Ensuring the needs and perspectives of consumers, carers and community members are represented in the hospital system is the core purpose of the Consumer and Community Engagement Council.
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Established in 2014, there are three councils – one in the North, West and South of the state.
The northern council has initiated many projects aimed at improving the facilities and experience at the Launceston General Hospital.
Some of the activities undertaken by the northern council include reviewing signs inside the hospital to better visitor navigation, safety upgrades on Charles Street, and the refurbishment of pathology and allied health.
The northern council’s 10 volunteer members have vastly different backgrounds, skills, knowledge and experience.
Northern council chairman Peter O’Sullivan said having a heterogeneous collection of people on the council was important to have a broad representation of community interest.
“We are not there to endorse the government … we are an independent resource,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
The council was established to advise on the second standard – partnering with consumers - of the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards.
Reporting to the Tasmanian Health Service executive director of patient safety and the governing council, the council continues to develop and mature as a consumer advocacy group.
“We are really embedded in the LGH … we aren’t just there to tick a box,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
One of the many projects led by the council was the upgrades on and around Charles Street, which focused on improving patient and staff safety.
“We were concerned about the road in front of the hospital, about speeding limits and safety,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
“We initiated, with the help of the City of Launceston council and corporate services, to upgrade Charles Street and now it has improved dramatically,” he said.
Deputy chairwoman Christine Beswick said now cars stop at the roundabout and give way to pedestrians.
“It turned into a much bigger project than we were thinking ... but the results have been excellent,” she said.
Members of the council were also involved in assisting the hospital to promote the transfer of elderly patients to rural facilities to ease bed block.
“Bed block is never just the emergency departments problem, it is the whole of the hospital’s problem,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
The council worked with hospital staff to promote the transfer project. “We gave them the consumer view,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
“The facilities in the country are fabulous and it might be a half-an-hour drive to Deloraine, but it means they [patients] can spend a week or two there recuperating and then they go home,” he said.
Mrs Beswick said the regional facilities are almost like family hospitals.
“There are motherly RNs [registered nurses] who’ve been there forever,” she said.
Some of the council’s members have sat on interview panels for senior medical positions across the state.
“We’ve built up a huge amount of knowledge and experience,” Mrs Beswick said.
Clinicians embracing the need to incorporate consumer engagement into their work was a highlight for the council.
“Engaging patients is a win-win,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
“It leads to better health care and quicker recovery. The patient should always be informed,” he said.
Mrs Beswick said the doctor-patient relationship has changed thanks to consumer engagement.
“It is no longer ‘doctor is god and he will tell you what happens to you’,” she said.
Recently Mr O’Sullivan was asked to be the consumer representative in the drafting of the new health services bill charter. The previous draft did not mention consumers, but Mr O’Sullivan said the new one will have a much stronger focus on them.
Reforms to the state’s health system, which were passed in parliament in May, will see the governing council and the role of chief executive officer abolished
Meetings between the advisory council and the Department of Health and Human Services secretary Michaewl Pervan have ensured the three consumer bodies will continue to be supported and resourced once the Tasmanian Health Service bill is introduced, Mr O’Sullivan said.
Council meetings are held monthly and often host invited guests like Health Minister Michael Ferguson. Members also sit on a number of Tasmanian Health Service key governance committees.
Formed by John Kirwan, the council was formally known as the Community Advisory Council. There are two vacant positions on the council, with expressions of interests due to be advertised later this year.
- The council’s members are chairman Peter O’Sullivan, deputy chairwoman Christine Beswick, former chair Joyce Bissland, Pat Igoe, Amir Khankeshipour, Robin McKendrick, Tony Deane-Shaw, Ella Dixon, Ally Mercer and Michelle Ogulin.