People in Health West of England

Description

People in Health West of England is a collaborative initiative supporting public involvement in health in our region. Our vision is that in five years’ time patients and the public will be central to health improvement in the West of England. Our work includes:

• Providing advice and support on involvement, including both involvement in research and in the improvement of health care and services. This includes the provision of involvement guidelines and policies.
• Providing learning and development opportunities for members of the public, researchers and health professionals.
• Supporting networking and information sharing about involvement across the area.
• Providing a communication channel for involvement.
• Evaluating public involvement.

People in Health West of England is funded by four partner organisations that recognise the importance of working actively with patients, service users, carers, family members and voluntary and community groups. The partner organisations include NHS and other health and social care providers, service commissioners, local authorities, health and social care professionals and researchers. The four main partners are:

• National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care West (CLAHRC West)
• West of England Academic Health Science Network (WEAHSN)
• National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network West of England
• Bristol Health Partners.

People in Health West of England promotes innovative and effective public involvement in research, innovation and service improvement.

Public involvement in research

People in Health West of England works with a Strategy Group to develop a co-ordinated approach. The Strategy Group has eight public contributors and representatives of the partner networks, also including Healthwatch and the NIHR Research Design Service. The Strategy Group has developed a work plan for public involvement in the area, which will be delivered by the PPI Team working with other local partners and members of the public. The public members of the Strategy Group are also members of the governance arrangements for the four partner organisations.

The Strategy Group involves members of the public in the learning and development working group and the communications working group, on other task and finish groups, and supports the recruitment and induction of members of the public working on other initiatives in the area.

Our objectives include:

• Enabling a co-ordinated regional approach to involvement, linking to existing groups and providing accessible information and signposting
• Developing capacity and capability for involvement by providing learning and development opportunities and supporting networking
• Contributing to and sharing the evidence base for involvement, including evaluating involvement practice
• Influencing involvement policies and practice by providing advice and guidance
• Engaging the wider public in health research and health services by sharing opportunities to take part in research, sharing research findings, and reaching out to marginalised and seldom heard groups.

http://www.phwe.org.uk/involvement-opportunities/