Call for residents with Long Term Conditions lived experience in Lewisham

***Please note this call has now closed***

Do you have lived experience or care for someone with cardiovascular or respiratory disease? Are you passionate and enthusiastic about the future of your NHS and health and care and want to help us shape the future of services?

Thanks to all Lewisham residents who showed interest in this opportunity (November 2024).

We recruited four local people with experience of using cardiovascular or respiratory services within Lewisham to join the Cardiovascular and Respiratory Operational Groups or carers of people using these services. As a member with lived experience these four residents attend now meetings and speak from the perspective of having lived with cardiovascular (CVD) or respiratory disease and used local health services, or cared for someone who has, acting as a critical friend. Their experience informs discussions and support improvement outcomes, help design further engagement and ensure wider views of local people are considered in the work of the operational group.

Benefits of being a member include developing a range of skills and experience and access to development and support. They received support to participate through training, induction meetings and one to one support.

More information about Operational Groups in Lewisham

To develop and transform cardiovascular and respiratory services in Lewisham we set up Long Term Condition Operational Groups, which help shape and improve local health care services. Our Operational Groups are made up of staff, including clinicians, from across the NHS, local authority and public health. Being part of this group give patients with live experience an opportunity to contribute to discussions about local health services and share what is important to them, based on their own experiences.

The main focus of the work is to lead transformations and improvements in CVD and respiratory services in Lewisham.

What does the patient role involve?

The role involves attending meetings to bring in the voice and experience of patients/carers to discussions, acting as an independent critical friend. Meetings are held every two months and usually take place by MS Teams during the week. Pre-reading documents for the meetings are sent in advance.

Finding patients for our Cardiovascular and Respiratory Operational Groups complemented our already active Diabetes Operational Groups. Many thanks to our patients with lived experience for their continuous support.