Strategic Patient Partners
Further to the publication of the King’s Fund’s ‘patients as partners', the CCG has continued to invest in Strategic Patient Partners (SPPs). These are individuals who have an active interest in the NHS. They have a high level of knowledge about how the CCG and other local NHS organisations work.
SPPs emerge naturally, through the relationships the CCG builds with people who want to take their involvement to the next level. They provide a highly-engaged and strategic patient voice.
SPPs have a keen interest in all aspects of health. They have an established relationship with the CCG and they take part in the vast majority of engagement opportunities. They are a sounding board and critical friend; the CCG considers them an extension of the communications and engagement team.
SPPS will be encouraged to share their experiences with other people who are committed to the CCG’s engagement model, to demonstrate the breadth of patient engagement the CCG undertakes.
Find out more
- Read more about the role of a Strategic Patient Partner
- Meet our Strategic Patient Partners - click on the profiles below.
NHS Expo
In September 2018, the annual NHS Expo took place and two of our Strategic Patient Partners attended. Tony and Jo said the amount of ground-breaking work going on in the NHS was incredible. They were particularly struck by the 100,000 Genome Project.
Tony said: “The project has huge potential to enable understanding, and eventually preventing or curing rare diseases, as well as more common conditions like cancer.”
Tony and Jo also said they learnt that “instead of prescribing 'blockbuster drugs' that have widespread effects on the body, only some of which are useful, in future drugs will be tailored to deliver just the effects needed by the patient based on their genome. This would reduce emergency hospital admissions caused by adverse reactions to drug interactions. Our local trust, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, is contributing to the project.
Tony and Jo will be sharing their experiences of the NHS Expo with patient forums across Birmingham and Solihull, in order to inform and disseminate their newly-found knowledge.