Resources

Historically, consumers have been passive recipients of healthcare services, receiving diagnoses and treatments without active involvement. Recently, that has changed, with co-design and person-centred care part of the treatment process. However, diagnosis has rarely been a domain for partnership (other than in history taking). The article identifies several challenges to consumer involvement, including communication barriers, lack of fit for purpose information, and mistrust or fear or health professionals.

In this Lightbulb Moment webinar, Dr Cathy Balding and her guest, Alex Cockram, discuss Alex's "ah-ha!" moment about the one word that transformed consumer focus.

Correct identification of patients has been recognised as a critical safety issue for many years. A recent report from the UK’s Health Services Safety Investigation Body (HSSIB), compiles evidence from various investigations and sources to explore the factors contributing to patient misidentification in healthcare. The report defines 'positive patient identification' as the accurate identification of a patient to ensure they receive the correct care. Whereas, 'patient misidentification' occurs when a patient is wrongly identified as someone else, leading to potential harm from incorrect or missed treatment.

There are many benefits of enhancing consumer and staff satisfaction in human services, but something we don’t often discuss is the potential financial advantage. Creating a great experience for both consumers and staff can be viewed as a professional and ethical imperative; and also as a strategic business investment.

This Perspectives Brief from the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association’s Deeble Institute examines approaches to observations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. The authors of this Perspectives Brief note that the Royal Commission ‘identified the need to improve the delivery of health care to meet the needs of older persons and their carers’ and that the ‘greater involvement of older persons and their carers in research to develop solutions was recommended.’

In this webinar, Prof Steve Nicholls discussed the challenges and opportunities faced in opening Australia’s first dedicated Heart Hospital, integrating clinical cardiology services, research and education to create a centre of excellence.