Public Involvement at the Doubleday Centre for Patient Experience
Public Involvement describes the ways in which higher education and research is carried out ‘with’ or ‘by’ members of the public rather than ‘on’ or ‘for’ them. In this blog category, you will find out about the different ways in which the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health involves the public in our teaching.
Patient and public voices should be valued in medical training as they are the ones who directly benefit from medical education when they use healthcare services.
The Doubleday Centre for Patient Experience was founded by its Director, Professor Dame Robina Shah. She has been steadfast in her approach to involve members of the public in the medical training of future doctors at the University. In her view they play a key role – the aim is to improve interactions between students, doctors, patients and public, developing meaningful and equitable relationships, thereby improving patient experience.
The centre was funded by the Edwin Doubleday Trust in 2015, in memory of Dr Edwin Doubleday, former medical student at Manchester, who sadly passed following his final exams.
The Doubleday Centre ensures students receive a more patient-centred educational approach, in order to improve the care they provide to patients as a doctor. Patients and members of the public provide students with an enhanced understanding of day-to-day healthcare experiences while also improving the students learning experience.
Medical education partners (patient and public contributors who work in the Doubleday Centre) are experts with lived experience, providing insights into how medical education can be improved and how medical students are recruited, treated, and prepared to work with patients.
Each year, to promote the importance of the breadth in medical training, the Doubleday Award is presented to someone who has made a significant contribution to patient care. The award winner then delivers an inspirational lecture on their work.
Due to their involvement of Public Contributors in all aspects of the delivery, teaching, and governance, the Doubleday Centre has been recognised for its outstanding contribution to medical education nationally and internationally. In 2021, they won the Group category for the PPIE awards.
Another aspect of the Doubleday Centre is the Doubleday student society, which is managed entirely by medical students. Their aim is to provide opportunities for students to experience and understand a wide range of patient needs, further allowing students to improve their patient communication and care.
The student society has also been recognised for its contribution to PPIE and patient care. In 2021, they won the COVID-19 category of the PPIE awards and were Highly Commended at the Making a Difference Awards for the #TheSmileBehindTheMask campaign, an innovative social media campaign aimed to help healthcare professionals and students on clinical placement to communicate more effectively while wearing facemasks.
In 2024, Professor Dame Robina Shah won the University of Manchester Bicentenary Award for PPIE. The Doubleday Centre is leading the way in improvements to medical education and patient care and a shining example of our faculty’s contribution to social responsibility and outstanding teaching.
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