Hosted by the West of England AHSN as part of our innovation for quality improvement work, the second PPI (public and patient involvement) in Practice event took place last month.
Drawing on the expertise of People in Health West of England, the network aims to strengthen and build good practice in PPI throughout the region. It brings together PPI professionals (in service improvement as well as research) and lay reps from clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), trusts and health service providers from around the West of England region.
The format of the event follows the ‘Dilemma Café’ approach where topics are proposed by individuals looking for advice and ideas. After a short presentation of the dilemma, the group then break into smaller groups to discuss the topic of their choice.
Dilemmas brought to the group so far include:
- How to involve the public in co-commissioning?
- How to influence the Sustainability and Transformation Plans?
- What does good look like?
- How can we improve our PPI engagement forums?
Those who attended have been enthusiastic about having the space to benchmark their own performance and share good practice. “It’s nice to hear what other people are doing and know that we aren’t doing too badly,” said one person leading on PPI for their CCG.
There is also the opportunity to learn techniques and ideas from others and have a safe space in which to discuss any difficulties people might be having. “I like the mixture of non-professionals and professionals coming together,” said a lay rep. “It makes it really interesting.”
At the moment the group is limiting its scope to those with a responsibility for PPI, either as a lay rep on a board or in a professional capacity, in order to ensure the meetings meet the need for peer support and learning that might otherwise be missing for lay reps and PPI professionals.
For further information contact Hildegard Dumper, Patient and Public Involvement Manager, at hildegard.dumper@weahsn.net.
Posted on June 13, 2016
