Patient representatives and carers to play greater part in decisions on policy and practice

Citation

Morris, B. (2001), "Patient representatives and carers to play greater part in decisions on policy and practice", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 14 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2001.06214fab.002

Patient representatives and carers to play greater part in decisions on policy and practice

Patient representatives and carers to play greater part in decisions on policy and practice

To coincide with the World Health Organisation's World Health Day in April 2001, the theme of which was "stop exclusion: dare to care", the Royal College of Psychiatrists announced that its Council has agreed that service users and carers should have more input into decisions about policy and practice.

Currently, the College's Patients' and Carers' Liaison Group meets quarterly and is the main channel through which mental health and learning disability organisations influence College policy. The Group was formed in 1991 and was a pioneer at that time, anticipating current thinking about the role of users and carers in treatment decisions and medical practice as a whole. The Royal College of Psychiatrists believes that the time is now right for wider involvement of’users and carers and has agreed that:

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  the Patients' and Carers' Liaison Group should become a Special Committee of Council and thus formalised within the College's structure;

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  there will be two representatives from the new Committee on Council, which is the principal College decision-making body; and

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  members of the Special Committee will also sit on other key College committees such as the Public Policy Committee, the Public Education Committee and the Education Committee.

Dr Mike Shooter, co-chair of the Patients' and Carers' Liaison Group, commented:

Users and carers play a vital role directly in treatment decisions and also in medical practice as a whole though training, clinical governance, revalidation and the implementation of Government policies, such as the National Service Framework and the NHS Plan.

Winston McCartney, co-chair and representative from Northern Ireland Association for Mental Health, said:

We are delighted to see that the College is committed to a wider involvement of users and carers within the main decision-making committees of the College. This welcome decision reflects the College's commitment to the spirit of professional-patient partnership.

Further information from Deborah Hart or Vanessa Hudson in External Affairs. Tel: (+44) (0) 20 7235 2351 exts. 127 or 154. e-mail: dhart@rcpsych.ac.uk.