Service User & Carer Involvement
The School of Healthcare is committed to the NHS and Social Care imperative of putting the service user (patients) at the centre of all that is planned, commissioned and delivered. Our approach is underpinned by the fundamental values of mutual respect, empathy and honesty and a belief that when we bring together the expertise of service users and carers with that of health and social care professionals, we can continue to grow and improve the quality of our service.
We actively involve service users and their carers in three different areas of the School’s work:
Student Education:
• Service Users and Carers participate in the design and delivery of courses, take part in lectures, course design, assessment and evaluation of the courses being delivered.
• Service users and their carers form 50% of the Involvement Advisory Group (IAG) which was established by the School of Healthcare in 2007 to provide a forum for staff to discuss their ideas/plans for involvement with a group of staff already engaged in involvement and service users and carers that are actively involved in the school and local community. Watch a case study of a service user.
Research:
• Increasingly service users and carers are becoming involved in research not just as study participants but as co-researchers, helping to inform priority areas for research, and the subsequent design and conduct of studies.
Innovation & Knowledge Transfer:
• Service Users and Carers have an expertise that comes from their lived experience of a particular health condition or caring situation. This expertise is important in informing the design, development and delivery of health related products and services. The School of Healthcare looks to broker relationships and partnerships to facilitate the transfer and use of that expert knowledge to improve the quality of health and social care provision. (Smith & Nephew)
To hear some of the Service Users and Carers digital stories and to learn more about us please contact:
Dr. Elaine McNichol, Director - CPD4 Health Innovation, Academic Lead for Service user and Carer Involvement Room 2.07, School of Healthcare, Baines Wing, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9UT.
Jenny Irvine, Programme administrator, Research and Innovation, School of Healthcare, University of Leeds. 0113 343 1384 j.irvine@leeds.ac.uk
