Community Advisory Committee

About the Committee

The Community Advisory Committee (CAC) is a Committee of the Alfred Health Board. Established in 2000, the Committee meets at least six times a year with the aim of bringing the voices of the community and consumers into the decision-making processes of Alfred Health. This helps to develop services that are responsive to the needs of the diverse catchment population.

The Committee is comprised of up to 10 community members and 2 members of the Alfred Health Board and provides a link between Alfred Health and the community.

Current members

Board Member: 
Mr David Menadue  

Community Members:  
Ms Dina Dybner
Mr Godefa G'her
Ms Sarah Gray
Mr Brett Hayhoe
Mr Nigel Caswell
Ms Val Johnstone
Dr Caroline Spencer 

Associate:  

Ms Jenny Richardson

(Click here for member profiles)

How to become a member of the Community Advisory Committee

A good first step to becoming a member of the Committee is to join the Alfred Health consumer register.  Everyone on the consumer register will receive information about the recruitment process when positions on the Committee are advertised, normally every three years.

For further information contact the Community Participation Coordinator on 03 9076 2049 or communityparticipation@alfred.org.au

Key priorities and themes

As well as being involved in ongoing activities such as the Community Participation Plan and annual Quality of Care Report the Committee has identified key priority areas and themes that are the focus at each meeting.

Key priorities for 2011

The Community Advisory Committee has decided to focus on the following areas in 2011:

1. Mental health
2. Communication
3. Complaints
4. Evidence that consumers are involved in informed decision making
5. Needs of rural community
6. Sexual health

These priorities form the themes for the Community Advisory Committee's meetings.

The key areas of focus for the CAC at recent meetings have included:

• Community participation in clinical services
• Complaints
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
• Community Participation Plan

In 2011

The key areas of focus for the CAC at the February meeting was evidence that consumers are involved in informed decision making, including:

• Redesigning Care Program (redesigning processes and systems to improve patient experience and outcomes)
• Commonwealth Respite and Carelink Centre (the Southern Metropolitan Centre located at Caulfield Hospital acts as the contact point for carers and provides respite, urgent respite and support services to carers on a 24-hour basis)

The key area of focus for the CAC at the April meeting was communication. Topics discussed at the meeting included:

• The Interpreter Service
• Preparing well-written information for consumers and carers
• Information about community participation and rights and responsibilities to be published on the internet

The key area of focus for the CAC at the June meeting was complaints. Topics discussed at the meeting included:

• A report on complaints July – December 2010
• Progress with implementing our Community Participation Plan 2010 - 2013
• Alfred Health’s Quality & Business Improvement Plan
• Alfred Health’s consumer registers

The Community Advisory Committee welcomes questions about their key areas of focus from the community. If you would like to ask a question, email it to communityparticipation@alfred.org.au and we will reply to your question as soon as we can.