GV Health is inviting members of the Goulburn Valley community to act as volunteer ‘consumer partners’ to provide valuable consumer input. This will support the ongoing development, planning and evaluation of the health service. Consumer Partners will come from diverse backgrounds and give voice to consumer perspectives, such as:
• Highlighting current consumer and community health priorities
• Focusing on positively influencing the patient experience
Helping GV Health to plan, deliver and evaluate its services potential areas where consumer partners can be involved are:
• Participating in forums or focus groups
• Reviewing and advising on information designed for consumers (electronic and printed)
• Participating in quality improvement and redesign projects
• Contributing to education and training for staff by sharing health journey stories
“Community members that use our service bring valuable experience, opinions and a unique insight in to how we provide our services; they also offer an important comparison to the views of healthcare professionals. Evidence is growing that partnering with community members results in services which are better designed to meet patient and consumer needs and ultimately leads to better health outcomes for patients. We already gain valuable input from the Consumer Advisory Committee; we would like to expand the pool of consumers giving us feedback hence the invitation for Consumer Partners”, said Joshua Freeman, executive director community care and mental health, GV Health.
Mr Freeman also stated, “Ideally, Consumer Partners will be passionate about health care and be good communicators. They may be current, previous or potential patients of GV Health, be a carer or family member of someone who uses our services, or may be an already active member of the GV community with an interest or experience in making a difference.”
To express interest in becoming a Consumer Partner, members of the community can complete the registration survey. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GVHealthConsumerPartner
Registrants will then be contacted by the GV Health Consumer Experience Team to finalise their registration over the phone and determine how best they can be involved as a Consumer Partner. For more information, community members can contact consumerpartners@gvhealth.org.au
