Involvement

Getting involved with NHFT

If you know of a patient, service user, carer or parent that would like to be involved in helping to improve services, please contact the Involvement Team.

What is Involvement?

Involvement is about people using their life skills, knowledge, own lived experience and time to influence how services are planned, delivered, developed and evaluated. Involvement and Co-production is achieved through working together and is at the heart of all we do. This ensures we have a diverse, inclusive and innovative organisation which strengthens links and enables us to shape our services to meet the needs of our local community.

Contact us

Contact us

For more information about being involved or to register, contact the Involvement Team on 03000 273 873 or email: involvement@nhft.nhs.uk

What involvement means to me?

What involvement means to me?

We asked some of our service users and carers what involvement meant to them.

This is what they had to say:

  • Hope that future mental health services will listen and act on service user, and carer views and experiences to improve services.
  • Being able to share my expertise and experience.
  • Activity beyond my home. Constant learning opportunities. Feeling of self-worth and esteem.
  • Involvement gives me a purpose and offers me value. It feels great to help others too and improve services gradually.
  • Involvement is getting your voice heard (and acted upon).
  • Having a voice and being equal to health professionals.
  • An opportunity to share my knowledge of mental health services.
  • A chance to experience NHFT services
  • Involvement for me is a chance to assist in the recovery of people with mental health/addiction problems
  • Communication with others. Using knowledge to help improve services. Learning. Confidence building
  • Taking part in something worthwhile to myself and others from start to finish, where I can feel like I have achieved.

Involvement opportunities

Involvement opportunities

Opportunities at NHFT include:

  • Patient and involvement stories – this can be an important part of understanding what has happened to a patient and can be a part of a patient’s recovery
  • Membership of working groups – this is related to the quality, service development and improvement that have been set up for a patient, service user and carer to involve themselves in the overall debate
  • Staff recruitment and selection – involves interviewing new staff candidates, recruitment training will be provided
  • PLACE inspections – visiting Trust sites to assess the quality of the care environment
  • Staff training – various types of training for staff where patients, service users and carers can relate their own experiences
  • Quality focus groups – participation in small groups to voice your thoughts about the quality of services
  • Becoming a member of NHFT - stay up to date with local NHS care 
  • Bespoke project groups - from time to time there are several short-term groups set up to address a particular issue
  • Volunteering with NHFT.