Dorset County Hospital looking for patient representatives to help develop its services
28 July 2022
Dorset County Hospital (DCH) is looking for volunteers to help shape and improve services by acting as patient representatives on key projects – including patient safety and its site development plans.
The Trust already seeks regular patient, carer, and public feedback in a number of ways through its patient experience team and uses this to improve its services.
And now DCH is looking for people who can spend a minimum of four hours a month to act as patient representatives and sit on various groups as another way to make sure the views of patients and carers are considered throughout the development process.
The Trust is currently looking for:
- Patient Safety Partners, as part of a national scheme to improve patient safety across healthcare services
- Patient Representatives to join the Trust’s Your Future Hospital programme, which sets out plans to develop clinical facilities on site – including a brand-new Emergency Department and Critical Care Unit
While these are voluntary roles, any travel expenses would be paid – although some meetings would take place online. Full training and support will also be provided.
These are new roles for the Trust and follows NHS England’s ‘Working in Partnership with People and Communities’ guidance. The Trust is also looking at other patient and public voice roles and how it can run more events such as focus groups.
Hannah Robinson, Volunteer and Patient Experience Lead at Dorset County Hospital, said: “DCH is committed to working in partnership with local communities and we are really excited to be able to provide more opportunities for patients, carers and families to get involved in shaping our services. It is so important that we use their experiences and insight to improve the way we work, and this is another way we can make sure people’s voices are heard.”