Working with Our Patients and Local Communities

RM Partners involves and engages local communities and patients in a variety of ways.

Community Partners

Community Partners are individuals embedded within our governance structure, playing a crucial role in shaping RM Partners’ strategies and policies. Recruited from our local communities, they bring their lived experiences and insights to the table, ensuring that the voices of patients and the public are heard at the highest levels.

Community Partners participate in our bi-monthly board meetings, where they provide input and direction on our organisational strategies and initiatives. They are compensated for their time, reflecting the value we place on their contributions.

People and Communities Strategic Forum

The Strategic Forum is a network of community and voluntary organisations that acts as an engagement mechanism and a conduit to local communities. This forum plays a critical role in advising RM Partners on our involvement and engagement plans and activities.

Key functions of the Strategic Forum include:

• Engagement and conduit role: Acting as a bridge between RM Partners and the wider community, ensuring that our engagement efforts are effective and inclusive.
• Advisory capacity: Providing advice on best practices for involvement and ensuring that our activities are inclusive of those who are underrepresented, experience health inequalities, and/or have protected characteristics.
• Review and assurance: Reviewing engagement reports before they are finalised and providing assurance that RM Partners has met its statutory duty to involve local people and communities.

The Strategic Forum ensures that our engagement strategies are not only comprehensive but also aligned with the needs and perspectives of the communities we serve.

Working with Voluntary Sector and Community Leaders

We work closely with our voluntary sector, who contribute their insights and experiences to particular initiatives or focus areas within RM Partners. Their involvement is project-specific, allowing us to gather diverse viewpoints on targeted issues.

Community Engagement

Community engagement is a crucial aspect of our public and community involvement strategy, allowing us to directly interact with local communities through targeted initiatives. This could be via events, focus groups, one-to-one conversations, or through the dissemination of surveys.

Find out more about the resources available to support engagement events.

Grant Funds

We provide small grants to local community and voluntary groups to run activities directly targeting the communities they serve.

Find out more about our recent Cancer Awareness Grant Fund here.

How To Get Involved

To register your interest in RM Partners patient and community involvement and engagement work, please send your name, email address, the borough where you live and how you might like to get involved to:rmpartners.pcie@nhs.net