In this episode we sit down with Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District’s new Chief Executive, Lee Gregory.

We briefly discuss Lee’s professional background before tackling questions about the barriers and challenges to consumer engagement, the value of remunerating consumer representatives, and how consumer engagement at scale can help to achieve NBMLHD’s strategic visions of innovation and excellence.

We discuss the need for cultural change within health and the role of technology to maximise the impact of consumer engagement in the face of health literacy challenges, cultural and linguistic diversity, and the nature of complex and chronic health conditions.

The issue of trust between clinicians and consumers is raised, and the need more for proactive approaches by health services to gather and use consumer feedback while integrating these processes into everyday workflows.

Matt and Lee reference some recent, concrete successes of effective consumer engagement at NBMLHD and we discuss the need for consumers to receive feedback on how their lived experience has helped improve service design and delivery.

In relation to future directions, Lee Gregory recognises the level of enthusiasm for consumer engagement at NBMLHD while aiming for ways to increase its influence on models of care.

In this episode our host Matt Roger speaks with Gordana Kostadinovska, Manager of the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District's Multicultural Health Service and Una Turalic, NBMLHD's Senior Cross-Cultural Development Officer.

We discuss gaps that exist within our health services for consumers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds and how the system can improve to achieve better outcomes for patients and their families.

We touch on the concept of cultural safety and how this can be attained in practice, providing examples of effective policy and planning for working with health services to develop better CALD services, focusing on how individual services can build their capacity, awareness and knowledge to better meet CALD needs.

The discussion canvases some of the main challenges faced by CALD consumers, the benefits of video interpreting services, and what genuine multicultural consumer engagement means. 

In this episode, our host Matt Roger is joined by two special guests.

Caroline Allen is an experienced consumer of mental health services and a passionate advocate for service improvement and reform, and Matt Russell is Director of Mental Health services at the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District (NBMLHD).

We discuss the introduction and potential impact of Advance Statements in Mental Health, the Mental Health Act, restrictive practices, and the use of Human Rights as a framework for improving mental health care.

We also offer some tips for how to get involved in your own care and touch on some recent successes for consumer engagement in Mental Health at NBMLHD.

For more information about consumer engagement and co-design at NBMLHD, contact NBMLHD-MHcodesign@health.nsw.gov.au

Joining is in this episode is Dr Nhi Nguyen, Specialist in Intensive Care at Nepean Hospital, member of the NBMLHD Board, Clinical Lead for the Nepean Hospital Redevelopment, Clinical Director for Intensive Care NSW at the Agency for Clinical Innovation, lecturer with the University of Sydney, and ICU Clinical Advisor for the NSW Health COVID response.

Our conversation reflects on the value of human connection and compassion as a strength for health care workers. We discuss how patient interactions can bring joy to health workers, even in the most challenging of circumstances, and the value of curiosity and conflict as opportunities for continual improvement.

Dr Nguyen emphasises the role of medical leaders in providing clarity to health consumers about clinical decision making, and the need to balance clinical expertise with an understanding and appreciation of the values and context of a individual patient and their family.

We also discuss issues of consumer feedback and how it is received by health care workers, as well as the role of Boards to empower consumer engagement.

In this episode we speak with Mohamed Khadra, Professor of Surgery at the University of Sydney, Director of Surgery and Director of Strategy and Innovation at Nepean Blue Mountains LHD, and celebrated author and playwright.

Professor Khadra is also a passionate advocate for patient-centred and patient-led change in health care and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017.

We discuss how health care workers can partner with their patients to achieve the best possible outcomes, including how to balance the need for dispassionate objectivity with the compassion and subjectivity required for person-centred care.

In our pilot episode for the Better Together podcast we spoke with Kay Hyman, then Chief Executive of the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, who has since retired from the organisation after a long and valuable contribution.

In our wide-ranging conversation we shed some light on the Nepean Blue Mountains LHD’s commitment to consumer engagement, including in relation to its ongoing redevelopment of Nepean Hospital in Western Sydney.

We also discuss some of the key challenges to meaningful health consumer engagement, including in relation to cultural and linguistic diversity, the need for better support for consumer representatives and better models for consumer engagement.

Better Together is a platform for health consumers and health care workers to partner in vital conversations about how our health system can achieve better outcomes for all.

The podcast comes to you from the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District (NBMLHD), where Health Consumer Representatives join with senior clinicians and health service leaders to discuss a range of topics relevant to health care design and delivery.

As part of the global health consumer movement, Better Together puts the experience of the individual patient front and centre, advocating for consumers to be more actively involved in their own care and reshape our institutions towards better health outcomes.

With a focus on promoting the value of genuine and effective consumer engagement strategies in the context of Australian public health care, this podcast is a 100% health consumer driven initiative that is proudly supported by staff at NBMLHD.