Health consumer representatives
A health consumer is a person who uses health information, products or services, including carers of health consumers.
At Nepean Blue Mountains LHD we involve consumers in the way we design and deliver services, as well as consult with them on health issues.
A health consumer representative is an advocate and voice for the community. They do this by being actively involved in decision making and monitoring progress towards stated goals. In this way, health consumer representatives help shape the future direction of health services.
Health consumer representatives are volunteers who play an important role by telling us about their experiences as a consumer, as well as representing the views of other health consumers and the community.
We engage with users of our health services regularly through working groups and community health forums.
Become a consumer representative
We are looking for people with experience as a consumer of health services, or as a carer, to represent health consumers in the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Lithgow and Nepean areas.
Essential skills include:
- ability to speak from your own experience as a health consumer
- good communication skills
- ability to work collaboratively with others
- able to represent the views of health consumers and your community.
Desirable skills include:
- previous experience as a health consumer or community representative
- ability to mentor and support other consumer representatives.
If you have experience as a health consumer and essential communication and collaboration skills, lend your voice to health in our community. Contact the consumer engagement team or register your interest with us at NBMLHD-consumerengagement@health.nsw.gov.au.
Disability consumer council
Members of the Disability Consumer Council help make the Nepean Blue Mountains LHD Disability Inclusion Action Plan, promote inclusive care and raise awareness of disability supports, and, most importantly, represent the interests and needs of people with disabilities, their families, and their carers.
Members of the Council are either people with disabilities themselves or people who care for or help people with disabilities.
“Our vision is for people with disability to be partners in health care provision and improvement.
Having people with a lived experience on the Council will ensure that we are able to support greater inclusion of people with disabilities and the promotion of person-centred care,”
– Karen Alexander, Disability and NDIS Manager
Members of the Disability Consumer Council work with services and local community groups to help us improve care for people with disabilities. They represent the views, concerns, and feedback of a wide range of people with disabilities.
If you would like to apply to become a disability consumer council member or have questions, need easy read resources or interpreter support to make your application, please contact us by phone on (02) 4734 2914 or email at NBMLHD-DisabilityInclusion@health.nsw.gov.au.
Drug and alcohol service consumer representatives
The Drug and alcohol service is looking for people with experience as a consumer of drug and alcohol services, or their carers, who are interested in becoming consumer representatives.
This is an opportunity to contribute to the design, planning and evaluation of future drug and alcohol services for the community.
If you are interested, please contact the Patient Safety and Quality Officer on (02) 4734 2129 or send an email to NBMLHD-DrugAlcoholService@health.nsw.gov.au.
Become a mental health advocate
The Nepean Blue Mountains Mental health service invites consumers and carers to work alongside staff to make sure that the voices of people with lived experience are heard and considered when we develop, design and improve our services.
As an advocate you will work with our staff to ensure local services are person centred and responsive to local community needs. This is called co-design.
There are many different co-design projects, committees and initiatives in which you may be interested in joining, including the Consumer and Carer Council (CCC) which is a governance committee working in partnership with the Mental Health Service.
“The co-design approach fosters a collaborative relationship between service users and service providers so that a service is designed to meet the needs of the people who will used it”
– Matt Russell, Director of Mental Health
Download the following information sheets about the role of the Mental Health Advocate and the Charter for the Consumer and Carer Council.
Contact the consumer engagement team
| Telephone | (02) 4734 2693 |
| Business hours | Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5pm |
| Street address | Clinical Governance Unit Nepean Hospital Derby Street, Kingswood NSW 2751 |
| Postal address | Clinical Governance Unit Nepean Hospital PO Box 63, Kingswood NSW 2751 |
| NBMLHD-consumerengagement@health.nsw.gov.au |