In this blog series we will be featuring our award winners and highly commended recipients from the Faculty’s ‘Outstanding Contribution to PPIE’ awards. The awards showcase inspirational and outstanding commitment to PPIE that has made a positive difference to our community and highlights the amazing events, activities, people and groups from across the Faculty.  

Our latest blog in this series features the Voices of Our National Health Service (VONHS) project, which has documented the 75+ year history of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) through the voices of patients, staff and communities. The team were recognised in our special Bicentenary category at the 2024 PPIE Awards. 

Based at The University of Manchester, the Voices of Our NHS project represents an outstanding collaboration between researchers and public contributors. The project has culminated in the first digital history archive of the UK’s National Health Service by recording the stories of patients, staff and the public since the creation of the NHS in 1948. 

Conducted between 2017 and 2023, the work produced a collection of more than 2,400 interviews from people aged 18 to 100+, born in more than 50 different countries, sharing their experiences of the everyday place of the NHS, including the Covid-19 pandemic, across its 75+ year history.   

The VONHS project has since been deposited at the British Library as a permanent public resource to inform policy and practice for future generations. More than 170 public contributors were involved in developing the project, enabling over 1,200 people to contribute their NHS experiences.  

Over 120 stakeholders across health, community and heritage were also involved. More than 5,000 people took part in workshops and project events, 50,000+ engaged with public realm activities such as exhibitions, films and online content, and millions of people saw media coverage of NHS heritage. 

The team flexed the norms of oral history practice to enable greater inclusivity for public contributors and interviewees and address power imbalances by encouraging people to exert agency over their involvement. External evaluation found that interviewees and public contributors reported highly positive outcomes with involvement during the pandemic especially, with clear benefits for mental health. 

One of the largest health-focused collections in the world, the Voices of Our NHS project stands out as a shining example of impactful public involvement and engagement.  

Find out more: 

• Voices of Our NHS webpage 

To find out more about PPIE: watch our short film, sign up to the monthly Public Engagement Digest, visit the PPIE blog, or contact srbmh@manchester.ac.uk.      

To read more about other PPIE Award winners visit here. 

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