A workshop was recently held in Goulburn to get feedback from the community regarding the closure of Canberra Hospital's patient accommodation service in mid-2020.
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The closure is due to The SPIRE Project, delivering a new emergency, surgical and critical healthcare facility to be built on the hospital site where the CHS residential accommodation service is located.
The workshop, which was held at Goulburn Soldiers Club, aimed to gather feedback and ideas from the community who have used the service or have experienced it because of a family member.
"We know that several users of the CHS Residential Accommodation Service are from regional areas. That is why we have held workshops in NSW to ensure users of the service have an opportunity to provide feedback," a Canberra Health Services spokesperson said.
"The feedback we receive will help to inform accommodation options for the future," the spokesperson said.
The accommodation service is being used by those travelling to the hospital for treatment from far off areas.
"People travelling from Goulburn and nearby areas use the accommodation. Sometimes they stay over for a night and in one particular instance, a gentleman from Goulburn, whose wife is critically unwell, used it for around 12 months," said Isabel Massey, residential accommodation services manager for Canberra Health Services, during the presentation.
One community member present at the workshop was Suzanne Nelson, a volunteer at Goulburn Base Hospital.
"I think the residential services are essential and certainly should be continued even while construction etc is happening. I don't think people could survive without assistance," she said.
"The workshop was very informative for me to understand the process and I hope I have been able to give the required feedback."
To invite communities to participate in the workshop, targeted invitations were distributed to local carer and consumer organisations who have links with families, carers and consumers in the NSW region.
"Invitations have also been distributed via the Southern Area Local Health Network and some targeted advertising and media interviews with local radio stations have been undertaken," the spokesperson added.
An online survey, open until October 11, is also available for people who were unable to make it to the workshops.
"The online survey has been in place for just over a week and has received more than 600 responses, with around 300 completed in one day," the CHS spokesperson said.
An analysis on the location of the respondents will be done while analysing the data.
The workshops were held in Goulburn, Bega, Batemans Bay and Canberra.
Meanwhile, CHS and the engagement consultants will assess the need for further workshops in regional areas and will consider the survey results, including how many were from the Goulburn area.
Communication Link, a Canberra-based communications and engagement company, is working with Canberra Health Services to undertake a consultation program that will be used to identify future options for the service.
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