By participating you can have your say, either as an individual or as a representative of a group of people. The way in which you participate is up to you! The Involvement hub can give you support and information to help you to get involved in ways that work for you.

There are a variety of ways to participate including taking part in surveys or attending events, making decisions about your own care or being a patient or lay representative on a committee. All require different levels of knowledge and skills but all are very valuable. You may also be involved with a voluntary group or charity that works with patients and carers and be able to participate in shaping the NHS with others.

Participation matters to patients and carers because it can lead to significant improvements for them, such as:

• Understanding their condition better.
• Being more involved in decisions about their care and treatment.
• Better access to healthcare.
• Health benefits and improvements to their quality of life.
• Improving services for themselves, their families and communities.

Examples of how patient and public participation has brought about improvements in services, for patients and staff, can be found in our participation in practice section.