The CHC - an independent body set up last year to advise health administrators on community views - will mark its first anniversary with a series of engagement meetings which chairwoman Sarah Derrett hoped would lead to a register of people willing to add their voices to health policy-making.
``It has long been an aspiration of people working in the health service to have closer engagement with the public,'' Prof Derrett - who is also director of the Injury Prevention Unit at Dunedin School of Medicine - said.
``There is a very clear indication of a growing interest in that happening, and we are getting ... expressions of interest from staff who are wanting people to work with them.
``There is a recognition of the need and the value to be added when people who are experiencing a system, and the things which are good and the things which need to be improved, are sitting at the table adding their voice. It makes a significant difference.''
The SDHB and WellSouth were keen to have patients involved in discussions and had regularly approached the CHC for help, Prof Derrett said.
The CHC's 11 members included people from Dunedin, Gore, Invercargill, Oamaru, Cromwell and Tapanui, but it was keen to receive input from throughout the SDHB region.
``The Southern health district is so big, we need a lot more people to become involved, and so we are asking people to be involved in activities from small to large,'' Prof Derrett said.
``Sometimes those activities might be just giving some feedback on a letter planned to be sent out to a group of patients, or it might be attending workshops or a couple of meetings with a view to improving a service, or it could be a much larger piece of work, such as thinking about redesign services so they better work for patients and members of the community.''
The CHC has made various presentations to health organisations in the past 12 months, as well as making a submission to the Ministerial Inquiry on Mental Health and Addiction, sitting on the steering committee for the primary and community care strategy, and developing a joint discussion paper on accommodation requirements for families in the new Dunedin Hospital development.
``There is a sense of genuine commitment to listening to patients and the public these days - I'm not sure that willingness has always been so clearly expressed and identified,'' Prof Derrett said.
``Alongside the roadshows to the regions, we are also holding ... staff workshops so staff throughout the organisations can understand the principles of engaging with patients and the public.''
