Our Community Involvement Recovery Group is a recent addition to groups promoting the voice of service users of Community Forensic Services and the Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion Service. It’s supported by Notts Healthcare staff, our Involvement Volunteers with lived experience of Trust services or for carers of someone in our services. In the following blog the group shares some of the things they aim to do by working in partnership and by using their experiences to encourage change and to improve services. One of the ways they do this is by supporting services to obtain feedback. Feedback is important because it helps our teams understand where they need to make improvements and where they are providing a good service. There is also an opportunity for service users to become more involved with the Involvement team or to become a volunteer.
Here the group share their thoughts and feelings about the work they do together and the NHS 70th Birthday.
”We meet bi-monthly (six meetings a year) for a couple of hours. We like to think we are friendly in our approach. We have an agenda and ground rules to keep us on track (and tea and biscuits!)”
”I love coming to the group and that everyone is equal. We have purpose, hope, control, opportunity and learning from each other. We can see things through each others eyes and through the eyes of the people we care for.”
What three words would you use to describe the NHS?
Involving, Constructive, Change
If you could give the NHS any 70th birthday present what would it be?
More time. Time to do everything it needs to do. Time to Care. (Will it make it’s 100th birthday?)
NHS70: Celebrating 70 years of the NHS
The National Health Service is turning 70 on 5 July 2018.
Twitter: #NHS70 #70BlogsTo70
Find out more: https://www.england.nhs.uk/nhs70/