Supporting people to be involved
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Staying in touch |
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Address: |
NHS Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group, The Forum, Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead, HP1 1DN |
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Phone: |
01442 898888 |
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Email: |
Enquiries.hvccg@nhs.net |
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Twitter: |
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Facebook: |
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You can also fill in the contact form on this website or sign up for more information and health updates at the bottom of this page |
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We have produced easy read versions of our important information for those who may want to print off, click here to access these.
If you need information in a different format please let us know.
Sharing information
We send weekly updates to our PPG network, our community ambassadors and also anyone who signs up through our website to receive information.
Click here for past editions of the weekly Herts Valleys newsletter.
Introduction to your NHS
People have told us that they would like to get more involved in their local NHS but find the structure and processes difficult to navigate. We periodically hold informal ‘Introduction to your NHS’ sessions which give a step-by-step guide to the workings of the NHS together with an opportunity to find out ways of getting involved.
At previous sessions we have had around 30 people attend - the session agenda is here
Our most recent 'introduction to the NHS' session was held on 11 November 10 - 12 at Boxmoor Trust, Hemel Hempstead. For more information contact heather.aylward@nhs.net
Induction
Working with our Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Committee we are developing an induction programme for people who wish to be more involved in our work, particularly joining our PPI Committee. See here how this is beginning to take shape - we would welcome any comments on the content. Once we have agreed our induction fact sheet we will be developing a wider programme of induction, again working with patient representatives and running information sessions which go through the induction in more detail.
We also include a communications and engagement session for new staff to ensure they are familiar with and understand our approach to participation.
We always ask colleagues to communicate in a way that is easy to understand but we know that sometimes acronyms slip in to conversations so we have created this guide most frequently used acronyms here
Patient Engagement Network
PPI Committee (PPIC) members and other patient representatives suggest topics that require more detailed discussions than is available in a committee meeting. The project lead is invited to give a brief presentation, details of how people can influence the process and then feedback is taken from the group to use in future planning. Recently these discussions have included GP extended hours (with discussions on the format and distribution of a patient survey), reducing medicine waste and how patients, public and groups can support this initiative through to patient choice and social prescribing.
More information can be found on our patient groups and networks page
Improving the patient representative experience
We are keen to ensure that patient participation is worthwhile and are always mindful that people are freely volunteering their own time.
With this in mind we have organised a session on 28 January 2020, for patient volunteers and colleagues, to review our recruitment and support processes and make improvements where necessary.
For more information heather.aylward@nhs.net
Briefing Sessions
To ensure that our patient representatives are informed and confident in participating we have recently held briefing sessions on the following groups:
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Quality visits
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Procurement and service redesign
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Serious Incident Panel
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Quality assurance meeting with West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust
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Primary Care Commissioning Panel
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Care Home improvement project
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Frailty task and finish group
The sessions explain in more detail about the activity / meeting, the role of the patient and the support offered to take part. Staff are also included on these sessions to explain their role and to ensure they understand the patient role and can deliver the support required.
Volunteer and Re-imbursement Policy
A volunteer is anyone who supports the work of Herts Valleys CCG by giving their time, skills and expertise in an unpaid capacity beyond reimbursement of expenses.
Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group encourage and facilitate the maximum possible participation in our work. There is strong evidence that health services are better when people who use them are involved in their design and for effective participation people need to feel supported and know their voluntary contribution is valued and has an impact.
Volunteers may help by:
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Becoming health and wellbeing ambassadors
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Being part of Herts Valley’s Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Committee which as a committee of the board provides assurance of meaningful participation in the business of the clinical commissioning group from patients, carers, families and members of the public.
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Sharing experiences, as a patient or carer, in the redesign, evaluation or reviewing of particular services, this includes being part of procurement panels, sharing patient stories with the Herts Valleys board and bringing the patient/public perspective to project groups and discussions.
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Joining a locality patient group, and/or other patient involvement initiatives
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Being part of our reader panel which reviews draft material aimed at the public, helping in the development of written information to ensure it is easy to understand, accessible and free from jargon.
This policy outlines the support that will be given to volunteers and aims to prevent cost becoming a barrier to involvement by providing fair and appropriate reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses for service users, patients, carers and other members of the public who voluntarily participate in events and activities by invitation.
You can read our volunteering policy here.
For more information contact heather.aylward@nhs.net