A further step towards making it easier for people to get involved in their local health services was announced by Health Minister Rosie Winterton today. A new national Patient and Public Involvement Resource Centre to develop and support NHS staff and organisations to involve people in local health services will open its doors on June 1st after a contract with successful bidders was signed yesterday.
The Resource Centre will promote the value of involving people and will work with NHS organisations, staff and patients to build on the foundations of involvement that are already in place in many parts of the country.
Bids to run the centre were sought last autumn for a group who could demonstrate that they were experienced in patient and public involvement and already had good networks. The successful bid came from a consortium made up of The University of Warwick, The Centre for Public Scrutiny and the Long term Medical Conditions Alliance.
Addressing the Patient Involvement, Empowerment, and Information conference in London, Rosie Winterton said:
“It is essential that we support those working in health and social care to enable user involvement. In the new NHS structure, there is an increasing plurality of providers - the NHS, the third sector and the independent sector - and it is increasingly important that they all involve and consult people who use, or might one day need to use, their services.
"The Centre will be a one-stop shop for information and advice and will identify learning opportunities to improve consultation at a national, regional and local level. The Centre will give encouragement to those organisations which lead the way in PPI and support and advice to those who need it."
Harry Cayton, the Department of Health's Dorector for Patients and the Public said:
"There is much active engagement of service users and patients already; cancer networks, mental health user groups, patient surveys and public consultations. The new centre will bring all this expertise together as a focus for learning and innovation."
Dr Jonathan Tritter, Executive Director of the Centre said:
“In developing the Centre, the consortium has discussed its plans with many key stakeholders including the NHS, the Royal College of Nursing Institute, the National Consumer Council, the Royal College of Physicians and the National Association for Patient Participation to ensure that the Centre reflects the different needs of NHS staff and organisations. The overriding issue from talking to these organisations is that although patients have been involved in one way or another with their own health, or the health of their friends, family or loved ones, their views and experiences may not have always been sought or indeed, their voices heard.
"With the many reforms that are coming on stream such as patient choice and practice based commissioning, it is essential that systems are put in place to ensure that views and preferences of patients’ and the public are listened to and incorporated into the planning, design and delivery of current and future services.
"What is important is that whatever factors people use when deciding which style of patient and public involvement to use when developing services, the overall aim should be to understand how best to shape and influence the governance and management of health services, to inform the policy and decision-making and to promote service change and improvement.
"The National Patient and Public Involvement Resource Centre will be able to act as a gateway to help NHS staff, health professionals and colleagues in the voluntary and statutory sector to turn patient and public involvement into everyday practice.”
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