Patient Experience Symposium April 2019
The Patient Experience Symposium was held on April 29th and 30th at the International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour, Sydney. An exceptional attendance of 657 people (18% consumers) came from across NSW and interstate, showing a year on year growth for this event. Consumer attendees were provided with free registration. The event qualified for the #consumertick logo indicating that consumers were included in a good practice, authentic way.
The venue contributed to a very successful conference, with space for participants to mingle, discuss ideas, view displays at the many booths, and a great area for the poster presentations. Evaluations were very positive, with comments ranging from “great networking event” to “inspirational speakers” to “excellent, informative and dynamic”. It is pleasing to see how much a part of the annual calendar the Patient Experience Symposium has become since it started in 2013.
The Master of Ceremonies was award winning singer-songwriter, comedian and speaker Luke Escombe who has turned his 25 years of living with chronic illness into inspiration for his art.
Luke Escombe
Dignitaries included Minister Brad Hazzard (Minister for Health), Minister Victor Dominello (Minister for Community Services), Elizabeth Koff (Secretary of NSW Health), Susan Pearce (Deputy Secretary for Patient Experience and System Performance in NSW Health) and Associate Professor Brian McCaughan, Board Chair of ACI & CEC.
A range of inspiring keynote speakers included Helen Sanderson, from the UK, who shared her passion for person centred change and personalization; Jordan Nyugen, a biomedical engineer and inventor, whose ingenuity in technological innovations such as a mind controlled wheelchair astounded the audience; Don Palmer talked about MALPA, a health leadership program training Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal young people to be health ambassadors in their communities; Ken Hillman, Professor of Intensive Care, who gave a moving presentation about the health management of the elderly frail and Emma Gee who told her harrowing story of surviving a stroke at 24 years of age. Dr Diane Watson from the Bureau of Health Information and Wayne Jones from Northern NSW Local Health District gave informative talks.
The audience loved the Muggera Aboriginal dancers who entertained with many cultural dances and stories.
A wide range of presentations and workshops by health care clinicians, consumers and researchers took place over the course of the two days, with themes including mental health, maternity care, end of life care, Aboriginal care experiences and empowering consumers.
Organising Committee Members
Three breakfast sessions were held. A session about Digital Health in Australia proved popular. Health Consumers NSW facilitated an informative and useful discussion with consumer leaders from across the state sharing learnings about ways they engage in their settings. A breakfast debate about whether "Improved Patient Experiences are more important than Efficiencies in Health Care" provided a lot of laughs and irreverence on day two.
Keynote and concurrent speaker presentation slides are now available by clicking on the presentation title in the Symposium Program HERE. Note that some sessions may not be available.
Two awards were presented:
- Judy Thomas from Northern NSW LHD won a prize from CFS Australasia for simply providing feedback on the symposium app. Her district will benefit from twelve touchscreen devices, survey systems and all reporting and analysis to measure and improve real-time patient feedback for any project or piece of work in her unit for up to 6 months!
- The People's Choice Poster Award went to "Promoting person-centred care of the health professionals of the future" by Christine Henderson, Melanie Cook, Margaret Chapman, Transforming Your Experience Coaches from South Western Sydney Local Health District
Patient Experience Symposium 2020
If you have any suggestions for next year’s symposium please contact: