, FMC and Repatriation General Hospital with over $50,000 being provided since becoming Trustee in 2020-21.

Dr Shilpanjali Jesudason – Nephrologist, Central Northern Adelaide Renal and Transplantation Service: “I have been the fortunate beneficiary of multiple HSCGB grants over the last 10 years. I can say unequivocally they have been absolutely instrumental in progressing my research agenda which is focused on the care of patients in the time leading up to an after the start of dialysis. For example, we were able to undertake a major study looking at fear of dialysis needles and how to improve this in patients who are committed to dialysis treatment three times a week as a life saving measure.

Furthermore, we received a CRIPS grant from CALHN (funded by the HSCGB), which allowed us to do a major project focused on improving primary care and tertiary renal care integration at the very vulnerable and difficult time when patients start dialysis. We were able to work with primary care practitioners, nurses, patients and staff within the renal unit to devise a better model of care and improved communications with the primary care sector. We undertook a massive qualitative study through which we identified patients end up being the conduit of information between the primary care and hospital-based sector, a situation that is unacceptable. That led us to develop a preparing for dialysis toolkit which is now embedded in clinical care and provided to every single patient coming through the service. This toolkit includes clear information about how to get ready for dialysis start, checklists, contact details, hospital avoidance strategies, peer support information, symptom management information, and a whole host of other information designed to make the transition easier and more informed.

With the current status of external grant funding being particularly dire, with extremely low success rates due to highly competitive rounds with more applications than can possibly get funded, research support from philanthropic groups such as HSCGB are absolutely critical to help us progress our research agenda. We simply could not survive without this funding, and deeply grateful to donors for their investment in the future of health research.”