Patient and Public Involvement
Involving patients, carers and the public when planning, improving and delivering services makes sense. If we want to know what works, what doesn’t, and how to make services more accessible and effective, then we need to hear from the people who the services are aimed at and those who are currently using them.
Involvement also brings genuine benefits to users, providers and planners of services because it:
· Helps produce effective, well coordinated pathways of care responsive to patient needs and preferences
· Patients feel more involved and partners in their care with more influence over the services they use
· Creates a learning environment when users’ feedback has an impact on service quality, design and development
· Helps staff see their roles from the users’ point of view and the impact that their role has on individuals
· Promotes a democratic process
· Provides an effective mechanism to monitor the quality of services
· Produces better quality, better designed and more appropriate services
· Helps users appreciate the issues faced by all NHS staff and an understanding of health services
· Helps to improve organisational learning
· Helps to develop and disseminate good practice