Researchers from the South West NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (PenCLAHRC) at Plymouth University are inviting members of Clinical Commissioning Groups to share their views on how patient-reported measures are currently being nationally implemented by taking part in a survey, which is available here
The team hopes to get a sense of what guidance would be most beneficial in terms of how to implement such measures and use findings to drive forward improvements in person-centred care. This information will help inform their Commissioners Guide on Person-Centred Metrics, which is work commissioned by NHS England.
For further information contact: Hannah Wheat, Research Assistant, hannah.wheat@plymouth.ac.uk 07944 080003 or go to the website here

NHS England are seeking to recruit a Patient and Public Voice (PPV) partner to sit on the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG). CPAG is a non-executive and independently-chaired advisory committee, established to make recommendations to NHS England about which new treatments, services and technologies should be prioritised for inclusion in prescribed specialised services routine commissioning and could be funded by potential discretionary spend within the annual Specialised Commissioning budget allocation.
PPV reps will play an advisory role and constructively challenge to help CPAG to make decisions that reflect the interests of the population. The PPV partner would be expected to operate at a Non-Executive Director skill level.
The closing date for applications is 3 August 2016 and interviews will be held on 11 August.
NHS England are looking for people with previous experience of giving a public, patient or carer perspective on health services and a strong commitment to maintaining a patient focus in the commissioning of health services. The expected time commitment is around 30 days per year, and the initial contract is for one year.
Travel expenses and other appropriate out-of-pocket expenses are payable, in addition to an honorarium of £75 per half day or £150 per full day for those people not representing or supported by an organisation.
Visit their website for further information and the application form.

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Background
The Nuffield Trust is an independent health charity. They aim to improve the quality of health care in the UK by providing evidence-based research and policy analysis and informing and generating debate.
The project
This is an exciting 30 month study that will seek to investigate models of medical generalism in smaller hospitals in England.
We know that people with multiple health problems, particularly those over age 65, are the heaviest users of hospital services. There are growing concerns that the care they receive from hospital doctors is not optimal for their needs. One reason for this is the trend for doctors to become more specialised, often focusing on the treatment of particular diseases. A specialist doctor is perhaps less well equipped to deal with this type of patient. As a consequence, there has been a call for a growth in the number of doctors who have a broader range of skills – medical generalists.
However, we do not have a clear idea of the number of patients who need this type of generalist care and we do not know how many medical generalist doctors are needed. Ways in which care is managed by generalist and specialist doctors in hospitals also vary, and we do not know whether some ways of working are better than others.
The research team aims to answer these questions by looking at the different models of medical care used in smaller hospitals.
The role
The Nuffield Trust is looking for motivated individuals with a patient and public perspective to work alongside our research team.
In this interesting role you will be accompanying the study’s research team in visits to a sample of hospitals across England and actively contributing to the research.
For further details please refer to the full role description. To apply for this role please submit a short CV (or a summary of your experience) and completed application formvia email to recruitment@nuffieldtrust.org.uk or by post to: Recruitment, Nuffield Trust, 59 New Cavendish Street, London, W1G 7LP. When sending your application, please make sure to include the job reference (nihr/16) in the subject.
Applications close on Friday 29th July 2016 at 12.00.

June’s Healthwatch Network newsletter highlights:

• a consultation around community pharmacy as well as 10 other national consultations.
• Care Quality Commission are asking more people to tell them about their views and experiences of care.
• My NHS website that uses comparative data to give people information about health and social care services which is simple and easy to understand.

Click here to read more about these and much more.