The think-tank said the NHS needs to step up its efforts to forge a “new relationship” with patients and communities, as set out in its five-year transformation plan. The Five Year Forward View aims to strengthen the NHS’s role in health advocacy, empower patients to take control of their health and to do more to engage communities.
To signal its support for the initiative, the charity has appointed Mark Doughty, co-founder and director of the Centre for Patient Leadership, as a senior consultant with a focus on patient leadership.
In his new position, Doughty said he will be promoting the “vital roles” these “collaborative relationships” will play throughout the health and social care system.
“We need to shift away from a ‘them and us’ model to a more collaborative one and make sure these relationships are embedded in our organisational structures,” he said, pointing to previous work in collaborative pairs that was “instructive and inspiring”.
In a paper published today, the King’s Fund also outlines achievements made by NHS professionals when working with patients.
The report looks at case studies drawn from the fund’s national collaborative pairs programme, which supported patients and health professionals to work together on a range of local initiatives.
The examples illustrated include: a patient working with a consultant cardiologist to redesign local cardiac services; a local Healthwatch representative working with the clinical director of a clinical commissioning group to develop new models of care; and the chair of a local disability group working with a clinical manager to improve neuro-rehab services.
“This is an idea whose time has come,” stressed Doughty, “and I look forward to help making it a reality.”
Marcus Powell, director of leadership and organisational development at the King’s Fund, added: “There are many people and organisations doing some really good work in this area. Now is the time for NHS organisations to unite in their commitment to a new partnership with patients and communities”.
