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
A report said that service users involved in the governing bodies of new social care regulators were positive about their experiences as board members, and believed their contributions were valued by colleagues.
Source: Frances Hasler, Users at the Heart: User participation in the governance and operations of social care regulatory bodies, Social Care Institute for Excellence/Department of Health (020 7089 6840)
Links: Report (pdf) | SCIE press release | Community Care report
Date: 2003-Nov
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
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: Link removed by DH
Date: 2003-Oct
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
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
The government began consultation on proposals for helping local education authorities, governing bodies and schools consider the views of children and young people, and involve them when making decisions that affected them. The government said its aim was to 'open up opportunities for children and young people to become more active participants in their education, including involvement in planning and the evaluation of their own learning'.
Source: Working Together: Giving children and young people a say, Department for Education and Skills, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Consultation paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
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 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
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 report looked at the practical application of 'user-defined outcomes' as understood by users of social care services. It was found that involvement to support user-defined outcomes took more time and resources than usually envisaged.
Source: Shaping Our Lives National User Network (et al.), Shaping our Lives From Outset to Outcome: What people think of the social care services they use, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 431213)
Links: Report (pdf) | JRF Findings 673
Date: 2003-Jun
A paper said that mental health service user groups were making a big impact on local services, but lacked the resources to wield influence nationally.
Source: Jan Wallcraft and Michael Bryant, The Mental Health Service User Movement in England, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (020 7827 8352)
Links: SCMH press release
Date: 2003-May
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
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 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