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Patient and lay involvement

Taking account of public, patient and lay people’s views is an integral part of our work and is fundamental to helping us achieve our overarching ambition to improve the quality of care.

Only by connecting real-world patient experiences to the way doctors are educated, trained, or conduct medical practice can we improve the care and service patients receive across the whole of the UK. For this reason, we ensure that patient and lay people are involved as much as possible in our work streams and projects. We do this through the Academy Patient and Lay Committee (APLC).

The APLC membership is drawn from representatives nominated by the Academy member colleges and faculties and mirrors the organisation of the Academy Council. As well as feeding into all areas of the Academy, the APLC also sets its own programme of work highlighting areas of healthcare where a greater patient and lay perspective is needed.



The Committee is led by Ros Levenson (Chair) and Kate Tansley (Manager).


We also have a Patient and Public Stakeholder Reference Group to increase the breadth of patient and lay opinions that influence our work. This is a pool of patients and lay people willing to be involved in Academy work as and when it is needed.

Members of the Stakeholder Reference Group receive monthly updates detailing the Academy’s latest work with the APLC, opportunities to input their views, invitations to attend events and join Academy committees as required.