Lived Experience Partner

Employer information

Guy's and St Thomas' is among the UK's busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.

Guy's is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas' has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children's Hospital.

Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions.

Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.

In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.

We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King's Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King's College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.

Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of 'good'. Our adult community services achieved a rating of 'outstanding'.

The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.

We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.

Job overview

The Health Innovation Network (HIN) South London supports the spread and adoption of innovation in health and social care, and we are looking to recruit two Lived Experience Partners to join our Involvement team.

The post holders will support meaningful patient and public involvement and provide expertise how to involve people with lived experience. They will not be expected to share their own lived experience unless they choose to do so. The post-holders will work with a wide range of people including healthcare professionals and other people with lived experience.

We are looking for two people with excellent interpersonal skills, a track record of using their own lived experience of healthcare to develop and improve services, and strong connections to the South London community.

The award-winning HIN is a vibrant and exciting place to work. We are hosted by Guy's and St Thomas's NHS Foundation Trust, so staff enjoy the benefits of being part of the NHS. Our office is near Tower Bridge, and we offer great health and wellbeing support including book clubs, lunchtime walks, and social events. Our HIN Academy provides fantastic training to upskill staff. We also offer regular opportunities for staff to work from home.

To find out more about our Involvement work, including our Involvement Strategy, click here: HIN Involvement Strategy 2026-2030 - Health Innovation Network

Working Pattern - Hybrid

Proposed Interview Dates - Monday 30th November (in person where possible)

Main duties of the job

We are looking for someone who

• Has demonstrable lived experience of healthcare improvement with evidence of affecting change within a health and/ or care setting.
• Is well connected to the local community particularly with those who have experience of using health and care services in south London.
• Can work flexibly and prioritise in response to changing demands and requirements.
• Has excellent interpersonal skills and is comfortable working with a wide range of people at different levels of seniority and from different organisations.
• Has strong organisational skills, reliability and the ability to work to deadlines and communicate effectively.
• Is IT literate, including competency in Microsoft Office programmes and willing to learn new IT systems.

Working for our organisation

What is the Health Innovation Network South London?

There are 15 health innovation networks across England, established in 2013 to spread innovation at pace and scale - improving health and generating economic growth.

Health Innovation Network (HIN) South London brings together researchers, NHS organisations, local authorities, patients, community groups and industry partners to help spread effective innovations and improve health and care. We help organisations work together to make positive changes in health and social care. We work across a huge range of health and care services through each of our clinical and innovation themes, to transform care in diabetes, cardiometabolic disease, mental health, community settings and social care, to accelerate digital health uptake into the NHS, and we're passionate about education.

Our Values

Brave - We encourage our teams and others to be brace with their ideas and support them to try new things.

Kind - We care about each other, the people we work with and about the health and wellbeing of south Londoners.

Open - We're open about what we do, and we share what we learn.

Different - We think differently, and we are strong because of our diverse background, talents, and experiences.

Together - We build communities and networks, we collaborate, and we connect.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Educated to degree level or equivalent knowledge, skills and experience.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Demonstrable lived experience of healthcare improvement with evidence of affecting change within a health/care setting
• Well connected to the local community particularly with those who have experience of using health and care services in south London

Skills

Essential criteria

• Work flexibly and prioritise in response to changing demands and requirements
• Have excellent interpersonal skills and be comfortable working with a wide range of people at different levels of seniority and from different organisations
• Strong organisational skills, reliability and the ability to prioritise, meet deadlines and delegate effectively
• IT literate, including competency in MS Office programmes

Additional employer information

Guy's and St Thomas' celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study's at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership.

Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy.

As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.

Flexible working

We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking in to account the individual's personal circumstances as well the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process.

Due to recent changes in the UK immigration rules which affect Skilled Worker Visas, Global Business Mobility, Higher Skill Level and Increased Salary Thresholds, please ensure that you are able to meet the requirements to live and work in the UK before applying. Further information about eligibility is available on the UK Government website.

Your e-mail address is important to us - We communicate to all job applicants via the e-mail address which has been provided on the application form. Please ensure that you check your e-mail on a regular basis.

Please apply for this post by clicking "Apply Online Now."

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have regular contact with vulnerable people and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Documents to download

• Lived Experience Partner - Job Description and Person Spec (PDF, 202.7KB)
• Functional Requirement Form - Lived Experience Partner (PDF, 240.7KB)
• Application Guidance - Lived Experience Partner (PDF, 87.3KB)