
Patients and Carers help to transform services at NNUH
Services are being transformed by patients’ expert advice and support at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals.
Founded in 2019, the Patient Panel plays a key role at the Trust through its members working with hospital staff to get involved in a whole range of projects including service redesign, quality assurance and helping the patient and carer voice to be heard at every level.
Panel members have helped to draft wording for the Trust’s corporate strategy ‘Caring with PRIDE’, contributed to divisional working groups and the ongoing development of the electronic patient record project.
Rosemary Moore, Patient Panel Chair, said: “All the Panel are volunteers and give up their own time to help staff at both the N&N and Cromer and District Hospital because they want to make a difference. I find this both impressive and humbling. It’s a pleasure and an honour to be the Chair and I have every confidence as a Panel we will continue to grow and develop in the years ahead.”
Panel members have also been involved in policy improvements, such as digital transformation plans, giving feedback on patient and carer experience across many departments, and the new joint consent policy across the Norfolk and Norwich, James Paget and Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn.
Sarah Higson, Associate Director of Patient Engagement and Experience, who helped Rosemary establish and grow the Panel to its current 14 members, feels that the hospital Trust has begun to build a partnership with patients.
“The Panel members are helping us by using their experience as patients and carers, and their life experience, to give us straight unvarnished feedback and advice that we can use to improve our services and processes in partnership with them to do everything we can to become even more patient-centred,” said Sarah.
“Listening to our patients, carers and families is the key to how we improve our services and provide a much better experience for everyone who visits for an appointment or stays with us.
“We are now looking to expand the Panel and want to make sure that we truly represent the diversity of our community. As part of the way we work we meet once a month to check progress and we’ve built a very positive team culture, so I think that anyone who joins the Panel will feel supported and that they can contribute and really make a difference.
“We’re publishing a short report today which gives an overview of the Panel and just some of the amazing work that the Panel members have done and continue to do. We hope that everyone who dips into the pages gets an insight into what can be achieved by working together and how rewarding being part of the Panel can be.”
Prof Nancy Fontaine, NNUH Chief Nurse, said: “We can’t thank the Patient Panel members enough for everything they do to make the patient and carer voice heard and in working with us to improve our services. They have made a huge impact already and I look forward to our continuing this successful partnership in the years ahead.”
If you are interested in becoming a Patient Panel member, please email patient.experience@nnuh.nhs.uk