Kindness, connection, community – see the whole person (Djinang Kwop Wirrin)
This has been the theme for Health Consumers’ Council’s Patient Experience Week celebrations in previous years.
It encapsulates what consumers talk about when they talk about what makes a positive experience for them as they access health services. Djinang Kwop Wirrin is a Noongar interpretation of the theme – it means “see good spirit”. This translation came from Ralph Mogridge. Ralph is a Noongar man with ties to Bindjareb, Yued and Gnarla Karla Boordja areas of the South West of WA.
Patient Experience Week (PXW) is a global movement which began in the US with the Beryl Institute, it provides a focused time to celebrate accomplishments, re-energise efforts and honour the people who positively impact the patient experience every day. The Health Consumers’ Council of WA has been convening Patient Experience Week events since 2016. In 2017 we were lucky enough to have the founder of the Beryl Institute, Jason Wolf travel all the way to WA to be our keynote speaker.
Elsewhere in Australia and internationally, events are led by health service provider organisations. Health Consumers’ Council believes it is critical that consumers and community members play an active role in highlighting the importance of a positive experience of the health system.
Celebrating people who create a kinder, safer healthcare system
Patient Experience Week is also an opportunity to celebrate healthcare staff who impact on the patient experience every day. To support that, Health Consumers’ Council has created the Patient Experience Week postcard to enable consumers, carers and family members to acknowledge staff who have had a positive impact on their experience – read more here.
Previous events and celebrations
Care Opinion Virtual Conference 2021
Care Opinion is an independent, moderated platform which transparently reports on people’s feedback in hospitals and health services. WA is the first state to have every public hospital as a subscriber on the platform, which means they read and respond to people’s stories. For Patient Experience Week 2021, Care Opinion convened a virtual conference. The theme of the conference was ‘The purpose of patient feedback: how does public online feedback address the missing link?’ This virtual event shared key insights, research, case studies and learnings from across the UK and Australia to help attendees better understand the value of patient feedback and the important role public online feedback plays across Australia’s healthcare system.
Patient Experience Week 2019
Patient Experience Week 2019 was the first time we used the theme: “Kindness, connection, community: see the whole person” or as said in Noongar “Djinang Kwop Wirrin” (See Good Spirit). That year we focused on the Aboriginal Patient Experience of the WA Health system.
We held an event outdoors at Pelican Point in Crawley. The purpose of this event was to create an opportunity for Aboriginal health consumers and carers to share their stories and experiences in a collaborative setting, alongside staff from across the health system, to drive systemic change. With a focus on Aboriginal culture and traditional healing methods, we aimed to raise awareness of the elements that contribute to a positive experience of health and healthcare for Aboriginal people. See the full report here.
Click on the links below to find out more: