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Patient Liaison Group work and achievements
October 2007
The work of the PLG includes projects, involvement in committees and other meetings, and responding to consultations.
Projects
The PLG is increasingly leading on work, and jointly involved with other committees, on various projects. In June 2007 a joint PLG and Equal Opportunities Committee (EOC) document Disability equality within healthcare: the role of healthcare professionals was published. A further joint web resource with the EOC, Diversity in healthcare, will be shortly available.
The PLG is leading work on two joint projects with the BMA’s GP committee. The first follows the PLG’s successful conference last November on the Expert Patient Programme and is a policy statement on improved self care for people with long-term conditions through self management training. There will also be an accompanying web resource for GPs. The second project is a resource for doctors on patient participation groups.
The Who’s who project produced a web based Glossary of healthcare professionals which can be accessed by patients to inform them of the role, qualifications and experience of over 100 different types health professional.
Attendance at other meetings
PLG members sit as members or observers on a number of important BMA committees including the consultants committee, GP committee, junior doctors committee and the staff and associate specialist committee. It also has members on the BMA’s NHS IT and GMC working groups. The PLG Chair sits on Council, the Board of Professional Activities, and is an observer on the Board of Representational and Political Activities. PLG members also attend many external meetings in order to build links and knowledge. In all PLG members were involved in over 70 meetings during the 2006-07 session.
Consultations
The PLG responded to over 30 consultations during the 2006-07 session, and is able to comment on, and give its experience from, the patient and public perspective. Because of this, the BMA has been able to respond to consultations which it would not normally have considered but which are equally important to healthcare. One of these was the Health Select Committee inquiry into patient and public involvement for which the PLG led on the submission of evidence.