7 The role of service users in health care

Service users are a key part of the NHS. Often in groups, they provide a resource to inform service improvement, and offer their views to make decisions and changes within organisations.

All four UK nations have service users at the heart of their health planning and health services. The role of the carer or service user in the NHS has been growing for over a decade now. This has led to carers and users of health care services having input at all levels, from policy making to advising on service improvements at ward or unit level.

Many services within the NHS have specific routes for service-user involvement through committees, groups and tools like satisfaction surveys and patient feedback.

Activity 10 The voices of carers and service users

Watch Video 6 and reflect on the following questions.

• Why do you think it is important for carers or service users to have a voice?

• How do you think service-user involvement can help nurses to deliver better care?

Download this video clip.Video player: Video 6

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Transcript: Video 6

GULWALI:

The Youth Forum is a collective voice of young people.

ROWAN:

To use the young people as a vehicle to improve the NHS.

GEORGE:

Trying to make a positive impact on healthcare policy.

TOM:

Representing young people's views and making sure the NHS is accountable to young people.

YASMIN:

Giving young people a voice.

VIKRAM:

Taking their views and then making a good informed judgment to benefit all young people.

JESS:

Young people have a right and a responsibility to be heard.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

VIKRAM:

Definitely can see the NHS Youth Forum sitting right up there with the decision-making boards and really making a true impact across the whole of the NHS.

ROWAN:

I think the Youth Forum can contribute throughout the NHS's structure in a variety of different ways. It's just how we want to utilize that power.

AMY:

I've used a lot of NHS services, and I have quite an inside knowledge which can help to contribute to ways that can be changed and learn from it.

YASMIN:

By posting out little questions like, what do you think of this, how could the NHS be improved, you might be able to engage some dialogue with some young people.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

DAVID:

We will reduce the stigma around teenage mental health.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

NATHAN:

We will amend current guidelines given to doctors and look at training to improve the communication between young people and healthcare professionals.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

JESS:

We will be working with charities such as Brook to destigmatise the use of sexual advise services.

AMY:

Transition work for me is a huge thing, because children don't go straight to adults. There's a gap in-between for young people. You can't expect a child to go straight to adult services without being prepared for it, because they'll be vulnerable at that time. So it's not fair on them. And it's just trying to improve that for me.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

NATHAN:

We are already networking throughout the NHS England, so that they really are understanding what we're here to do.

JOE:

I think Neil-- who is the director of patient experience-- he was really up for it, because he said one of the things they were looking at the moment was getting a lot more feedback from the people they work with, like patients and things. And so he said he was quite excited to be kind of working with young people and get their opinions and get a way of getting their feedback into the system so that we can change things hopefully for the better.

DAVID:

As much as maybe adults might not want to hear what young people have to say, they really do as well, because, in essence, what we say actually helps them make the services even better.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

YASMIN:

I hope that we'll kind of make a mark on the NHS and really shown the adults in the service that young people do have a voice in the NHS and in healthcare.

GULWALI:

In a year's time I would really like to see the Forum making real, real change and making a difference, because there's no point having a Forum without making a change. So, creating awareness, letting young people know that this Forum exists which can take their voices forward to those people who are responsible.

AMY:

Nothing's going to change overnight, but you can start to build an impact. And that's the only way things are going to happen.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

End transcript: Video 6

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Discussion

The young people in this video have opinions about the health service and how they would like to see it changed and shaped going forward. The forums have enabled this to happen.

For nurses, listening to what patients and service users want, and their experiences of the services, helps to shape and develop good quality care.