About Us

TEAM

Together . Everyone . Achieves . More

TEAM is

… an empowering new project that links patients, public, professionals, and healthcare organisations together to share know-how and work for change.

TEAM aims to:

• help patients and the public to get clued up, get active and get involved in the health and social care that they receive.
• strengthen health and social care providers’ strategy and practice, through knowledge sharing with patients and third secor organisations.

Our aim

…  is to empower and motivate patients and the public to participate actively and effectively in healthcare, delivering Equity and Excellence.

Our goal

…. is to build a strong foundation for the effective launch and operation of HealthWatch.

TEAM will help leave professionals, third sector organisations, patients and the public alike with a strong legacy of skills and support tools to work towards a cost-effectiven and sustainable health and social care service.

Why we’re needed

The Government is establishing a network of Health Watch organisations across the UK. Set to launch in 2013, the Health Watch groups will be responsible for representing the views of patients (the ‘consumers’) to healthcare regulators.

Currently, many organisations and individuals don’t have the skills, know-how, or capacity to effectively engage with these Service Providers and Commissioners. This lack of communication and engagement between the people who use services, on the one hand, and the organisations that provide services, on the other, can lead to services not adequately meeting the needs of patients, or to people not having an adequate say in what they receive. 

How we work

… Team is a three year project that works in phases to strengthen third sector organisations, whilst also helping to strengthen the strategy and practice of health and social care providers.

Team’s work will include:

• Developing a consortium of Third Sector organisations, providing capacity building support, best practice fora, training workshops, and round table events methods of information sharing.
• Developing, test and deliver models of intervention, with the successful models documented and available for replication around the country.
• Building a strong foundation for the effective launch and operation of the new government’s HealthWatch bodies, across the UK, tasked with monitoring the NHS and referring patients’ concerns to a wide range of authorities. 

Who we are

… Twelve hosting organisations, 150 partner third sector organisations, and the public. The host organisations, who steer TEAM’s strategy, are:

• Leonard Cheshire Disability (host)
• MRSA Action UK
• St John Ambulance
• C. difficile Support
• Changes 12 Steps to Mental Health
• Gender Identity Research and Education Society
• Kidney Alliance
• Muslim Council of Britain
• National Civil Service Pensioners’ Alliance
• National Concern for Healthcare Infection
• National Pensioners’ Convention
• PEM Friends
• Spinal Injuries Association

TEAM is funded by the Third Sector Investment Programme 2011-13: Innovation Excellence and Service Development Fund.