Working with our patients and carers.
Patient and Carer User Groups
We believe that involving patients and carers helps us think about things from your point of view and can help us improve the services we provide.
We have patient/carer partnership groups embedded in our services, where staff and patients work together to improve the hospital experience for everyone and meet the needs of the local community.
User groups involve:
- patients
- carers and families
- representatives from voluntary and community groups
- members of staff
They meet regularly throughout the year and focus on supporting improvements in patient services.
These are our User groups – is there one that interests you?
Maternity Voices
We are a group of local parents, doula and birth worker volunteers representing the voices of birthing women and people, their partners and families to improve and develop maternity and neonatal services at the Rosie Hospital.
ACTIVE – for children and young people
Want to make a difference for kids at Addenbrooke’s? Got any bright ideas? Aged 8-18 years?
If yes, why not join ACTIVE?
Who are we? We are children and young people just like you. Active is a ‘good opportunity to meet new people, good to see how your ideas develop and get considered and make a difference for patients at CUH’ ;
‘Some of us are or have been patients, some of us are thinking about working in a medical career, some of us are just interested and want to make a difference. The key idea for ACTIVE is that no one knows what a child wants or needs better than a child.’ Voices of Active leaders.
Cancer Patient Participation Group
The Addenbrooke's Cancer Patient Partnership Group (CPPG) is a group of patients and carers who work with hospital staff to improve cancer services by sharing the patients’ views and raising concerns on their behalf.
Outpatient Patient Experience Group
Inflammatory Bowel Disease patient panel
The Addenbrooke's Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Patient Panel gives patients a voice. The panel also serves to provide feedback to the IBD staff team at Addenbrooke's in order to find ways to develop a better patient-experience in the hospital. The whole panel’s objective is to improve provision for all patients with Crohn’s and colitis who are looked-after at Addenbrooke's. The panel usually meets four times a year. Meetings are currently held either at the hospital in the boardroom or via Zoom. The lead IBD consultant, senior IBD nurse and the IBD psychologist all attend panel meetings, but the panel is very much patient-led.
It is very important that the panel represents the diversity of the whole IBD patient population at Addenbrooke’s and it is particularly important to have representation from carers, visible and invisible minorities. You don’t have to have had any experience of being a part of a panel nor do you have to have any special skills to participate in the panel. If you have cared for someone with inflammatory bowel disease, or if you are treated for Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis at Addenbrooke’s, this qualifies you to join the panel. Please email addenbrookes.ibd.patientpanel@gmail.com for more information.
Patient and Carer Focus Groups
From time to time we also run service specific focus groups for one off topics, where groups of patients, carers and staff come together to talk about what went well and what didn’t go well and how things can be improved.
You may get an invitation to one of these events as we often invite a random selection of patients so that we get a diverse range of feedback and improve our understanding of the patient experience.
If you would be interested in participating in a focus group we also hold a list of patients who have expressed interest in this kind of involvement, so that we can contact and invite them when we are organising an event. If you would like to be added to the list and consent to us holding your details securely on file, please contact us using the details below.
If you are interested in finding out more about getting involved, or would like to help set up a new patient partnership group, please email patientexperience@addenbrookes.nhs.uk or phone the Patient Engagement and Surveys Team on 01223 274874.
Contact details
The Patient Engagement and Surveys Team can be contacted between the hours of 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Email us
Telephone: 01223 274874
In writing:
Patient Engagement & Surveys
Box 150
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Addenbrooke's Hospital
Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Hills Road
Cambridge
CB2 0QQ