Patient and Carer Panel (PCP) member, FFFAP

Patient and Carer Panel Member, Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme (FFFAP) 

We offer flexibility to support volunteers to participate at a time and in a way that suits availability, interests, skills, experience and lifestyle. 

Please note, this role is suitable for remote working and is therefore not limited to applicants from Liverpool and London only. The postholder will be expected to attend one in-person event per year.

The Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme (FFFAP) is a national clinical audit run by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership on behalf of NHS England and the Welsh Government. Our work aims to improve the care that patients with fragility fractures receive in hospital and after discharge and to reduce inpatient falls. At present, 300,000 fragility fractures occur each year in the UK including 70,000 hip fractures. 2,006 of these are suffered by hospital inpatients.

You can find out more about our work on the FFFAP website .

About the Patient and Carer Panel

The Panel is a group of volunteers who support the work of the Programme by providing the views of patients and carers and make sure that the Programme continues to put patients and carers at the heart of the programme. The Panel have also supported the work of the Programme by co-producing several resources for patients, carers and the public, in partnership with RCP staff and the Programme’s multi-disciplinary group of clinicians. Panel members also review and edit our reports to make sure that they are accessible to as wide an audience as possible.

Panel members also take part in Programme webinars and presentations, for which full support and training is available.

'I wanted to be involved in the panel, as it’s a good opportunity to help to develop and improve services from a patient and carer perspective at a national level. It’s a very worthwhile and interesting experience working.’ – FFFAP patient and carer panel member

Responsibilities

• Represent the patient and carer voice based on your own experience or interest, such as hip fracture care in hospital, preventing further fractures due to osteoporosis, or preventing inpatient falls. 
• Identify and highlight aspects of fragility fracture care and falls prevention that need to be improved.
• Help to improve standards of care for fragility fracture patients.
• Develop resources tailored to the needs of patients and carers and the public.
• Provide regular feedback on the work of the Programme.
• Act as an ambassador for the work of the Programme externally where agreed.

Experience

• you have first-hand experience of fragility fracture as a patient or carer 
• you’re interested and enthusiastic about the NHS and improving standards of healthcare
• You’re able to take a balanced, broad view of healthcare issues
• you’re able to work in a diverse group of patients, carers and professionals
• you’re comfortable using a computer for communicating via email and video conferences.

For more information about the role, please see the role description . 

About the RCP

The Royal College of Physicians is a rewarding and friendly place to work with an incredible history, dating back to our foundation in 1518. We are a professional membership body for physicians – doctors who work in hospitals – with over 40,000 members in the UK and around the world working to improve patient care and reduce illness. Our activities focus on educating, improving and influencing for better health and care

Working to be inclusive

We are working hard to make the FFFAP Patient and Carer Panel as inclusive and balanced as possible. We recognise that we have room to improve and would like your help to enable us to bring a wide range of voices. We particularly encourage applications from men, disabled and Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic candidates, with experience of living in rural or coastal regions, as we seek to increase representation of these groups in our panel.

With that in mind, please can we ask that you tell share this opportunity with someone who may not know about the FFFAP Patient and Carer Panel, but you believe could bring a valuable perspective.

How to apply

To apply, please complete the FFFAP Patient and Carer Panel Application Form 2024  and submit a copy with your up-to-date CV.  

Please note, applicants should submit their completed application form in the ‘cover letter’ upload section on the application portal.

Closing date: Wednesday 20 March 2024

Expected interview dates from: Monday 25 March 2024 until Thursday 28 March 2024

For more information, assistance in completing your application, or if you are unavailable on the interview dates stated above, please contact: [email protected]

The RCP positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, transgender status, religion or belief, marital status or pregnancy and maternity.

The RCP is all about our people – our members, staff, volunteers and leaders. We educate, influence and collaborate to improve health and healthcare for everyone and know we can only do this by being inclusive, encouraging and celebrating diverse perspectives. Welcoming into our community people who represent the 21st-century medical workforce and the diverse population of patients we serve is a priority for us.