Being responsive and sensitive to the needs and wishes of patients, their families and carers, has become one of the fundamental principles of good health care. The days are gone when patients were expected to do as they were told. From being passive recipients, they are now becoming more involved in the decisions that affect them, their families, and their communities.

In this section, we have a number of ways that you can be involved with the Trust:

• NHS Live
• Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
• Patient and Public Partnership
• Patient Panel Initiative
• Support Groups 

For more information, you may be interested in our Foundation Trust membership section or visit other areas of our site:

• Your Hospitals of Choice
• Information for Patients
• Healthy Living

Listening and Learning

The desirability and benefits of working in partnership are increasingly recognised, but the rising tide of public and individual expectation can seem daunting, even threatening, to hard pressed staff. Effective strategies can help to develop understanding and mutual respect.

Listening and learning are the key – listening to and learning from:

• patients,
• their carers,
• those who visit our hospitals,
• the wider public,
• our staff.

Our aim is that by working in partnership, we can:

• improve our services,
• improve the experience of individual patients
• enhance the satisfaction of staff.

Essential to this are the following:

·          Openness – in our relationship with patients and the public

·          Accountability – in listening to the way in which patients and carers experience and view the quality of care they receive

·          Accessibility – to patients and carers using Trust services

·          Responsiveness – in listening to patients and carers views and considering the way forward

·          Equity – in promoting an environment where people from all backgrounds can become involved

·          Effectiveness – in strengthening the voice of the patient.