42. Rachel Power - patients as equal partners in the NHS

Wild Card - Whose Shoes?

Today I am talking to Rachel Power, CEO of the Patients' Association. Huge thanks to our mutual friend, Yvonne Newbold for introducing us!
The Patients' Association was established almost 60 years ago and is a membership forum - why not join?
Rachel is a strong advocate for patient partnership; her organisation is highly influential, helping patient voices be heard by NHS England and the government.
I'm hoping that this important conversation will form a bit of a 'pincer movement' with Episode 25, in which Miles Sibley, founder of the Patient Experience Library provides real evidence that 'patient stories' are not only important but should have equal weight with medical stories.
Lemon lightbulbs 🍋💡🍋

• I joined the Patients Association! It's free! Why don't you?
• Coproduction? Don’t get hung up on the latest buzz word – just think what the person in the street would understand
• Focus on what is meaningful to people – e.g. Andrea Sutcliffe's 'The Mum test'
• Let’s not measure things just because they are easy to measure
• Measuring the impact of things that matter can be hard
• People have survey fatigue - be imaginative about seeking feedback
  - e.g. ask people in 6 months' time whether your intervention made a difference
• BRAN - the 'Benefits, the Risks, the Alternatives and the do Nothing' methodology is powerful
• “If I still can’t do my gardening, then why would I want that knee operation?”
  - a classic example of 'What Matters To You?' #WMTY
• Seek to identify and overcome the barriers to shared decision-making
• Most people just want to know that things will be different; they don’t necessarily want to complain
• Let’s keep things simple; not over-complicate!
• Always remember - behind the statistics, there are human beings
• Patient stories should have equal weight with medical stories (Miles Sibley)
• The Patients’ Association works closely with the NHS - help them!
• Digital solutions sometimes exacerbate health inequalities - be inclusive and imaginative
• Bring things to people and making them accessible - Nailsea is a good example
• The cost-of-living crisis is widening inequalities
• The Patients’ Association has lots of practical resources to help people access health care and feel empowered, including a Helpline
• Our key message for Amanda Pritchard, CEO of the NHS – patient partnership is the way forward!

Links and resources
The Patients' Association
Miles Sibley, Founder of Patient Experience Library
Yvonne Newbold - Founder of Newbold Hope

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