| Community Advisory Committee |
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Consumers, be they patients, carers or clients, or other health care providers, offer a unique insight into their experiences, expectations and needs.
Melbourne Health’s experience working with the community and consumers in service improvement activities has been rewarding and effective.
The Community Advisory Committee of the Melbourne Health Board was established in 2001 to ensure the community participated in Melbourne Health’s planning, service delivery and policy development.
One of the key roles of the Community Advisory Committee has been to develop and monitor a Community Participation Plan, which outlines Melbourne Health’s approach to consumer and community involvement across the organisation. The Plan, which is reported annually to the Department of Health, focuses on increasing organisational capacity for consumers, carers and the community to become active partners in decision-making at all levels of Melbourne Health.
As a result, consumers now participate in key committees relating to safety and service improvement, and Melbourne Health services are increasingly initiating consumer-participating activities and requests for consumer representatives.
Consumer participation at Melbourne Health is guided by the DHS Doing it with us not for us Policy (2006) which recognises that community participation in health care services at all levels is valued because it aids in improved outcomes and quality of care for patients, is a democratic right and ensures accountability back to the community.
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