|
|
|
Engaging Patients, Consumers and Community
The engagement of patients, clients, carers, families and the community in Hunter New England Health’s quality and safety agenda and initiatives is essential to the delivery of effective health care services, and is a key principle of the HNEH Clinical Governance framework. This engagement occurs in many ways including establishing mechanisms to gain feedback from patients and clients about their level of satisfaction with their care. This ensures that customers are:
-
Informed of their healthcare delivery
-
Informed of their rights and responsibilities (see Section on Patient Rights and Responsibilites)
-
Accessing effective procedure for making a complaint and / or compliment
-
Experiencing a culture of customer service
Patient and Consumer Engagement in Quality and Safety
The involvement of consumers in clinical governance in HNE Health is important to ensuring this perspective is brought to discussions. The HNE Health quality committees, the Area Health Care Quality Committee and the Clinical Quality and Patient Safety Committee have two members who bring the consumer/patient perspective to the committee deliberations, and this input provides valuable advice and direction.
Patient Experience
Measuring patient / client and carer experience plays a key role in improving service and patient outcomes. Research from National Research Corporation and the Picker Institute in the United States indicates that patients and carers value:
-
Access to care
-
Respect for patient values, preferences and expressed needs
-
Coordination and integration of care
-
Information and education
-
Transition and continuity
-
Physical comfort
-
Emotional support and alleviation of fear and anxiety
-
Involvement of family and friends
The NSW State Plan and NSW State Health Plan includes “increased customer satisfaction” as a performance requirement. The NSW Health Patient Survey has been developed to gain information from users of health care services about their experience with the services provided, and to provide a high level measure of patient satisfaction that will identify improvement opportunities and enable benchmarking exercises to occur.
Fact Sheets on the NSW Health Patient Survey are available below.
Patient Survey
The annual NSW Health Patient Survey is only one of several strategies being used by NSW Health to gain a complete picture of Patient and Carer experience. Other strategies include:
-
Clinical Services Redesign Program Patient and Carer Discovery Interviews
-
MH-CoPES Consumer Evaluation of Mental Health Services
-
NSW Health Survey, which monitors factors that influence the health of the people of NSW
The NSW Patient Survey has been conducted twice, in 2007 and 2008. HNEH has developed an Action Plan to address some priority areas identified through the Survey, and the outcomes will be monitored through the Health Care Quality Committee, and further evaluated through future annual surveys.
Further information regarding the NSW Health Patient Survey can be located by contacting: Ms Tonia Easton, Area Quality Manager, Ph: 6767 8881
Ten Tips for Safer Health Care
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare (previously the Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care) developed the 10 Tips for Safer Health Care and other documents with the aim of empowering consumers in decision-making about their health care. It explains how and why adverse events occur, and how consumers can work in partnership with their health care professionals to achieve the best possible care. The booklet:
-
describes the 10 Tips for improving consumers health care, including questions they may like to ask their health care provider;
-
outlines what they can expect from their health care professional;
-
lists some sources of information for finding out more about their clinical condition and how to manage their medications; and
-
explains what to do should they have concerns about their health care.
-
To access this information, go to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare website for booklets and summary sheets.
Useful Links
|
|
|