For months, Hunter New England Local Health Service (HNELHS) has been advertising, asking people of Gloucester to volunteer to be part of a newly formed Local Health Committee, but they have had no response.
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Wade Smith, health service manager based at Gloucester Hospital, says they need people who are consumers of health services in Gloucester - not just the hospital but community health and ancillary services - to come forward.
Becoming a Local Health Committee member is not a huge commitment, with committee meetings taking place once every two months, and only taking around an hour at a time.
Ideally, Wade says the committee would be formed from a cross-section of demographics; it doesn't matter what your age, gender, background, or working situation.
The committee's function is to provide feedback on local health services.
"It's a two-way conversation between the health service and consumers about how we are improving our services, and getting that consumer feedback on how we're delivering our services, how we can improve," Wade said.
"And also making sure we're getting that perspective from consumers to maker sure that our health services are delivered in a way that the community would like.
"We want to get a real picture."
Committee members will also be kept up to date with what's currently going on within the health service and the local health district.
If you are interested in joining the committee, or want to find out more, contact Wade Smith by calling Gloucester Hospital on 6583 5000 or email wade.smith@health.nsw.gov.au.
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