1. VOICES Scotland – developing effective public involvement
Dave Bertin – Voices Scotland Lead

2. Who are Voices Scotland...?
Nearly ten years experience of training and supporting people living with chest, heart and stroke conditions to be active public/patient reps
Mainly within NHS settings until last 2 years
Voices training package/model gives skills, confidence and knowledge
Training/model shared

3. So what actually is “effective” public involvement?
A ongoing process of dialogue, debate, and sharing within a respectful, mutual and equal relationship
Based on:
Honesty
Inclusiveness
Effort and creativity

4. Our experience is that involvement works when......
People feel confident to say what they need
People know their options
They understand the system and their rights
They know the right questions
Staff feel confident to ask and listen
Staff are given the flexibility/permission to respond
“Softer” issues are valued - not just the technical fixes matter

5. VOICES - having your say.......
You need knowledge of:
What actually is involvement?
The Health and Social Care Structure
How to work effectively with professionals
The benefits and barriers
Levels of involvement
How to gather and focus in on issues
Communicate and influence effectively
How to make a Case for Change

6. Voices Scotland Model and training seen as way of “capacity building”
Experience of sharing/training others in our package – very varied groups
Cancer, BBV, community action groups...
Our Voice has funded training of 8 SHC and 2 ALLIANCE staff - happening just now
National network of “Voices Scotland” trainers developed??

7. Thank you
Close at 16.00
Gather in “Cases for Self Management” and type them up to feedback the completed versions to the participants after the course.
Gather in the evaluation forms and collate these for future reference.
These can also be fed back to the participants if desired.