CNWL’s new Patient and Carer Involvement Strategy
Since 2019, CNWL’s involvement strategy has led to a huge increase of patients and carers getting involved in shaping services. In 2024, a CNWL survey of staff and ‘Experts by Experience’ – people who have recent personal experience with health services – revealed that 86% of respondents see real improvements because of their involvement, while 88% say it has had a positive personal impact.
Involving people in a meaningful can be achieved by starting early, supporting individuals and ensuring that people’s inputs lead to actions that make a difference. This requires building strong relationships with patients, carers, and staff who all offer valuable perspectives and ideas.
New Patient and Carer Involvement Strategy
CNWL’s new Patient and Carer Involvement Strategy will run until 2030 with an aim of increasing involvement opportunities to amplify patients’ and carers’ voices across the Trust for improved quality of services.
Meaningful involvement can help the NHS to deliver safe, cost-effective and high-quality services through partnerships with patients and families to understand what matters to them and how that can be provided. It also helps to increase patient and carer wellbeing, reduce inequalities by creating services that are inclusive and increasing staff satisfaction.
What does the new plan focus on?
Following the Trust’s consultation throughout 2024 with patients, carers and staff, the plan will focus on the following areas from 2025-2030:
- Investing in Experts by Experience
This means increasing the diversity of Experts by Experience, ensuring that they are welcomed and prepared for involvement and strengthening their training, development and support opportunities.
- Inclusive, meaningful involvement
Meaningfully involving patients and carers in decisions about how services are designed and delivered across the Trust requires developing a culture of co-production, training staff in carer awareness and promoting projects and campaigns across the Trust that support shared decision making for both patients and carers.
- Influencing organisational culture
Key actions that the Trust will take to enable patients and carers to help shape its organisational culture include making sure that 90% of recruitment panels for Consultant posts are chaired by Experts by Experience by 2030 and providing a patient and carer perspective to HR processes.
- Increasing the impact of involvement
Increasing and measuring the ‘real life’ impact of involvement will help the NHS to learn and improve, as well as celebrate success stories and be more accountable to the public. For example, the Trust will ensure that Experts by Experience and staff are periodically asked to give more detailed views on what is working well in involvement and what could be improved.
How can I get involved?
Please contact the Patient and Carer Involvement Team for more information: involvement.cnwl@nhs.net or call 020 3317 3735
Find out more about the new strategy here.
