Community and voluntary groups that offer important platforms for patients and the public to shape local health services have received a funding boost from the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network (EMAHSN).

The eight local ‘Patient and Public Involvement’ (PPI) groups have been awarded £1,500 each to help meet their essential running costs – supporting them to start or continue their vital work to promote patient, carer and public involvement in healthcare / healthcare research and delivery across the East Midlands.
All of these groups exist to make sure that the experiences of patients and members of the public are at the heart of future decisions about health services. They promote patient, carer and public involvement in healthcare delivery or research with each group focusing on a key health issue, ranging from patient safety and young people to mental health, heart disease and cancer.

EMAHSN first launched the fund in 2015 because it recognised that many groups operate on an entirely voluntary basis and can find it difficult to cover even basic costs such as travel and members’ out-of-pocket expenses. Following the success of the awards in 2015, EMAHSN decided to run the bursary scheme for a second year.

Rachel Munton, Managing Director of EMAHSN, said that just small amounts of funding can make a big difference, assisting groups to continue to thrive and grow.

“Patient and Public Involvement groups are at the very heart of health service improvement,” she said. “The East Midlands has a great network made up of many hundreds of volunteers who commit their time to making sure that patients are listened to and that their experiences, ideas and feedback are taken on board by healthcare organisations.

“The groups reach out to many people who otherwise would not have the opportunity to contribute, including underserved communities and people living in rural areas without easy access to transport.

“EMAHSN recognises and values their contribution and these small grants will help to ensure the groups can continue to represent the views of patients and the public on some of the biggest health challenges facing our region.”

Applications for the grants were considered by the East Midlands Patient and Public Involvement (PPI Senate), an independent group of patients and public with varied health service user experience. The PPI Senate supports health and social care organisations to embed patient and public involvement

Grants of £1,500 have been awarded to each of the following groups:

• ‘Making a change’ Northampton Black Minority Ethnic (BME) PPI Group - the bursary will be used to maintain and recruit more BME users/community members with a view to influence research and health service development across Northampton and broader across the East Midlands

• Nottingham University Hospitals Patient Safety Engagement Group - the bursary will be used to establish a new group to increase patient, family and carer engagement around patient safety and support NUH implement and evaluate their Patient Safety Toolkit

• New Youth (Leicester and Derby) - the bursary will be used to establish two new groups in Derby and Leicester (following success in Nottingham). They wish to increase membership of young people from vulnerable and unserved groups, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) and BME groups

• Carers Voice Northampton - the bursary will be used to increase membership to ensure the views of more carers can feed into local carers strategies/plans to improve information and services

• Friends and Bredrins (FAB) Nottingham -  the bursary will be used to increase membership of men from diverse communities and allow people who face barriers to get involved; ensuring research, screening and awareness of prostate cancer

• Love Hearts Nottingham - the bursary will strengthen membership of African Caribbean volunteers and reach more communities to deliver the aim of raising awareness of heart health, risk factors and healthier lifestyles within diverse BME communities

• Alzheimer’s Society Service User Review Panel (SURP) East Midlands - the bursary will be used to support people to attend this new group, which is being set up to address an unmet need in patients and carers informing research studies

• Nottingham Maternity Research Network (Notts Maternity) - the bursary will be used to enhance the current membership and those involved in research studies by women from underserved and diverse communities

Examples of how the funding will be used:

Gordon King, Chair of the ‘Making a change project’ for Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: “We’re really excited and grateful to have been awarded this funding by EMAHSN for our BME PPI Group, in times of austerity this funding will ensure we can cover the out of pocket expenses of those volunteering their time to share their valuable experiences with us.”

Roydon Allen, a volunteer at FAB Nottingham, said: “As a small minority charity we depend on awards like this to continue our work to raise awareness at our Prostate Cancer Events. The money will help FAB to connect with under privileged and underserved parts of our community.”

Pippa Foster, from the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “We are delighted to receive this award from EMAHSN. The intention of this funding is to support people affected by dementia to become more involved in academic research and consultations about the wider health and social care systems. We get numerous requests from Universities, Local Authorities, Clinical Commissioning Groups and other organisation for the views of people affected by dementia, and this funding will enable us to develop and support a dedicated group of people to respond to these requests. This group will provide opportunities for people affected by dementia to have a voice, share their expertise and influence the direction of research, health and social care.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

EMAHSN is one of 15 Academic Health Science Networks in England. EMAHSN brings together the NHS, universities, industry and social care to transform the health of the region’s 4.6m residents and stimulate wealth. Current priorities focus on identifying and spreading innovations that address challenges including cancer, obesity, diabetes, mental health, respiratory disease and liver disease

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