The Patient Involvement Unit (PIU) of the College was created in September 2003 and reflects the College’s commitment to making the involvement of patients, carers and the public a priority. The main aim of the PIU is to encourage and promote patient, carer and public involvement in College activities.
The Unit has a full time Patient Involvement Manager, Nicole Barlow, and Prof David Scott, Medical Director for Patient Involvement provides the medical input into the Unit.
In January 2007, the College invested in a full-time PIU administrator, Nikki Kyle. Nikki’s responsibilities include co-ordinating the Network’s contributions to consultation documents and arranging Patient and Carer Network workshops.
Our goal is to identify areas of work where patients and doctors may build and strengthen co-operative relationships which are mutually beneficial. This will help to ensure that plans and decisions made within the College have been considered and influenced by patients, carers and the public prior to implementation. The Royal College of Physicians believes that if patients, carers and the medical profession work in collaboration they can provide a powerful joint voice to bring concerns to the Government’s attention.
The Patient Involvement Unit works to make sure a patient voice is heard in every area of the College’s work and to ensure that patient involvement becomes part of our everyday practice. It does this through the Patient and Carer Involvement Steering Group and the Patient and Carer Network.
RCP public open day
The Unit also organises the RCP annual public open day for members of the public to find out more about what physicians do, how they are trained and the role of the College.
Futher information on the PIU
PIU operational plan (Word doc, 126kb opens in new window)
Patient involvement strategy (Word doc, 185kb opens in new window)