Community Advisory Councils

A Community Advisory Council is a committee or group that advise WA Metropolitan hospital/health service in their community on the local health needs, issues and developments from consumers’ perspective. Each of the 11 public hospitals/health services in the metropolitan area has a Community Advisory Council.

The theory behind their establishment is that consumers and staff get together in a problem solving capacity. In health services, the main objective of a Community Advisory Council is to contribute to the better operation of the service in terms of the outcomes for patients. They provide a formal mechanism for health services to inform the community and to obtain input from local communities to improve services.

Click below to access information about CACs in your area:

Please contact HCC on 9221 3422 to inform us of any changes that needs to be made to this list as well as where this information can be found.

CAC involvement with Consumers

Each health service/public hospital in the Perth metropolitan area has its own approach to consumer participation. The general approach can best be described as focusing on improving customer service. The degree of consumer participation has been more developed in some health services by the consumers than by health service management.

Methods for involving consumers can be as simple as acknowledging that patients have a right to ask questions about their care and be given a response, to more formal means such as including consumer representatives on committees, patient focus meetings, a complaints/feedback process and patient satisfaction surveys.

Instead of CACs in the country, country consumers can seek District Health Advisory Councils in their area (click here to find out more about District Health Advisory Councils)

Issues Discussed in July to December 2009

1. Annual CAC Conference 2010 with DHACs
2. Asking questions about AIMS for CACs to gain access to this data at the hospital level
3. Auditing health services websites for information about CACs
4. Booking and changing appointments in hospitals
5. CAC & CAG Consumer Rep Payments
6. CAC Chairpersons Report
7. Carer Representation
8. Consumer Representative Skills Training
9. Employment of Aboriginal Liaison Officers
10. Female Muslim issues in health
11. Hospital Incentives for early discharge of patients
12. Hospital/Health Service Appointment Policy
13. Models of Care implementation in hospitals
14. Muslim Issues in Health
15. National Prescribing Service Medicines List
16. Nurse Practitioners in Health Services
17. Rare Conditions and Emergency Sheets
18. Tell Patients What’s Happening presentation

Further information