The NHS Constitution for England states that service users and their carers and families have specific rights in relation to their involvement in their healthcare and the work of the NHS.

Service users have the right to be involved in discussions and decisions about their healthcare and to be given information enabling them to do this.

Service users have the right to be involved, directly or through representatives, in the planning of healthcare services, the development and consideration of proposals for changes in the way those services are provided, and indecisions to be made affecting the operation of those services.

The Constitution states that the NHS must also make the following commitments to service users:

• To provide you with the information you need to influence and scrutinise the planning and delivery of NHS Services; and
• To work in partnership with you, your family, carers and representatives

The Trust has prioritised effective service user and carer involvement through its business planning process. In order to ensure we meet the standards required for involvement, we, as an organisation need to be:

• Sure when we need to involve service users and carers
• Clear whether the requirement is involvement or consultation / information giving
• Ready to involve service users and carers at the start of the process and seek feedback
• Prepared to listen and respond to service user and carer views and ideas
• Able to evidence effective involvement and the impact this has made to the delivery and accessibility of our services

Why is involvement important?

Good involvement should be part of our everyday business it has a range of benefits for patients, their carers and families, staff and the organisation. Evidence shows that staff experience directly impacts on the experience of the service user.

• Good involvement allows staff to:
• Have a better understanding of the needs of the people they offer a service to
• Make better decisions
• Design services that reflect the needs of the service user and their carers and families
• Provide efficient more accessible services
• Expect less conflict as service user and carer satisfaction increases

For further information or to request assistance, please contact the Involvement Team: