Patient involvement

Report from APLC for the Annual Review 2021-2022

The Academy Patient and Lay Committee (APLC) has had a productive year. We held a well-attended online Patient Seminar in October 2021, which was an opportunity to involve members of the Stakeholder Reference Group. As part of the seminar, we worked closely with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health on a Youth Jury, where children and young people deliberated on their engagement during the pandemic, with the Academy’s Chair acting as a formidable Judge in her bespoke cotton-wool wig!

In a two-way process we invite speakers to our meetings so that we become better informed. We contribute patient expertise and experience, which speakers take back to their organisations. For example, on several occasions we discussed how the NHS is responding to Covid-related challenges. Ros Levenson, APLC Chair and Owen Richards, an APLC member, co-wrote a blog for the Academy on access to primary care. We had fruitful discussions with Stella Vig, the Joint National Clinical for Elective Care about the NHS’s efforts to tackle the COVID backlog. Our agenda has featured topics such as intensive care, peri-operative passports and patients’ views on indemnity issues following a recommendation of the Paterson Inquiry.

We aim to inform and influence the Academy from a patient and public point of view. Our contribution to the Academy’s State of the NHS paper to ensure this view is a case in point.

This year, in order to maximise our effectiveness, we reviewed the committee’s ways of working, opportunities for feedback and methods of evaluation. Like other committees we are working on improving equality and diversity in our work and membership.

Sincere thanks go to our hard-working committee members and to Kate Tansley and Jennifer Baldock who look after the committee’s business so well.