Developing patient and public involvement takes time

Developing effective patient and public involvement (PPI) takes time and commitment, says People in Health West of England’s Hildegard Dumper. This is part of a series of blogs, where key players in Bristol’s health sector write about a health related subject of their choice. If you want to contribute, email [email protected].

Two events
in the last week have reminded me that the
development of good public involvement takes time.

At a panel discussion on cities, health, people and leadership at the Festival of the Future City last week, Professor David Evans pointed out that NIHR INVOLVE is now 20 years old. INVOLVE was set up by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
to support public involvement in the NHS, public health and social care research. It is now well established as the key body to drive forward and support good
practice in public involvement in research, providing the benchmark for
other areas of health and social care.
In the context of an NHS that has gone through several major structural changes
in the past few years, this consistency is a major achievement.

I was reminded again how the development of a truly patient and people led health service
takes time at the People in Health West of England Awayday this week. During an
exercise reflecting on our achievements over the past year, we realised that the idea for a joint PPI initiative was first mooted in 2008, seven years
ago. This evolved first into People & Research West of England, before being
re-launched as People in Health West of England (PHWE) in 2014. Throughout this
time the network has been chaired by Nicky Williams, Deputy
Director of Research, North Bristol NHS Trust. Nicky is now leaving us to
take on the post of National Director of Support
& Delivery for Health And Social Care Research for Wales.

Nicky told me: “It has been a pleasure to co-chair
the strategy group with Cathy Rice over the last few years and I look forward
to hearing all about the work of PHWE in the future. I’m really proud of how
PHWE has grown from the little seed of an idea that we first discussed in 2008
– a real credit to the commitment of the public contributors and staff
involved.”