By Bonny Burrows
Assisting Kooweerup Regional Health Service (KRHS) to tailor its services to community need is the purpose of its newly-formed consumer advisory committee.
Comprising of eight volunteer members – all of whom have had direct access to the health service in some way – the committee will be responsible for engaging with the local community and reporting back to the hospital’s board.
The committee’s formation coincides with the introduction of similar bodies across Victorian hospitals, nursing homes and hostels, as required by legislation.
Its members represent “the diverse clients” of the health service.
KRHS Consumer Advisory Committee chairman Geoff Stokes said the group would “listen closely to consumers and acknowledge their concerns and aspirations so that these alternatives are consistently understood and considered”.
“The aim is to provide KRHS with feedback and advice to improve and strengthen the services, information, forward planning and future policy development of KHRS,” Mr Stokes said.
“We will feed this advice to the board from a consumer’s point of view, a carer’s point of view, and from the community’s point of view.”
From promotional posters to community consultation sessions to accessibility, Mr Stokes said the volunteer committee would seek to break down the barriers between professionals and the general public.
“Even something as simple as advising the board to simplify its language used in its material.
“A lot of people don’t understand medical terminology or even some acronyms,” he said.
The committee encouraged members of the public to approach it with any ideas on how to improve the health service, be it in the street or at an official meeting.
Members of the consumer advisory committee are chairman Geoff Stokes, Lindsay Sharp, Sheriden Williams, Jasmine Sadler, Ruth Dubois, Margaret Vick, Gina Buccheri, Fran Genoni, and health service CEO Frank Megens and staff members Aileen Thoms and Jenni Quaife.
The group plans to meet quarterly.
To get in touch with the committee, phone 5997 9679.
