Consumer engagement

At St John of God Subiaco Hospital, we like to harness the experience and advice of our community members to enhance the hospital’s decision-making process through increased engagement with our consumers.

Members assist the hospital in an advisory capacity to achieve an optimal level of patient satisfaction with regards to standard of care, treatment and service delivery.

We have consumer representation on both clinical and non-clinical committees, as well as project and redevelopment groups.

We provide a number of consumer engagement opportunities for members of the community to have their say about our hospital.

Consumer Advisory Group

The Consumer Advisory Group (CAG) includes patients, former patients and visitors and family members of patients.

This committee provides feedback to improve the experiences of our patients.

It meets every two months to review and provide input into:

Hospital planning such as quality improvement plans, patient safety and quality and strategic and operational plans
Signage and parking and whether patients and visitors can find their way around the hospital
Research and brochures to make sure these are easily understandable
Personal experiences within the hospital and how these are managed, such as complaints, patient care and waiting times.

Committee members need to have had a direct experience at the hospital.

Role

As a committee member, your role will include participating in discussions, information sharing and gathering activities, providing input and recommendations, presenting consumer perspectives and experiences as well as ensuring all committee deliberations and outcomes are consistent with St John of God Health Care Values and service ethos.

Responsibilities

Committee members will provide input and recommendations to the hospital on policy, systems, service reform and developments and assist in the review of relevant consumer documents.

Member appointment will be for an initial term of 24 months, unless terminated earlier by and at the discretion of either party upon (one week’s) written notice. Continuation of appointment is contingent on participation according to the Committee’s Terms of Reference. An invitation may be extended to members to serve an additional period.

Members are paid a nominal sitting fee of up to $70.00 per hour which will be processed after their attendance is confirmed by the meeting Chairperson.

It is acknowledged that members may have business or personal interests which at times may be different to those of St John of God Subiaco Hospital and any conflicts that are apparent at the time of appointment must be declared. In the event that a member becomes aware of any future potential conflicts of interest, these should be immediately disclosed to the Chairperson and/or Secretary.

Sensitive and confidential information which is not in the public domain may sometimes be disclosed to members on a confidential basis as part of committee discussions.

Committee members must agree to maintain confidentiality. They must also ensure the security of all meeting papers and records in their possession.

E-advisors

We also have an E-advisors Network, where we seek patient input via email – you do not have to come to the hospital to be involved. The hospital may seek your input into reviewing processes or documents that affect our patients.

Other consumer engagement opportunities

We provide other opportunities for consumers to provide feedback about our hospital’s care, service delivery and facilities.

Other hospital committees and projects which benefit from the valuable input of consumer representatives include:

Partnering with Consumers Committee
Patient Safety and Clinical quality Committee
Medication Safety Committee
Cultural, linguistic and Diverse Groups Sub-Committee
Learning and Development Committee
Redevelopment

For more information

If you would like to know more about our consumer engagement initiatives, or would like to express your interest in becoming involved, please contact:

Tel: 08 9382 6111
Email: [email protected]

Documents:

Consumer Advisory Group Position Description V1