As our health system moves to becoming even more patient centric it is critical we use tools and approaches to design the system to meet the needs of our population. Experience based co-design offers a methodology that brings health workers and consumers together in an authentic and equal partnership to co-design care to deliver an improved experience. In doing so, the approach not only improves the experience of patients but also of the workforce. The combined benefit is an overall improvement in quality of care.

This toolkit brings together existing resources from the UK and New Zealand and with Australian case studies provides a context that will support Australian health services to utilise the approach.

We would like to thank our colleagues in UK at the Point of Care Foundation and in New Zealand at Healthcare co-design who have been generous with permission to use their resources.

PwC Australia has provided financial support for this toolkit, which has been developed by Adjunct Prof Paresh Dawda of Prestantia Health and Dr Andrew Knight.

We hope the toolkit inspires positive examples of co-design activities in Australian health service. We invite you to share case studies of your work with us, for sharing with others who may also be embarking on the co-design journey.