Friends of NT Health

The Friends of NT Health program allows you to share your views about NT Health services and how they can be improved.

You can join if you're a user or potential user of these services like a patient, family member or carer.

By joining, you can have a say in how health services are delivered in the Territory.

It is also a way for you to take part in activities to improve the safety and quality of health care.

This includes focus groups, workshops or forums or committees, with the option to only be involved in:

• activities or
• areas that interest you.

What skills and experience do you need

You don't need any skills or experience to be involved.

You just need to be interested in NT Health services and want to share your ideas and suggestions.

You will also be offered some training to tell you more about NT Health and how it operates.

What will happen to your information

Your information is kept private and confidential.

Your name and contact details will only be sent to the activity organiser after you have agreed to take part.

Payment for your participation

Each activity will ask for different things from you. Some may ask you to:

• come to a hospital to take part in a focus group about the designs for a hospital or service area
• read a document sent by email and provide feedback.

If some activities take longer than others, you may be offered a payment or gift card to thank you for your time. You will be told before you agree to take part.

You should think about how this will affect any benefits you are currently receiving such as pensions, family payments or newstart allowance.

Service and activity areas

You will be asked to choose the service areas and activities you are interested in on the application.

Service areas include:

• hospital services - Royal Darwin Hospital, Katherine Hospital and Gove District Hospital
• mental health
• alcohol and other drugs
• primary health care - Darwin, Top End remote, Katherine region and East Arnhem region.

The types of activities you can be involved in include:

• developing education programs for staff on how to communicate better with people who use NT Health services
• being part of the planning process of quality activities such as Quality Week - share your story, help mind a stall, suggest new ways to improve services
• reviewing feedback management processes
• being a voice of the community by sitting on safety and quality committees
• helping with NT Health activities such as NAIDOC Week and R U OK Day
• developing and reviewing information for NT Health consumers like web pages, pamphlets, and consumer information boards
• developing survey tools and action plans from patient experience survey results
• planning future services
• supporting staff working on renovations of health buildings to make sure NT Health get the best results for the community
• taking part in the evaluation of services
• developing or updating policies, guidelines and procedures to make sure the consumer view is represented
• planning and negotiating with contractors such as the Royal Darwin Hospital café
• reviewing incidents such as patient falls or wrong medication given in error.

Contact

For more information and to express your interest email the consumer feedback coordinator by emailing Feedback.Health@nt.gov.au or calling 08 8922 6836.