Partnerships in the planning, design, monitoring and evaluation of services

Consumers can make effective and meaningful contributions to healthcare service planning, design, monitoring and evaluation. Consumers and carers can provide unique insights into safety and quality issues and risks, including with prioritising issues and which solutions are acceptable. Engaging consumers, carers, families, and support people in measuring and evaluating the safety and quality of the healthcare service can occur in many ways, including in evaluating feedback. 

Consumer involvement in the development, implementation and evaluation of health care contributes to: 

• Appropriately targeted initiatives 
• Efficient use of resources 
• Improvement in patient experience and the quality of care provided by a healthcare service.[i]

Different types of partnerships with patients and consumers exist within the healthcare system. 

Methods of partnership range from informal, one-off events or feedback through social media to formal participation in design processes and ongoing participation on boards and committees. Engagement may be as an individual, or in small or large groups, and should be guided by the size and capacity of the healthcare service, the type of feedback required, and the diversity of the local population. An example of this type of larger engagement could involve seeking feedback from patients and consumers, including local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and culturally and linguistically diverse communities when redesigning the physical environment or when planning to offer a new type of service. 

There are multiple successful approaches to partnering with consumers.[ii] Different healthcare services have different contexts and resources available to embed consumer partnerships. Although capacity and resource limitations may appear to pose a barrier to forming consumer partnerships, a simple approach to partnering can often be the most effective.

Links to Action 1.07 Feedback and complaints management

• How are consumers involved in the planning, design, monitoring and evaluation of care provided by the healthcare service?
• How does the healthcare service ensure that the diversity of consumers and local communities who use the service are reflected in these partnerships?

• Identify the diversity of consumers who use the services and who are part of the local community and ensure these groups are captured in any partnership activities. 
• Identify opportunities to partner with consumers in the design, monitoring and evaluation of the healthcare service. Examples include when:
  • redesigning or refitting the service’s premises
  • reviewing the services available and their opening hours
  • considering introducing new services, or an additional healthcare provider
  • assessing consumer feedback on the service and designing actions to make improvements
  • assessing performance information on the service and designing actions to improve the consumer experience 
  • inviting consumers to be part of ‘waiting room workshops’
  • talking with consumers in waiting rooms or at informal meetings at a time that is convenient to the consumer
  • using data about consumer experiences (such as patient experience surveys) to help identify key issues and opportunities for improvement
  • meeting with community and consumer organisations to identify key issues and opportunities for improvement
  • inviting consumers to take part in a lunchtime or evening workshop with members of the workforce.
• Ensure that, if feasible, the healthcare service acts on the information provided by consumers and feeds back information on changes that have occurred as a result of consumer suggestions.
• Ensure that information provided by consumers or carers about their experiences is treated sensitively, that privacy and confidentiality are maintained, and that consumers and carers are supported to share their experiences and stories to the extent that they are comfortable.

The type and comprehensiveness of evidence used is dependent on each healthcare service context, but could include:

• Observations or interviews with consumers that demonstrate how the healthcare service involves consumers in design, measurement and evaluation of the healthcare service’s performance and care
• Feedback from consumers engaged in partnerships with the healthcare service about their experience in being a part of the process
• Feedback from consumers that includes options for providing suggestions about ongoing improvement
• Records of actions that have been taken using consumer feedback and advice
• Workshop records (including activities such as ‘waiting room workshops’ or surveys) to seek feedback from consumers on how the healthcare service operates 
• Evidence of informal interviews with consumers who attend the service to seek feedback on design, monitoring and evaluation of care provided by the healthcare service.

Commission resource

• NSQHS Standards User guide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health – provides practical support for the implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-specific actions in the NSQHS Standards. The principles and strategies outlined in this resource are broadly applicable. 

Other resources

• Agency for Clinical Innovation: Co-design toolkit – provides access to practical information, tools and resources for healthcare services to adopt a co-design approach. 
• Cancer Australia: Consumer Involvement Toolkit – provides web-based practical tools to assist, CEOs and Executives, Service Managers, Health Professionals, Researchers, Policy Makers and Consumers to actively engage with consumers around a shared focus and vision.
• Health Issues Centre: Getting started: Toolkit for Health Services – a series of resources for healthcare providers working with consumer representatives. 
• Health Issues centre: Consumer Model – Partnering with Healthcare Organisations – a model that shows health consumers how they can effectively partner with healthcare services. It highlights opportunities that exist for consumers to contribute, for all experience levels. 
• People with Disabilities Western Australia: Co-design toolkit – provides guidance on how to successfully engage, connect and co-design with people with disability.
• Queensland Australia: Health Care Providers’ Guide to Engaging Multicultural Communities and Consumers – aims to assist health care providers to involve people from a culturally and linguistically diverse background in the planning, delivery and evaluation of health services.