The NSW and Australian Governments want to ensure that consumer and community participation of your health matters is maintained through sharing information and making decisions together.
The Mental Health Consumer Subcommittee was established in 2009 to bring together people who are currently or have previously accessed public mental health services to provide feedback on issues with mental health services to Program Council. It is jointly chaired by the Chief Executive Officer of BEING - Mental Health Consumers and the Executive Director, Mental Health Branch.
The Consumer Subcommittee provides feedback to the Mental Health Branch on the development and implementation of policy and programs and guidance. The Consumer Subcommittee also provides guidance on how the Mental Health Branch can increase consumer participation across its activities.
The membership of the Mental Health Consumer Subcommittee will comprise:Standing members:
One Representative Member from each community below who identifies as a person living with mental health issues (consumer) and who has accessed or is currently accessing NSW public mental health services:
BEING - Mental Health ConsumersPhone: (02) 1300 234 640Email: info@being.org.au
The Your Experience of Service (YES) survey is a national measure of mental health services by consumers. It is a questionnaire designed to gather information about consumers' experience of care. Answers from the survey will be used to build better services.
The YES questionnaire was developed in partnership with mental health consumers. It is based on the recovery principles of the National Standards for Mental Health Services.
There is an electronic version of the survey called the eYES survey, which allows consumers to give feedback through their smart phone, computers or tablets.
More information of the YES survey is available from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Your Experience of Service 2022-2023 Report
Your Experience of Service 2022-2023 Supplement
The Your Experience of Service: What consumers says about NSW Mental Health Services report summarises the feedback from consumers who answered the YES survey.
For more information about these reports please email: informh@health.nsw.gov.au.
The Mental Health Carer Experience Survey (CES) is a national measure that asks carers about their experience of mental health services.
The CES was developed in partnership with carers and has been offered in NSW since 2018.
The CES is available for carers to complete on paper or online.
More information about the CES can be found on the Australian Mental Health Outcomes and Classification Network.
Mental Health Carer Experience Survey 2022-2023
The Mental Health Carer Experience Survey (CES) is a national tool designed to gather information about carers’ experiences of public mental health services.
Carers are the family members, partners or friends who provide support and assistance to a person with a mental illness. Their lives are affected by that illness, and their support often precedes and extends beyond the involvement of mental health services.
The Mental Health Carer Experience Survey: What carers say about NSW Mental Health Services report summarises the feedback from carers who answered the survey.
For more information about these reports, please email:InforMH@health.nsw.gov.au
NSW Health respects an individual’s right to privacy and takes the protection of health privacy and personal information seriously.
The YES and CES survey process adheres to the NSW Health privacy framework and all relevant state and federal laws. This includes the Health Records Information Privacy Act 2002 and its Health Privacy Principles, and the Privacy and Personal Information Act 1998 and its Information Protection Principles. These Acts regulate the collection, storage, use and disclosure of personal information held by government agencies.
Further details on how NSW Health manages the health information of patients can be found in the NSW Health Privacy Leaflet for Patients.
YES and CES are offered state-wide to consumers and carers of NSW public mental health services. A service code is used to link the survey to the specific service, so that the individual providing feedback cannot be identified.
Local health districts and specialty health networks may use different methods of offering the surveys to ensure that all consumers and carers have an opportunity to provide feedback about their experience. These methods of offering may be automated and can result in the survey being offered to people who had brief contact with the service but may not have received any support. The surveys are voluntary, and individuals can skip any questions, including the demographic section, if they wish.
Completed survey responses are securely stored and analysed by the NSW Ministry of Health. Feedback is provided to services where there are 10 or more surveys completed for that service or group to ensure that individuals cannot be identified based on their responses.
As they are anonymous, YES and CES are not part of the NSW Health complaints process. However, you can provide feedback or make a complaint via the NSW Health website.
My Health Record is an online summary of your key health information. No matter where you live in Australia, you can access your health information from any computer or device on the internet. Everyone will have a My Health Record by the end of 2018.
Health care providers involved in your care can also access your important health information such as:
So if you're visiting your GP or in the emergency room following an accident and unable to talk, My Health Record can help get you the right treatment.
All documents in My Health Record are set to general access for healthcare providers by default. This means any providers who are involved in your care can see this information.
You can control who has access to your information and which information healthcare providers can see on My Health Record. If you don't want a My Health Record, you can cancel it at any time.
Find out What is My Health Record? and What's in a My Health Record?