Saturday, February 12, 2022S3E2- Jess Drinkwater and Martin Rathfelder
Season 3, Ep. 2
In this episode we have two amazing guests. Martin Rathfelder and Jess Drinkwater. Martin is a member of the public and Jess is a GP and is currently GP clinical lecturer at The University of Manchester. Both Jess and Martin have years of experience in patient participation in health research and services. How do we involve our patients in tackling health inequalities? Such an important question and fundamental in thinking about how we work better with our patients and communities.Jess and Martin start off by telling us what got them interested in patient participation (3mins) and then what patient participation means to them. We hear from them both as to why patient participation doesn’t always happen and why it might not be a priority at the moment (9min 30s). We also discuss what good patient participation can achieve and why it’s important to do it (12min 30s). We then go on to talk about whether a patient participation group (PPG) needs to be representative of a practice’s patient population (14mins), the value of what different patients can bring to a PPG (15min 30s), and who might join a PPG (17min 30s). The conversation highlights the importance of acknowledging the power dynamic between health professionals and members of the public and the importance of simple things like meeting around food or in an accessible, non-threatening place in the community.Jess works in a deprived part of Bradford and tells us her insights of what is different about patient participation in her practice area compared to more affluent settings (19min 30s). We discuss lack of trust, hope and confidence in her practice population and how this effects engagement in her PPG (22mins).Jess and Martin give their insights into different ways patients can participate within the system, what this might involve (26min 10s) and where participation should sit in the system (28mins). Patient participation can often feel quite daunting and it can be difficult to know where to start so Jess and Martin give their advice on how to get started (29min 30s). Jess talks about trying to find someone who can facilitate and provide challenge (not just listen and be defensive) (30min 30s). We discuss who can and should participate in patient participation (33mins) and how this might not always be obvious. Before moving on to our final questions, Jess gives us her golden top tips when getting started with a PPG (35mins).As always, we finish with books and Genies…- Jess’s Book (39mins) Purpose of power- Alicia Garza- Martin’s book – (40min 20s)- A radical practice in Liverpool – Katy Gardener and Susanna Graham-James- Genie wishes (40min 40s)