What is an Advisor?

A patient and consumer advisor is someone who:

• Wants to help improve the quality of our centre’s care for all patients and family members
• Gives feedback to the centre based on his or her own experiences as a patient or family member
• Helps us plan changes to improve how we take care of patients
• Works with the centre for either short or long-term commitments, depending on the project
• Volunteers his or her time

Patient and consumer advisors provide a voice that represents all patients and families of patients who receive care at MetWest Surgical.

They partner with centre doctors, nurses, and administrators to help improve the quality of our centre’s care for all patients and family members.

Why should you become a patient and consumer advisor?

• When you or your family member were at our centre, did you think there were things we could have done better?
• Do you have ideas about how to make sure other patients and families get the best care possible?

At MetWest Surgical, patient and consumer advisors give us feedback and ideas to help us improve the quality and safety of care we provide and act to improve patient engagement.

Who can be a patient and consumer advisor?

You can be an advisor if you or a family member received care at MetWest Surgical in the last 5 years. You do not need any special qualifications to be an advisor. What’s most important is your experience as a patient or family member. We will provide you with any other training you need.

What do patient and consumer advisors do?

If you are an advisor for our centre, you can help us in the following ways:

• Become a member of the Consumer Engagement Committee. This Committee is scheduled annually as a representative forum for consumers to provide input and evaluation of the safe and effective delivery of care and services in partnership with PresMed Australia (PMA). Your role could enable you to:
• Share your story. Advisors help by talking about their health care experiences with clinicians, staff, and other patients
• Participate in discussion groups. Advisors tell us what it’s like to be a patient at our centre and what we can do to improve
• Review or help create educational or informational materials. Advisors help review or create materials like forms, health information handouts, and discharge instructions. Advisors help us make these materials easier for all patients and family members to understand and use
• Work on short-term projects. We sometimes ask advisors to partner with us in making improvements — for example, helping to plan and design our reception

Is being a patient and consumer advisor right for you?

Being a patient and consumer advisor may be a good match with your skills and experiences if you can:

• Speak up and share suggestions and potential solutions to help improve our centre’s care for others
• Talk about your experiences as a patient or family member – but also think beyond your own personal experiences
• Talk about both positive and negative care experiences and share your thoughts on what went well and how things could have been done differently
• Work with people who may be different than you
• Listen to and think about what others say, even when you disagree
• Bring a positive attitude to discussions
• Keep any information you may hear as an advisor private and confidential

For more information about being a patient and consumer advisor:

To get more information about becoming an advisor at MetWest Surgical or to find out how to apply: