Carolyn has a passionate advocacy borne of the aftermath to tragedy.

Carolyn’s husband died in 2008 following preventable harm just eight days after successful surgery, to the shock of his skilled care team.

“His death was unacknowledged as a system failure and thus ignored for organisational learning,” Carolyn said.

“Such lack of accountability and support, especially to his devastated bedside carers, made Nick’s abrupt end all the more painful for me and for everyone who trusted the system to look after him.”

She volunteers across Canada and internationally as an active “citizen-patient”. Through public speaking, leading workshops, coaching project teams, advising researchers and teaching health professionals, she hopes to transform culture for better patient outcomes, worker satisfaction and public confidence in our healthcare systems.

“I’m focussed on expanding opportunities for patients and families to partner with healthcare professionals in every aspect of care: practice improvement, service design, policy, evaluation, training and research,” she said.

Carolyn teaches undergraduate medical and nursing students and clinician-researchers as an honorary lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

In 2014 she was recognised as Canada’s inaugural individual Patient Safety Champion by Accreditation Canada and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute.

Carolyn will be speaking at several forums at the North West Hospital and Health Service on Thursday November 16, including one for Mount Isa Hospital staff, partners and interested members of the public in the Mount Isa Hospital Amenities Building from 12-1pm with lunch provided.

RSVP to Aya Araujo at Aya.araujo@health.qld.gov.au or phone 4764 1595 for catering purposes.

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