A report by a committee of MSPs expressed concerns over plans to introduce direct elections to health boards. It said that pilots of the plan should go ahead in two areas, but that alternative public participation schemes should also be tested.
Source: Stage 1 Report on the Health Boards (Membership and Elections) (Scotland) Bill, 7th Report 2008, SP Paper 185, Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | Evidence | BBC report
Date: 2008-Dec
A discussion paper examined local accountability in the health service, and how public and patient involvement (PPI) should be implemented. It considered the moral, political, and financial imperatives for local accountability, and what it meant in practice at the collective and individual levels. Effective PPI could make a practical difference at three levels: to individual healthcare; to the way family doctor practices delivered care; and to how primary care trusts planned and provided services.
Source: Whose NHS Is It Anyway?, NHS Alliance (01777 869080)
Links: NHS Alliance press release
Date: 2008-Oct
A think-tank report summarized discussions at a 'summit' (held in 2007) that explore in more detail the concept of the patient as consumer, the use of technology in healthcare, and how to promote healthy citizenship.
Source: Anna Dixon (ed.), Engaging Patients in Their Health: How the NHS needs to change, King's Fund (020 7307 2591)
Links: Report | King's Fund press release
Date: 2008-Oct
A think-tank report examined research into the role of patients in the healthcare system.
Source: David Furness, Barney Gough, Niall Maclean, Lyndsay Mountford and Charitini Stavropoulou, Patients in the Health System, Social Market Foundation (020 7222 7060)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Oct
An article examined the demand for, and likely impact of, increasing patient choice in healthcare. Although patients might themselves make limited use of choices, the existence of choice might, in theory, stimulate providers to improve quality of care. Patients did, however, want to be more involved in individual decisions about their own treatment, and generally participated much less in these decisions than they would wish.
Source: Marianna Fotaki et al., 'What benefits will choice bring to patients? Literature review and assessment of implications', Journal of Health Services Research and Policy, Volume 13 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Jul
A think-tank report called for the community and their elected representatives to be given greater influence over the planning, delivery, and review of health services.
Source: Alyson Morley, Out of Our Control? The case for better health accountability, Local Government Information Unit (020 7554 2800)
Links: Report | LGIU press release
Date: 2008-Jun
A report called for a major strengthening of arrangements to hold health services to account at local level.
Source: Who's Accountable for Health? LGA health commission final report, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report | LGA press release | Kings Fund press release
Date: 2008-Jun
A think-tank report said that there was a need for greater clarity about what politicians meant when they talked about increasing local accountability in the National Health Service. It was not even clear to what extent people wanted more control over how their primary care trust spent its money.
Source: Ruth Thorlby, Richard Lewis and Jennifer Dixon, Should Primary Care Trusts Be Made More Locally Accountable?, King's Fund (020 7307 2591)
Links: Report | King's Fund press release
Date: 2008-Apr
An official advisory body published guidance on community engagement in health services. It made recommendations about how communities could effectively be involved in the planning, design, and delivery of services that could improve people's health and well-being and address the wider social determinants of health.
Source: Community Engagement to Improve Health, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (0870 121 4194)
Links: Guidance | NIHCE press release
Date: 2008-Mar
An article examined the roles adopted by elected and appointed governors of a first-wave National Health Service foundation trust, and the extent to which governors shared power with trust directors and influenced the management of the trust. Governors perceived that they had made little impact on the decisions of the trust during the year of study. However, evidence was found of an increased involvement of governors and the public in the activities of the trust.
Source: Richard Lewis and Lisa Hinton, 'Citizen and staff involvement in health service decision-making: have National Health Service foundation trusts in England given stakeholders a louder voice?', Journal of Health Services Research and Policy, Volume 13 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Mar
A report criticized plans to replace National Health Service patient and public involvement forums with 'local involvement networks' from April 2008. It said that the networks would be poorly funded, would reduce the capacity for patients and the public to exercise genuine influence over healthcare, and might be too closely allied to local authorities to be independent of local politics. Their lack of national co-ordination would also not allow sharing of information at a national level.
Source: Public and Patient Involvement in the NHS, British Medical Association (020 7387 4499)
Links: Report | BMA press release
Date: 2008-Mar
A briefing paper said that user participation in healthcare remained an ambition rather than a reality for black and minority ethnic users. Low take-up of services among BME communities was frequently explained as being due to 'cultural' and social preferences, despite contrary evidence.
Source: Ossie Stuart, User Participation in Health Care Services, Race Equality Foundation (020 7619 6220)
Links: Briefing
Date: 2008-Feb
A report examined user involvement in health and social care in Northern Ireland, and made recommendations for improving it.
Source: Joe Duffy, Looking Out from the Middle: User involvement in health and social care in Northern Ireland, Stakeholder Participation Report 18, Social Care Institute for Excellence (020 7089 6840)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Feb
An article examined how the policy of user-involvement was interpreted in health service organizations, and sought to identify factors that influenced how user-involvement was put into practice. User-involvement might not automatically lead to improved service quality: healthcare professionals and service users understood and practised it in different ways according to individual ideologies, circumstances, and needs. Given the resource implications of undertaking user-involvement in service development, there was a need for critical debate on the purpose of such involvement as well as better evidence of the benefits claimed for it.
Source: Nina Fudge, Charles Wolfe and Christopher McKevitt, 'Assessing the promise of user involvement in health service development: ethnographic study', British Medical Journal, 29 January 2008
Links: Article
Date: 2008-Jan
A report said that a new regulatory framework was needed to encourage local healthcare providers to involve the public more in monitoring service provision. A major rethink of commissioning was needed, in order to consider how commissioning could influence service design, and how the user perspective could inform the process. There should be minimum standards for user and public involvement.
Source: Abena Dadze-Arthur, Engaging People in Healthcare Regulation: A route map for action, National Consumer Council (020 7730 3469)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Jan
