Taking account of patient and lay people’s views is an integral part of the Academy’s day to day work and is fundamental to helping us achieve our over-arching 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 service patients receive across the whole of the UK.
For this reason, the Academy ensures that patient or lay members are involved as much as possible in its workstreams and projects, as well as having the Academy Patient and Lay Committee (APLC) to work alongside the Academy on its priorities. The APLC also sets its own programme of work highlighting issues on healthcare where greater patient and lay perspective is needed.
The Committee membership is drawn from representatives nominated by the Academy member college and faculties and mirrors the organisation of the Academy Council. The Committee is Chaired by Ros Levenson and managed by Kate Tansley.
To increase the breadth of patient and lay views available to the Academy we also have a Stakeholder Reference Group. This is a pool of patients and lay people who are willing to be involved in Academy work as and when it is needed, which can vary from responding to a survey to attending events. Members 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.
If you are interested in becoming a member of the Stakeholder Reference Group please request to join.
The minimum commitment would require you to consider responding to the occasional email. Any further time spent contributing to the Academy is up to you and the nature of the work. It could be in the form of giving your views on a subject, attending events or joining a more formal committee or working group.
