Partnering with consumers

Implementing the Partnering with Consumers Standard is fundamental to the delivery of safe, high-quality health care. Implemented together with the Clinical Governance Standard, your healthcare service will establish an individualised clinical governance framework. 

This action requires healthcare services to apply principles of partnering with consumers, health literacy and shared decision making, developed when implementing the Partnering with Consumers Standard, to each criterion described in the Clinical Safety Standard. These include preventing and controlling infections, medication safety, comprehensive care, communicating for safety and recognising and responding to serious deterioration and harm.   

Links to Actions 2.02 and 2.03 Healthcare rights and informed consent; 2.04 and 2.05 Shared decisions and planning care; 2.06 Communication that supports effective partnerships; and 2.07 Accessing healthcare service information to actions in the Clinical Safety Standard

• What processes from the Partnering with Consumers Standard do healthcare providers use to involve patients in relevant clinical safety areas?
• How does your healthcare service ensure that information provided to patients regarding clinical safety are tailored to their needs and health literacy?

• Use processes developed when implementing the Partnering with Consumers Standard to inform implementation of relevant actions in the Clinical Safety Standard. 
• Support the workforce to communicate effectively with patients, carers and families about clinical safety tailored to their needs and preferences. 

The type and comprehensiveness of evidence used is dependent on each healthcare service context. The content and complexity of the policies and processes will likely depend on the size of the healthcare service, but could include:

• Examples of information material and resources relating to clinical safety displayed or provided to patients, families and carers in plain language, available in different languages and formats 
• Documents outlining processes relating to clinical safety that include how patients are supported to be actively involved in their own health care 
• Examples of healthcare records that demonstrate healthcare providers have partnered with patients in shared decision making about clinical safety 
• Patient feedback regarding areas of clinical safety.

Commission resource

• Partnering with Consumers – information and resources to support healthcare services understand the value of partnerships with consumers, how to engage with consumers and integrate person-centred approaches.