Patient and Public Involvement Forums began operation on 1 December 2003 for all National Health Service trusts and primary care trusts in England, superseding Community Health Councils.
Source: Press release 28 November 2003, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: DH press release
Date: 2003-Dec
A think-tank report discussed options for increasing local engagement on health issues, consistent with other National Health Service objectives such as a holistic whole person approach to health and health inequalities.
Source: Alyson Morley and Fiona Campbell, People Power and Health: Green paper on democratising the NHS, Democratic Health Network/Local Government Information Unit (020 7554 2820)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Nov
The health services inspectorate published a guide to current issues relating to patient and public involvement in the National Health Service.
Source: An A to Z of Current Patient and Public Involvement Issues and Guidance, Commission for Health Improvement (020 7448 9200)
Links: Guide (pdf)
Date: 2003-Oct
The government responded to criticisms in a report by a committee of MPs on public and patient involvement in the National Health Service. It said that, according to strategic health authorities, 98 per cent of NHS trusts and primary care trusts had an active patient advice and liaison service.
Source: Government Response to House of Commons Health Committee Report on Patient and Public Involvement in the NHS Seventh report session 2002 03, Cm 6005, Department of Health, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Linked removed by DH
Date: 2003-Oct
An article sought to clarify the meaning of empowerment in order to contribute to a more theoretically coherent development of policy and practice, aimed at facilitating the empowerment of health and social care service users. It concluded that professionals could work with people in empowering ways if they recognised and worked to address the structural causes of oppression.
Source: Fenella Starkey, 'The empowerment debate : consumerist, professional and liberational perspectives in health and social care', Social Policy and Society, Volume 2 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2003-Oct
A report considered the public engagement issues that foundation trusts, and the organisations that would work alongside them, might consider when establishing their new structures and operational policies.
Source: Richard Lewis, Foundation Trusts: A new era for stakeholder engagement?, New Health Network (020 7407 1618)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2003-Sep
A report warned that public support for the National Health Service would go into sharp decline unless urgent action was taken to change the way patients were cared for. (The report was based on a survey of more than 8,000 people across eight different European countries, which looked at attitudes and expectations of healthcare from the perspective of patients.)
Source: Angela Coulter and Helen Magee (eds.), European Patient of the Future, Open University Press (01280 823388)
Links: Summary (Word file)
Date: 2003-Jul
A report described 'participatory appraisal', a tool for community and agency decision-making. It examined specific examples of two community health projects that used the technique to look at health issues.
Source: Have you been PA'd?: Using participatory appraisal to shape local services, UK Poverty Programme/Oxfam in Scotland (0141 285 8880), East End Health Action, Greater Easterhouse Community Health Project, and Greater Glasgow NHS Board
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
A committee of MPs said that it was 'totally unacceptable' that the Department of Health appeared not to have access to basic information about patient advice and liaison services in the National Health Service, three months after they were due to have been introduced.
Source: Patient and Public Involvement in the NHS, Seventh Report (Session 2002-03), HC 697, House of Commons Health Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2003-Jul
The government said that it would not publish two patient surveys covering attitudes to family doctors and hospitals, despite a promise in 1997 to do so. Opposition parties accused the government of 'burying' bad news about the state of the National Health Service.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Answers 19.3.03, column 845W, TSO (0870 600 5522) | The Independent, 24.4.03
Links: Hansard
Date: 2003-Apr
The Scottish Executive announced proposals for increased public involvement in the National Health Service in Scotland, including the establishment of a Scottish Health Council. The Council would have three main functions: ensuring that health boards monitor the experiences of patients and patient/public involvement; providing expertise, experience and information about good practice on public involvement; and ensuring that patients and carers have an opportunity to express their views.
Source: Press release 4.3.03, Scottish Executive (0131 556 8400)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Mar
A report said that both doctors and patients need to change attitudes if moves towards greater public involvement in healthcare decision-making are to succeed. Doctors have been a 'closed' profession and need to be more open, and patients must stop being concerned only about their own experiences and take a more general view of the quality of healthcare.
Source: Andrea Litva, Public Involvement in the Quality of Healthcare Services, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
The new Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (established by the government on 1 January 2003) issued policy and practice guidance on involving patients and the public in healthcare decisions.
Source: Strengthening Accountability: Involving Patients and the Public, Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health/Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Links removed by DH
Date: 2003-Feb
A report made recommendations to improve the exchange of information between patients, healthcare professionals, governing bodies and pharmaceutical companies using a combination of education, training and standardising of patient information sources.
Source: Patient Information: What's the Prognosis?, Consumers' Association (0800 252 100)
Links: Summary (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
Researchers found that young people who are seriously ill may feel excluded from consultations about their treatment, and that parents may be reluctant to communicate openly with their children.
Source: Bridget Young, Mary Dixon-Woods, Kate Windridge and David Heney, 'Managing communication with young people who have a potentially life threatening chronic illness: qualitative study of patients and parents', British Medical Journal 8.2.03
Links: Article
Date: 2003-Feb
The government set a date (1 September 2003) for the abolition of community health councils. It said that public and patient involvement in the National Health Service would be ensured through the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health, by a new duty on the NHS to involve and consult the public (for example through overview and scrutiny committees), and through patients' forums.
Source: Press release 31.1.03, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: DH press release
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 30/4, Digest 120, paragraph 2.5
Date: 2003-Jan
