Toto Gronlund, Interim Head of Patient and Public Partnerships, along with David Rabjohns and Fiona McDonald, National Patient Leads are working together with patient groups, royal colleges and societies, in helping NHS Connecting for Health (NHS CFH) ensure that:

• New products and services meet public requirements;
• Development and implementation are informed by user views and what is acceptable to patients and the public;
• Implementation is monitored, evaluated and where necessary revised to meet patient/public requirements.

Toto Gronlund

Toto Gronlund is responsible for patient and public involvement in informatics. Toto began her role within the Clinical Division after previously working in benefits management at NHS CFH with local health communities.

Toto comments:"I believe patient and public involvement and informatics are a win-win scenario for health and social care,

"Patient and public involvement is essential to improving the provision and use of information, and to ensure transparency of our services in the eyes of the patients, public and staff".

Toto brings over 25 years of experience in a variety of roles in health, social care and the voluntary sector.  Toto was also non-executive director for a third sector organisation in the substance misuse rehabilitation sector and a hospital medical physicist and researcher. Additionally, Toto was a mentor for the participative evaluation in a project on social inclusion in mental health and completed a diploma in International Primary Care Research at UCL, specialising in the use of the narrative in research, health care and education.

David Rabjohns

David's background is in NHS general management but since a cancer diagnosis and treatment he has developed a portfolio career in voluntary and paid work centred on patient and public engagement.

This has included roles as a Community Health Council Vice Chair, Non-Executive Director of an NHS trust, Research Ethics Committee lay member, consumer member of a range of committees and working groups, healthcare audit and inspection and developing local mental health service user involvement.

David is drawing on his experiences, values and networks to help NHS CFH enhance how it understands the needs of people and translates this into services and product that make a difference to people and the NHS.

Fiona McDonald

Before joining NHS CFH, Fiona's background was in the NHS and commercial business. In the NHS she had a varied career in paediatric nursing, health visiting and healthcare management with a primary care and clinical governance focus.

A break in clinical work to look after her three children meant new opportunities, setting up two internet-based holiday companies which enabled her to work from home and progress her interest in IT.

As a type 1 diabetic for 38 years, she has encountered both sides of the patient experience and has long been a patient advocate for improvement to services.

Fiona says: "Several years ago when I was pregnant with my first child, I was taken into A&E hypoglycaemic. My diabetic status and my early pregnancy were overlooked and I was misdiagnosed as a head injury.

"My current role with NHS CFH interests me enormously as I feel informatics is essential to improving patient care, and the ability to access information in situations such as mine can only lead to better, safer, patient care.

"I have a particular interest in patient and public involvement, especially patients and users with long term conditions, who represent high volume users of the NHS.

"We must use patient's views to inform decisions and shape future services within the whole of the NHS, to ensure it remains a truly patient focused service."

The patient and public reference group (PPRG)

The Patient and Public Assurance team in DHID has recently recruited six people with experience as users of NHS services or as carers.  They also have experience or an interest in health informatics and of how technology can be used to improve services and bring benefits to patients.  This, combined with their insight and the Patient Voice they want to share, gives us a valuable resource to inform the work of DHID at this time of transition.

Find about more about the PPRG and what they are working on.

Do you have a question for Toto, David or Fiona?

If you want to find out more about the patient and public work programme or if any questions for Toto, David or Fiona please email ncl@nhs.net.