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What to expect from your care
We think healthcare should be personal. You are an individual, and we will treat you as a whole person with care and respect.
What is person-centred care?
Person-centred care is the idea that healthcare should be personal. You, your family, and your support people have control over your healthcare choices.
Person-centred care is always respectful, compassionate, and culturally safe. Healthcare teams (your doctors, nurses and the people who are treating you) that provide good person-centred care think about your:
- needs
- values
- beliefs
- preferences
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They work with you to develop a care plan that works for you.
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Our seven principles of person-centred care
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What you can do to make sure you get person-centred healthcare
Patients are at the heart of everything we do at Townsville Hospital and Health Service. You play an important role in helping your healthcare team provide good person-centred care.
When visiting one of our facilities, help us provide personalised care by:
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Communicating with your healthcare provider
“Never be afraid to ask questions and advocate for either yourself or your loved one - you may be the voice that they need.” - Gillian, wife of cerebral bleed patient.
Having useful conversations with your healthcare team is an important part of making sure the care you receive is personal to you and your situation.
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Tips for effective communication:
- Tell staff everything they need to know. This helps them to help you.
- Speak up. If something doesn’t seem or right, tell your healthcare team.
- Let us know if you want your family or support people involved in discussions about your health and care.
- During your care, you might be too tired to talk to your healthcare team. Consider choosing a “family contact person” so that all updates, questions, or decisions go through one person.
- Ask when your healthcare team will share important medical information with you. This might be at clinical handover, medical rounds, multidisciplinary team reviews, or family meetings. Ask someone if you are unsure what these words mean.
Helpful tools:
- Five questions to ask your doctor or other healthcare provider before you get any test, treatment, or procedure
- Communicating when you are in hospital
- Medical appointment question builder
- Interpreter, multicultural and translated resources
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Speaking up for yourself
“Through my healthcare journey, I realised that I needed to stand up for myself, what I wanted, and what suited my family” – Kylie, breast cancer patient.
People who take control of their healthcare are more likely to live healthier and longer lives. This is called self-advocacy.
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Taking charge of your health puts you in control and helps you when you talk to your healthcare team, make decisions, and set goals.
One of the best ways you can speak for yourself is to research, learn more, and ask questions about your health, condition, and the treatment options.
You can always ask your healthcare team for more information, tell them you’re not ready to make a decision, or say that your care plan does not meet your needs.
Helpful tools:
- Patient Journal (Digital) - Use this to track your appointments and expenses, set goals, make decisions, and write down any questions you have for your next appointment. Free hard copies are available from Brighter Lives.
- How to find good health information online
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Making decisions
“The amount of information you receive during your appointment can be overwhelming. I suggest patients take notes about important results, upcoming appointments, and any questions they may have to keep on top of what is happening and take control of their care” – Karen Harrington, Clinical Nurse, Community Health
It is important you are involved in making decisions about your health with the support of health professionals.
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To do this you need to understand your medical treatment options and the benefits and risks.
Learning how to communicate with your healthcare team and how to speak for yourself will make you an active participant in your health journey and give you the tools you need to make the decisions that are right for you.
Helpful tools:
- Shared decision making
- What Matters to Me poster - For patients staying in hospital, this can be a helpful tool to let your healthcare team know what is important to you. Print this out and bring it with you or ask your healthcare team for a free hard copy.
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Setting goals
“Goals can be big or small, short- or long-term. To succeed, make your goals personal and achievable. Focus on the outcome, make changes, and use strategies to strive forward. Don't waste time thinking about it, just do it.” – Jason, former Detective, and Cardiac Services Patient
Knowing what you want to achieve in your health journey is important and will help you make decisions about your care.
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Setting a main treatment goal to work towards is helpful. Your goal might be to move around your home safely or work your mental wellbeing. Once you achieve this goal, you then set another goal.
Your goals identify what is important to you. Setting clear goals helps you to make decisions about your treatment and achieve things that are meaningful to you.
Helpful tools:
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Contact us
Phone: (07) 4433 1074 (Monday - Friday 8am - 4pm)
Go beyond the feedback
Great ideas come from the people who use our services because they know firsthand what it is like to be a patient or family member of someone in our care. If you have great ideas, consider joining one of our consumer groups.
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The Townsville Hospital and Health Service acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which our health facilities have been built and on which we meet today.
We pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging; and we value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and knowledge.