We are listening – to our Public Reference Forum

Hello Everyone,

My name is Noreen,

I’d like to share some of the work we are undertaking in NHS Lanarkshire through our Public Reference Forum.

The Public Reference Forum provides an opportunity for open discussion of subjects of public interest in relation to health and social care within NHS Lanarkshire by:

• Promoting collaboration between NHS Lanarkshire and service users to the benefit of both
• Obtaining the views of our service users with a view to improving our services both in terms of clinical quality and usability
• Facilitating greater understanding of NHS priorities and drivers and working in partnership to meet both service requirements and those of patients, families and carers.

The core membership is two public partnership representatives (16), to one NHS Lanarkshire representative (8).

The Forum members meet quarterly during which time information is exchanged about key issues. The subsequent discussion generates ideas and suggestions from our public partners which help us shape future thinking and direction.

The inaugural meeting in August considered how NHS Lanarkshire dealt with complaints. On our behalf, the Scottish Health Council conducted a survey of people who had used the complaints process. You told us we could:

• Improve our written correspondence
• Make our website easier to use
• Review our response times

The Forum also suggested additional signage in hospitals and Health Centres to encourage patients and carers to seek early resolution before entering the complaints process.

Website - we have updated the NHS Lanarkshire website as a result of your feedback. We have included a rolling “we are listening” banner in a prominent position which reduces the amount of clicks to get to the information you need. We have also increased the font size, revised the running order of information and included links to the NHS inform website which has information available in British Sign Language and other formats.

Public Reference Forum member John Hughes (right) helped us review our website.

John is also a member of the West of Scotland MacMillan Group and an active volunteer at the Tact Community Hall in Blantyre.

Letters – we have updated our acknowledgement letters and are currently developing posters for use in hospitals and health centres.

We will continue to update you on improvements driven by the Public Reference Forum on the Patient Opinion website.

If you have an experience of NHS Lanarkshire Services you would like to share, please speak to a member of staff, respond on Patient Opinion, or visit the “Your Feedback” Section of the NHS Lanarkshire website to see the other ways to get in touch www.nhslanarkshire.org.uk.

Kind Regards

Noreen