Community Health Council to ensure perspectives are heard

Media release

Thursday 27 October 2016

Community Health Council to ensure patient perspectives are heard

The ‘voice of the patient’ has long had an important role in health care, and now Southern DHB and WellSouth (working in partnership as Alliance South) are establishing a Community Health Council to ensure patient perspectives are embedded across the health service.

“Ensuring we hear the perspectives of patients and consumers is not new,” comments Southern DHB Interim CEO Chris Fleming, who points to existing systems including consumer advocates in mental health services, community representatives in regional networks, patient feedback surveys, and the In Your Shoes listening sessions undertaken as part of the DHB’s Southern Future programme.

However, he says, “there have been gaps, and we have not always been systematic about how we should seek and make best use of the perspectives patients bring.”

To address this, the role of the new Council is to:

• Ensure and enable patient and whānau participation across the Southern health system

• Identify and advise on health systems and services for patients and communities, including input into the development of health service priorities and strategies

• Ensure reports, developments and initiatives relating to health services have appropriately engaged, or been developed with, patients and their communities

• Ensure regular communication and networking with the community and relevant patient groups

• Link up with special interest groups as required, for specific issues and problem solving.

By working through Alliance South, ‘whole-of-system’ view of the health system is emphasised, looking at greater integration of primary and secondary care. For this reason, Interim Chair of the Council Sarah Derrett says candidates for the Council should be able to consider issues from a ‘big picture’ perspective.

“While Council members will need personal experiences of the health system, they should not be focused on a single issue. Instead, we want them to advocate for all patients, whānau and their communities, and ensure the processes across the health system for hearing the voices we need to hear are strong.”

Fleming agrees: “We look forward to learning from those who experience our system, gaining the benefit of their insights and solving our shared challenges together.”

The provisional Terms of Reference and application form are available atwww.alliancesouth.nz, and applications are requested by 5pm Friday 18thNovember 2016.

ENDS

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