Introduction
Thank you for your interest in becoming a Patient and Public Voice Partner with NHS England.
Working in partnership with people and communities helps to ensure services meet people’s needs, improving their experience and outcomes. Becoming a Patient and Public Voice Partner is one of the important ways that we can hear people’s voices.
Please read this application information pack before completing the application form for this role. It will help you decide if the role is right for you.
If you would like support with completing this application please contact Nina Dubra – england.nationalqsihr-recruitment@nhs.net.
The closing date for applications is Sunday 19 October 2025 at 11:59pm.
Please note that correspondence will be primarily via email, unless otherwise requested. If you do not have access to email and would like to be contacted via telephone or post, please state this on your application form.
This post attracts an involvement payment in line with the Working in partnership with people and communities policy
Please note: Involvement payments are classed as a form of income by HMRC and are subject to deductions including tax and National Insurance (depending on individuals’ circumstances).
Involvement Payments are made via payroll for tax purposes only, to ensure that NHS England makes payments in a tax compliant way in line with HMRC guidance. Patient and Public Voice Partner are not employees, workers or agents of NHS England.
Before accepting an offer of a role with an involvement payment you are advised to get independent advice. You may wish to contact the job centre or Citizens Advice.
NHS England is not able to provide benefits advice (or any other financial advice) to Patient and Public Voice Partner. However, we commission a helpline from Citizens Advice for people who are in receipt of benefits and currently involved, or considering being involved, as a Patient and Public Voice Partner. in NHS England work. Please contact england.peopleandcommunities@nhs.net to access this service.
You can choose to decline an involvement payment if you wish.
How to apply
Please complete the following:
If you do not wish to complete the online form, you can send these documents by email to england.nationalqsihr-recruitment@nhs.net.
We understand that filling in forms is not the most accessible way for some people to apply for roles. We do not want the application process to be a barrier to your involvement. If you would like to apply for the role in a different way, for example by telephone or by sending a voice recording or if you would like support to apply for this role, and/or information in another format please contact england.nationalqsihr-recruitment@nhs.net.
We will rely on the information you provide in the application form to assess whether you are a good fit for the role.
Diversity and equality of opportunity
NHS England values and promotes diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity for all. To help us understand if we are achieving this, we ask you to fill out an equal opportunity monitoring form as part of the application process.
NHS England is a Disability Confident employer. Disability Confident applies to all recruitment opportunities, including Patient and Public Voice Partner recruitment. Applicants who state that they have a disability and successfully evidence the essential criteria will be offered an interview. Please note: In certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, disabled candidates who best meet the essential criteria will be interviewed rather than all of those that meet the essential criteria.
Once we receive your application
The steps will be as follows:
- We will acknowledge receipt of your application form via email (unless otherwise specified). If you do not receive an acknowledgement within 2 days, please get in touch.
- Applications will be shortlisted by a panel, including members drawn from the following groups: Sustainability, Equality and Diversity, Nursing and Midwifery
- Applications will be assessed against the skills and experience required. Selection will be made on the basis of the content of the application form.
- There will be a selection process involving shortlisting applications followed by an interview process.
- Please note that two references will be taken up for successful applicants before the role is confirmed (reference to personal/character references not professional)
- All applications will receive a successful or unsuccessful notification. The successful notifications will include information about next steps.
If you wish to be informed about future involvement opportunities, please sign up to the #StartWithPeople Network
If you have any queries about the application process or would like an informal discussion about the opportunity – please contact england.nationalqsihr-recruitment@nhs.net
Role specific information
Background, context and aims of the programme
The PPV Partner will bring important views, perspective and challenge into the Sustainability and Innovation team. This role is essential in championing a service user, patient and/or carer/family viewpoint, ensuring that their needs are met through the outcomes of the programme. The PPV Partner will be to work alongside the team to ensure that patient and public perspectives are embedded in the design, delivery, and evaluation of sustainable nursing and midwifery care.
This role supports the team’s mission to deliver high-quality, evidence-based, lower carbon health and social care that is person-centred, equitable, and innovative.
What is the role of patient and public voice partner on the group?
Patient and Public Voice Partners bring important views, perspective and challenge into the Sustainability and Innovation team. This role is essential in championing a service user, patient and/or carer/family viewpoint, ensuring that their needs are met through the outcomes of the programme.
The role of the patient and public voice partner is to:
- advise and co-design: Contribute to the development of sustainable nursing and midwifery strategies, quality improvement initiatives, and transformation projects
- champion patient voice: Ensure that the lived experiences and diverse perspectives of patients, families, and communities are reflected in decision-making
- support sustainability goals: Help shape approaches that align with the NHS’s net zero ambitions and the integration of global sustainable development goals
- collaborate with stakeholders: Participate in meetings, workshops, and working groups with clinicians, leaders, and other partners
- enable delivery of the Chief Nursing Officer sustainability team programmes including informing work around products and their use in care pathways, infection prevention and control and sustainability collaborative work and development of educational resources for senior nursing and midwifery leaders
- make sure that the group considers service user, patient, carer and family perspectives
- where appropriate, represent different views within a community and not just represent their own voice
- challenge ideas within the group
- review and comment on documentation
- make sure the public know about the programme’s outcomes and achievements
All Patient and Public Voice Partners will need to comply with the Standards of Business Conduct Policy and respect the confidential nature of some discussions. The team will make it clear when a topic is confidential.
Skills and experience desirable for this role
- understand the need for confidentiality
- passionate about healthcare
- an interest and previous experience in issues related to one or all of the following:
- climate change
- the environment
- sustainability and,
- NHS net zero ambitions
- able to communicate with lots of different people
- able to speak about their views, and where appropriate represent the views of others
- have an awareness and commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion
Time commitment
- involvement with the Sustainability and Innovation team is for a period to 31 March 2026.
- you will be required to attend sessions as agreed but no more than 4 sessions in total for the period to 31 March 2026. Meetings will usually take place online via Teams
- meetings will normally last for either half day sessions of 4 hours or full day sessions of 8 hours
Support for patient and public voice partners
From your team:
- you will receive an induction from the programme team that is leading this work – Emma Blakey. All meeting documents, and if necessary, pre-meeting briefings will be provided
From NHS England:
- NHS England is not able to provide benefits advice (or any other financial advice) to Patient and Public Voice Partners. However, free confidential advice is available for people who are in receipt of benefits and are involved, or considering involvement, with NHS England. Please contact peopleandcommunities@nhs.net to make use of this service.
- we have a digital support offer for Patient and Public Voice Partners who may need a laptop, internet data, or other IT equipment to do their role. If you will require this support, please contact debra.wood4@nhs.net for more details
- there are a range of learning and development opportunities available to Patient and Public Voice Partners
- we have an online Patient and public voice partner network and regular drop-in sessions for partners to support one and other, access free training resources and ask questions
- NHS England has an Employee Assistance programme which is available to anyone who works with or supports NHS England, including contractors and Patient and Public Voice Partners