Psychology - Expert by Experience Patient Group

What is The Expert by Experience Patient Group?

This is a group of people who are using or have used our service in the past. The group helps shape how the service is planned, delivered and evaluated. The opinions of our expert by experience patients are key to bringing about improvements in the way Clinical Health Psychology services are provided. We know that effective patient involvement can improve service access and quality for future service users.

The main aims of the Expert by Experience Patient Group are:

• To ensure the service consistently listens to patient ideas, views, and experiences
• To improve the ease of access to the service
• To support patients in providing feedback and their views on different areas of the service
• To be a ‘critical friend’ to the service. We want to know what we are not doing well, as well as what we are doing well, from a patient perspective.

What will I be asked to commit?

We have several expert by experience patients who have said they would be happy to help the service in relation to specific topics. This includes working on service development projects in a range of areas. You are under no obligation to take part in all projects, but you may like to be involved in any of the following:

Communication - Giving us feedback on information, such as leaflets and letters used by the service.

Recruitment and selection - Sitting on interview panels to help ensure that the patient's point of view is heard when it comes to selecting new staff for the service.
 
Training - Assisting in training of different staff groups by sharing your experiences and views, e.g. by being part of a presentation or writing a personal story that can be shared with the service.

Research and audit - Being involved in the development of ideas and monitoring the progress of service research or audit projects.

Monitoring and evaluation - Gaining feedback on evaluation tools the service uses, including questionnaires and feedback forms.

Quote from one of our current Expert by Experience Patients:

“Working within the Expert by Experience Patient Group has allowed me to give something back to and help develop the service that gave me so much. It has been an honour to work closely with the team and to see the patient is at the heart of the team’s work.”

Travel expense claims

You can claim travel expenses for all meetings you attend as part of the Expert by Experience Patient Group. This includes parking and mileage or public transport costs. Expense claims are usually limited to £10 for each meeting you attend. However, if you would like to be involved, but this limit would not cover your expenses, please get in touch and we will do our best to find a solution.

Sources of further information

If you would like an informal discussion over the phone about these opportunities, please ring the number below and ask to speak to a member of the ‘Expert by Experience Patient Team’ Department of Clinical Health Psychology on 0161 206 5588 or email us at: eepg@nca.nhs.uk.