CASE STUDY

The Medical Technology Group

How PLMR Healthcomms and the Medical Technology Group put patients at the heart of Government decision making

Client

The Medical Technology Group

Sector

Services provided

The Situation

Patient access to medical technologies is unequal across the country, meaning people are missing out on life-saving and life-changing treatments depending on where they live.

A key reason for this is a lack of patient involvement in decision-making about their own care.

Studies have shown that when patients are excluded from these discussions, both locally and nationally, their access to appropriate medical technologies suffers, worsening health disparities across regions

What we did

Understanding meaningful patient involvement: We created the first-of-its-kind Guide to Meaningful Patient Involvement (MPI) for Integrated Care Systems (ICSs). The Guide clearly defined MPI, analysed the extent to which it is currently implemented, and set out a blueprint for delivering it across the range of organisations designing and delivering healthcare services. We found there was variation in the level of MPI across ICSs, including omission of patient representatives on decision-making bodies such as Integrated Care Boards. The guide was also a crucial step in defining the terms of future engagement with our target audience in DHSC and setting out expectations for policy change

Mobilising the patient voice: Patient group members of the MTG engaged in a consultation to share their experiences of involvement in committees and working groups set up by the NHS, NICE, CQC and other stakeholders. The members highlighted a range of areas where improvements could be made.

Collaborating with decision makers: We delivered a set-piece Parliamentary event to launch the Guide and provide a forum for patients and patient representatives to advocate directly to Parliamentarians and policy makers. We secured attendance from the Shadow Minister for Public Health, as well as officials from DHSC, NICE and the CQC.

Direct engagement: The MTG delivered a two-day workshop with representatives of NICE to develop future processes for patient involvement, which will feed into the NICE People and Communities Strategy, due for publication later this year.

The Result

NICE placed a strong emphasis on patient involvement in its draft People and Communities Strategy, specifically saying their approach will be ‘meaningful’ which reflects the MTG’s language.

As recommended in the MTG’s Guide to Meaningful Patient Involvement, DHSC’s Medical Technologies Directorate has established a Patient Engagement Forum, following a recommendation from the MTG in February this year.

This forum serves as a route to seek patient and patient group input into specific initiatives of the Department of Health and Social Care’s Medical Technology Strategy. The MTG is supporting the Directorate in the formation of the Forum and will also take part in the Forum’s ongoing work as a stakeholder.

 

“Over the past few years, we have developed a strong partnership with the MTG. Through our collaborative workshops, we have driven innovation and refined our strategies for enhancing the involvement of people and communities in our work. We have also benefitted from attending and speaking at MTG events to support the involvement of people and communities across the health and social care system. We hope to continue our collaborative approach and further develop our partnership in the future.”

Mark Rasburn, Senior Public Involvement Adviser, People and Communities Involvement and Engagement Programme at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

 

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