NHS Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships have a legal requirement to involve people in designing, developing and delivering the health care services provide for them.
Effective approaches for community engagement and participation are critical in ensuring our services are fit for purpose, fit for the future and support better outcomes for people using services, carers and local communities.
Community; refers to a group of people that share a common place (people in a geographical areas such as a village or neighbourhood), a common interest (people who share a particular interest or experience) or a common identity (perhaps demographic characteristics such as age,race) There are also individuals and groups with common needs.
Engagement; is a broad term that covers a whole range of activities that encourage and enable people to be involved in decisions about issues that affect them. This can range from encouraging communities to share their views on how their needs are best met and influence how service should be delivered, to giving communities the power to inform decisions and provide services.
New opportunity
Public Partner Volunteer – Urgent Care Service Clinical Governance Group
Members of the public are sought to join this group to engage in discussions and provide public perspective in order to shape the services delivered. The purpose of the group is to;
- To provide a forum for discussion of management of Clinical Governance and encourage sharing of best practice
- Consider National Strategy Documents in relation to service provision
- Support the implementation of NHS Fife policies and procedures
- Propose recommendations for local Action Plans and assure these are implemented reviewed and evaluated as a continual cycle for service improvement
- Evaluate local approaches and develop good practice within Urgent Care Service Fife
- Identify and manage risk appropriately and escalate accordingly
- Assure best practice in regards to the management of health and safety
- To provide a forum for discussion of management of Clinical Governance and encourage sharing of best practice
Meetings are held every 6-8 weeks (with no less than 6 per calendar year), and last no longer than 1.5 hours. There will be a requirement to read related papers ahead of each meeting which will require approximately 1 hour per meeting.
We would ask that volunteers:
- Be a resident within the NHS Fife Board area.
- Have good verbal and listening skills.
- Due to the online nature of meetings at the present time, volunteers would require the skill and technology to access meetings.
- Are able to collaborate with professionals.
- Have a genuine and enthusiastic interest in the NHS and health and social care
- Are able to treat all information in a confidential manner.
- Are able to act in a non-judgmental way, with an empathetic and open approach.
If you would like to get involved, please note your interest to fife.participationandengagements@nhs.scot or telephone Theresa Rodigan on 01592 618254.
New opportunity
Public Partner Volunteer – Acute Hospital Dementia Group
Members of the public are sought to join this group who have had direct or indirect experience of the dementia and/or have an interest in this area and want to work as partners within this group. The purpose of the group is to ensure the delivery of the National Dementia Strategy and other key policy drivers.
The group meets quarterly at Victorica Hospital, Kirkcaldy, and meetings will last approximately one hour. We would ask that volunteers:
- Be a resident within the NHS Fife Board area.
- Have good verbal and listening skills.
- Are able to collaborate with professionals.
- Have a genuine and enthusiastic interest in the NHS and health and social care
- Are able to treat all information in a confidential manner.
- Are able to act in a non-judgmental way, with an empathetic and open approach.
If you would like to get involved, please note your interest to fife.participationandengagements@nhs.scot or telephone Theresa Rodigan on 01592 618254.
Public Partner Volunteer - Pain Medicines Patient Safety Programme Lived Experience Group
he Pain Medicines Patient Safety Programme is a three-year programme which aims to change the culture of pain management in Fife, working with patients, carers and staff to improve the understanding of short-term and long-term pain and reducing harm. The Programme has moved into Year 2 and we have created a Lived Experience Group to ensure that patient and carer voices are directly informing the work of the Programme.
The Programme are hoping to recruit additional members with a recent diagnosis of a chronic pain condition or who are caring for someone living with pain to the recently formed Lived Experience Group to ensure that these voices are also heard. The commitment would be a few hours a month, this can vary a little depending upon the work of the programme and would involve attendance at mixture of online and face to face meetings.
We would kindly ask that volunteers:
- be a resident within the NHS Fife Board area
- have lived experience of a chronic pain condition within the last 2 years (as patient, family member or carer)
- Due to the online nature of meetings at the present time, volunteers would require the skill and technology to access meetings via Microsoft TEAMS
- have good verbal and listening skills
If you are interested in finding out more, then please get in touch by emailing fife.hrpm@nhs.scot and we will arrange to contact you to answer any questions you may have and to discuss the process for becoming involved.
Public Partner Volunteer - Pharmacy Practices Committee
Members of the public are sought to join the Pharmacy Practices Committee. A Pharmacy Practices Committee considers applications for new Community Pharmacy Contracts. The Committee complies with the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations, and acts on behalf of NHS Fife Board. The Regulations determine the makeup of the Committee; 2 lay members are required for each hearing. Public representatives offer an additional perspective which will be valued.
The Committee convene when a new application is received and members would undertake a site visit prior to the meeting to familiarise themselves with the proposed pharmacy location.
We would ask that volunteers:
- Be a resident within the NHS Fife Board area.
- Due to the online nature of meetings at the present time, volunteers would require the skill and technology to access meetings via Microsoft TEAMS
- Good verbal and listening skills
- A genuine and enthusiastic interest in the NHS and health and social care is important.
If you would like to get involved, please note your interest to fife.participationandengagements@nhs.scot or telephone Theresa Rodigan on 01592 648154
Public Partner Volunteer – Cancer Governance & Strategy Group
Members of the public are sought to join this group who have had direct or indirect experience of the cancer care pathway and/or have an interest in this area and want to work as partners within this group. The group oversees and monitors the development and delivery of the NHS Fife Cancer Framework and oversees and monitors cancer access targets. Meetings will last approximately 2 hours and are held every 2 months
We would ask that volunteers:
- Participate in virtual meetings; actively participating in discussions and thorough preparation in advancing of meetings, reading and evaluating necessary paper work.
- Be a resident within the NHS Fife Board area.
- Due to the online nature of meetings at the present time, volunteers would require the skill and technology to access meetings via Microsoft TEAMS
- Are able to challenge ideas held by professionals
- Are able to engage in activities that are required to be undertaken
- Are able to collaborate with professionals
If you would like to get involved, please note your interest to fife.participationandengagements@nhs.scot or telephone Theresa Rodigan on 01592 648154 by Monday 31 July 2023
Public Partner Volunteer – Lung Cancer Services Group
Members of the public are sought to join this group who have been/are patients or persons who have been affected by lung cancer. The purpose of the group is to improve the lung cancer pathway; working alongside our outstanding clinical teams. We're looking for people who want to use their skills to make a meaningful and impactful contribution to the lives of those affected by lung cancer.
The group will meet every fortnight, virtually –a Wednesday at 3pm – 4pm
Meetings will last approximately one hour. Members are asked to commit to their role in the group up to the end of June 2024.
We would ask that volunteers:
- be a resident within the NHS Fife Board area
- have lived experience of a lung cancer diagnosis (as patient, family member or carer)
- Due to the online nature of meetings at the present time, volunteers would require the skill and technology to access meetings via Microsoft TEAMS
- have good verbal and listening skills
- have a genuine and enthusiastic interest in the NHS and health and social care
If you would like to get involved, please note your interest to fife.participationandengagements@nhs.scot or telephone Theresa Rodigan on 01592 618254.
Public Partner Volunteer – Prostate Cancer Services Group
Members of the public are sought to join this group who have been/are patients or persons who have been affected by prostate cancer. The purpose of the group is to improve the prostate cancer pathway; working alongside our outstanding clinical teams. We're looking for people who want to use their skills to make a meaningful and impactful contribution to the lives of those affected by prostate cancer.
The group will meet monthly, on the first Thursday of every month from 15:00 to 16:00
Meetings will last approximately one hour. Members are asked to commit to their role in the group up to the end of June 2024.
We would ask that volunteers:
- be a resident within the NHS Fife Board area
- have lived experience of a prostate cancer diagnosis (as patient, family member or carer)
- Due to the online nature of meetings at the present time, volunteers would require the skill and technology to access meetings via Microsoft TEAMS
- have good verbal and listening skills
- have a genuine and enthusiastic interest in the NHS and health and social care
If you would like to get involved, please note your interest to fife.participationandengagements@nhs.scot or telephone Theresa Rodigan on 01592 618254
How to get involved - Join our Directory!
The Directory is a virtual group of patients, carers, members of the public, and community groups who have an interest in knowing about and improving local health and care services in Fife. Being a member of the Directory for health and care means you can receive up to date information about the health and care services that matter to you. You will also hear about ways you can give your views or time in different ways to help us put people and communities at the heart of your local NHS and social care services. This could mean reviewing patient focused literature, taking part in a one off discussion group or being a member of a forum or committee.
To join or find out more contact us at fife.participationandengagements@nhs.scot
Fair Treatment Statement
No applicant will be unfairly discriminated against. We are particularly alert to eliminating discrimination on account of age, cultural/religious/political belief, disability, ethnicity, gender, race, relationship status, sexual orientation, and/or Trade Union membership or stewardship.
Your information
You are providing your personal details to NHS Fife as part of your role as a volunteer within the health board. The details you provide will be stored in an online secure database within the NHS network accessible to only the volunteering management team. Your personal details will not be shared with other organisations unless otherwise agreed. The information will be used to match volunteers with appropriate opportunities and to retain a record of volunteering activity for administration purposes. Anonymised reports will be created from the information and used to inform service developments at a local and national level. The information will be kept for six years from the point you cease volunteering.
You can request a copy of the information the board holds in relation to your volunteering status by making a ‘subject access request’ under the General Data Protection Regulations 2018.