Liat Watson – Consumer Consultant

Liat-Watson-panelist-photoLiat is an Australian healthcare consumer consultant, patient experience advisor, organiser of the consumer representative group Health Consumers 2.0, and director of a national children’s charity. A past Chair of the RCH Melbourne’s Family Advisory Council, she is the mother of four children – one who died at the age of seven from a rare metabolic storage disorder.

 

An Accredited Consumer Leader with specialised training in Co-Production and the role of Consumers in Clinical Governance, Liat is an active proponent of patient-centred care and consumer collaboration as a means of improving patient outcomes, decreasing healthcare costs, and positively impacting on public health.

In addition to working with individual organisations on patient safety and quality improvement projects, Liat also currently sits on various state, federal and organisational health policy and improvement initiatives:

  • The Victorian Clinical Council, Safer Care Victoria (DHHS)
  • Patient and Family Council, Safer Care Victoria (DHHS)
  • Australian Commission on Safety & Quality in Healthcare’s Clinical Communications Advisory Group
  • Victorian Surgical Consultative Council (DHHS)
  • NPS Medicinewise Consumer Engagement & Activation Project Expert Working Group
  • Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance Community Advisory Group

As a consumer advocate Liat has provided input into submissions to the Victorian Department of Health’s Public Reported Outcomes Measures (PROMs) framework, the Victorian Quality Improvement Framework for Healthcare 2013-2022, and the Productivity Commission’s enquiries into the National Disability Insurance Scheme and Pension Review. She has also provided consumer input into the development of the national MyHealth Record and successfully lobbied the Victorian government for improved service funding and streamlined access to equipment for children with life limiting conditions.

An associate of the Australian Institute for Patient and Family Centred Care, Liat’s personal areas of interest are the development of strategic stakeholder networks, the use of technology & innovation to improve population health & literacy, and challenging health services to create organisational cultures that recognise the value of co-productive practices between staff and end-users. Prior to becoming involved in healthcare issues, Liat worked in the stockbroking and print media industries and later in human resources.