• Home
• Meetings
• Public Say at Board Meetings

Have Your Say at Board and Advisory Committee Meetings

Public Participation invited at Board and Committee Meetings

Capital & Coast District Health Board considers a range of issues which are of public interest, and your views are extremely important to us. Board members and management participate in a wide range of community forums, speaking with many hundreds of individuals and groups each month, and from time to time conducting formal public consultations.

In April 2006 the Board decided it would be valuable to let the public make comments on relevant issues at the start of Board and Advisory Committee meetings. This is your chance to directly advise the Board and its committees on issues which will be discussed at that meeting. We warmly invite you to share your insights and opinions with us in this way.

How it Works
At the start of the PUBLIC SECTION of each Board and Advisory Committee meeting 15 minutes is set aside for the public to briefly share their views.

• We will try to accommodate all requests for comment from the public during this time, provided they meet the criteria below.
• However the Chair has the right to:
  • draw an individuals comments to a close if those comments are inappropriate or do not relate to the agenda of the meeting, or
  • draw the session to a close at the Chair’s discretion.
• As is normal for any board or committee, you will not be able to interject or speak at any other time during these meetings unless at the direct invitation of the Chair of the meeting.

Criteria for Speaking

• Try to keep your comments to a maximum of 2-3 minutes, to allow time for others to speak.
• Comments may only relate to issues which are on the agenda for that meeting. The agendas for all meetings can be viewed on our website: www.ccdhb.org.nz. Topics which were discussed at a previous meeting may not be raised, unless there is a fresh agenda item on that subject at the current meeting.
  Note: reference to the topic in the Minutes of the previous meeting is not of itself sufficient grounds.
• Comments may not relate to an issue which is the subject of a public consultation process by the DHB. If this is the case, please submit your comments via that consultation process.

Meeting Etiquette

• We cannot allow comments to be made about the care or treatment of named or identifiable patients. For privacy reasons we would ask that you raise such issues with us outside the context of this speaking slot.
• If a large group of people with aligned views is present at the meeting we will ask them to identify one or two people to speak on behalf of the group, as time constraints will not allow us to hear from all group members.
• All input should be kept civil. Inappropriate behaviour (intimidation, obscenity, breaches of patient privacy) will not be permitted.
• If you would like to speak please identify yourself to the staff co-ordinator who will identify themselves to the public at each meeting. They will prepare a list of those who wish to speak, and the subject on which they wish to speak. The order of speakers will be decided by the order of the topics under discussion in the agenda for that meeting. Please wait until you are called on by the Chair to speak.

If an issue you wish to raise DOES NOT meet the criteria outlined above we invite you to raise that issue with us in writing (address your letters to the Chief Executive Officer), or to examine the agendas of future meetings and seek a speaking slot at a meeting when that subject is on the agenda

We look forward to hearing from you!

Top