Patient and public partners are lay members who want to be involved in improving health and care. They have extensive experience either as a patient, family member or caregiver; others have been part of the health system in a professional manner.
Our partners get involved in various aspects of work in the Integrated Care System to help develop and improve services.
They provide:
- Important insights and ideas for quality improvement efforts
- Improve communication between patients and health care providers leading to improved patient and provider satisfaction
- Help health care providers embrace potential changes, as they are able to see them from the patients’ perspectives
- Help to ensure that patients are full participants in decisions that affect them
- Contribute to meaningful changes to health care services.
“The Living with and Beyond cancer workstream is the best meeting I attend because there are people in attendance that have lived experience of cancer. They are good at challenging some of the conversations and relating them to what it’s like having to live with a condition, something we really can’t understand.
At many meetings, they challenge the use of all the acronyms which often, other participants don’t even understand the meaning of (but are afraid to ask). All services should have people with lived experience participating, it makes such a positive impact.”
– Jo Blackburn, Personalisation Programme Manager for Joined Up Care Derbyshire
For more information on the Patient and Public Partner initiative please contact ddicb.engagement@nhs.net.