Month: May 2017

Celebrating people who make a difference…

Have you ever encountered a person who absolutely stands out in the way they approach the work they do? There is a noticeable difference in attitude and energy between those who are truly engaged in their role and those who are not… and how difficult must it be to face up every day to something you are not enjoying and you don’t believe in?

This year I have been working with someone who I have never met face to face. We communicate via email and phone and have glimpsed each other once via video conferencing. Why haven’t we met? Because this wonderful person lives in Katanning. Her name is Karen and she has been incredible in her enthusiasm and energy around engaging with people from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Briefly, Katanning is home to people from many different countries, some quite newly arrived while others have become long term residents. It is known as a town that supports cultural diversity and which has been highly successful in doing so. Karen works for the Department of Health in two roles, as a Health Promotion Officer – Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) and as a Project Officer, Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus.

In her role/s Karen has encouraged and supported people from CaLD backgrounds to engage with the health sector with the result that there is now a Multicultural DHAC (District Health Advisory Council) in the Great Southern Region. I suspect this may be the first of its kind in WA and is a fantastic achievement that needs to be celebrated and acknowledged.

Beyond that I would like to say, ‘thank you’ to Karen for the level of interest she has shown in and her support for the work that I do and to acknowledge those things. Also for her willingness to be involved in HCC’s Refugee and Asylum Seeker Health Research Alliance (RAHERA) and her participation in other activities this Program undertakes.

You are really appreciated Karen, thank you. We really value your support.

Footnote: On May 11, I travelled to Katanning and ran information sessions and workshops, also the following day. There I met Karen and she is as dynamic as I suspected!

Click here to read about the work Health Consumers’ Council did with Katanning Senior High School.

Louise Ford | Consumer and Community Engagement Manager

Image Source: https://smallbiztrends.com/2016/11/ways-to-thank-customers.html

Patient Experience is the Human Experience…

PXW Community Conversation Snapshot!

On Thursday April 27, 100 people representing consumers/carers, not-for-profits and health professionals in WA worked together to improve the Patient Experience by exploring the question “What Matters To You?” about our health system.

The Health Consumers’ Council event was opened by the Director General of WA Health, Dr David Russell-Weisz who assured the audience they were in the right place “to make the patient experience better”, and this is the most important work we need to do together.

Pictured: Jason Wolf, President of the Beryl Institute

Our keynote speaker was Jason Wolf, President of the Beryl Institute and international patient experience expert. Jason flew all the way from the USA to address and inspire our community about what works and what’s next in the global patient experience movement. And inspire he did! Jason highlighted that ‘Patient Experience is the Human Experience’. He highlighted that Patient Experience is a movement – not a specific set of activities with an end date. A video of his powerful presentation will be posted as soon as it is available.

Following Jason’s presentation the whole room set to work at their tables, exploring the question “What matters to you?” and even though we responded from our different perspectives, the themes we identified were the same. We then explored what practical patient experience improvement priorities using the interactive platform, Group Map. We were able to see other’s priorities and ‘like’ them in real time. The priorities developed are noted in the preliminary report as outlined below.

Pictured: NMHS Disability Liaison Project

A special thank you to LotteryWest, our sponsor for this event, the members of the Steering Committee and our Table Champions for your valuable contribution. We would also like the thank the hospitals and health services who provided a poster on the Patient Improvement Priorities they are currently working on. Click here to read about the projects and initiatives that are making a difference in WA Health. Click here to find out how you can submit your patient experience initiative.

 

PXW Community Conversation Preliminary Report

Pictured: Page 1 of the Preliminary Report

Click here to download the Preliminary Report. The full report will be available in the coming weeks.

 

PXW Health Leadership Breakfast Snapshot!

Pictured: Dr Simon Towler & Jason Wolf President of the Beryl Institute

Our 2017 Patient Experience Community Event was designed with the end in mind – how we would feed back to health leaders about the patient experience improvement priorities identified at the Community Forum.

Health Consumers’ Council partnered with the Australasian College of Health Service Management to hold a Health Leadership Breakfast On Friday April 28, 2017. Jason Wolf, our keynote speaker and President of the Beryl Institute presented the patient experience priorities to a packed room of WA health leaders.

Jason co-presented with WA’s Dr Simon Towler who provided a moving and grounding testimonial of his own lived experience of the moment he stopped being the Chief Medical Officer and became a cancer patient. His presentation highlighted  the consumer perspective, both the negative and positive moments and highlighted the importance of keeping the patient at the centre.

A video of the Breakfast will be made available on our website in the coming weeks.

A special thank you goes out to HESTA, our sponsor for this event, and to the Australasian College of Health Service Managers, such wonderful and supportive partners in putting this event together.

 

Health Consumer Excellence Awards 2017

Pictured: Pip Brennan, Hon Alanna Clohesy MLC, Award Winner Caz Chisholm & Jason Wolf

The Health Consumers’ Council  and the Western Australian Department of Health are pleased to present the winners and finalists for the ‘Health Consumer Excellence Awards’ 2017!

The Awards were opened by the Hon Alanna Clohesy MLC Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Premier; Health; Mental Health, standing in for Roger Cook MLA, Deputy Premier.

These awards were created to honour the everyday heroes in health in WA, from the administrator to the clinician and to recognise health consumers that go out of their way to make a difference.

A special thank you to our sponsors LotteryWest and the Western Australia Department of Health and our judges; Cheryl Holland, HCC Chair; Richard Brightwell; Karen Bradley, Chief Nurse; Dr Bernadette Wright, Clinical Psychologist; And Yvonne Parnell, South Metropolitan Health Service Board Member.

Congratulations to our winners! …And the winners are…

Health Organisation Award – Moorditj Djena

Health Professional Award – Elaine (Ellie) Newman

Health Consumer Award – Carolyn (Caz) Chisholm
Health Consumer Award, Highly Commended – Petrina Lawrence

Rosemary Caithness Award – Carolyn (Caz) Chisholm
Rosemary Caithness Award, Highly Commended – Janice (Jan) Thair

Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander Health Award – Aboriginal Health Liaison Service – Royal Perth Bentley Group
Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander Health Award, Highly Commended Boodjari Yorgas Family Care Program – Armadale Health Service

Compassionate Care Award – Fatima Edward

Click here to read about the winners and finalists of the Awards.

Pip Brennan | Executive Director & Lucy Palermo | Marketing & Communications Coordinator

Cover Picture: Pip Brennan, HCC Executive Director; Jason Wolf, Beryl Institute President; And Steph Newell, HCC Consumer & Community Engagement Coordinator