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This is just a quick blog to shout out the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, who invited Peterborough’s Poverty Truth Commission to their patient participation workshop at the Bull Hotel, Peterborough, a few weeks ago.

If you’ve been reading this blog, you know that the most important things for a PTC are connections and relationships, and we’re always happy when we talk to individuals and organisations that recognise the value of lived experience. Opportunities to work with them are even better.

It was good to get a reminder that we do not struggle alone, and that good things are happening everywhere. We were given a few talks on how NWAFT had responded to patient feedback recently, and I was impressed particularly by their mobile translation stations, kind of an iPad on wheels, that allowed for 24/7 interpreter support in pretty much any language.

We also learned about the Sleep Soundly in Hospital initiative, which has turned 10pm to 7am into protected sleep time at Peterborough and Hinchingbrooke hospitals, during which lights will be dimmed, devices turned to silent or quiet mode, and staff and patients are encouraged to speak softly. They also have sleep well packs available with some printed advice on getting a good night’s sleep, as well as a sleep mask and pair of ear plugs. This was all a direct response to patient feedback about how difficult it can be to sleep on a hospital ward!

We broke for lunch, and then the afternoon was a chance for us to talk a bit about our own lived experiences, particularly as hospital inpatient, and how these experiences could be improved for ourselves and other people in the future.

For me, I think one of the most interesting things was getting to talk to people who work in the NHS about their own experiences of that work, because it’s such a different perspective from my own. One of the most valuable things about Poverty Truth is not just that it opens a space for people to talk about their own experiences of poverty, but that it also invites professionals to talk frankly and in a safe space about the friction that happens when you want to change the world but you have to do the work of changing the world within a system you didn’t design.

I got to experience some of this at the workshop, and I’m thankful for it.

Our empowerers had this to say:

Sadie

It was great to hear what the NHS had to say about the work they do and how they try and help people. I am glad I went, as I get such good support from the NHS, my doctor, and my support team, and want to help support them back.