Patient Experience Advisors at Mayo University Hospital

As part of Mayo University Hospital’s ongoing commitment to patient and family engagement, 18 Patient Experience Advisors have been selected to work with various hospital committees to bring the patients’ voice to the planning and delivery of care at the hospital.

Eibhlín Walsh is the Dietitian Manager and Chair of the Nutrition Steering Committee at the hospital. She described the advantages of working with the Patient Experience Advisors and said, “The Nutrition Steering Committee at the hospital is responsible for implementing all nutrition focused projects and improvements. Our committee has benefitted from the insights that Paula Roberts, Patient Experience Advisor has been able to provide. Paula volunteers her time to attend the committee meetings to give the patient and patient’s family perspective.

“In addition, Paula has taken part in nutrition audits where we meet with patients in selected areas of the hospital to get feedback on the meal choices and the patients’ nutrition experiences. The information is gathered by one of our dietitians with the hospital’s catering manager and by having Paula take part in our audits, there is a partnership approach with everyone working together in a positive way to recognise areas for improvement.”

Catherine Donohoe, General Manager, Mayo University Hospital (MUH) commented, “Engaging with patients and their families has proven to improve patient experience and outcome and it strengthens a culture of listening to and learning from our patients. We want the services in MUH to be patient-centred and we are asking our patients through meaningful engagement to tell us what matters to them and we are then using this to guide our overall quality improvement plan. Our experiences to date with the Patient Experience Advisors has been extremely positive and enlightening and I would like to thank all our Patient Experience Advisors for sharing their experiences and knowledge.”

Photo Caption:
Patient Experience Advisor, Paula Roberts, taking part in a recent nutrition audit in the Maternity Department at Mayo University Hospital – from left: Paula Roberts; Marie Fraser, Senior Paediatric Dietitian; and Loretta Bracken, Catering Manager, Aramark.