There are many ways to get involved with our hospitals, from fundraising and volunteering to becoming a member of our trust, or even just sharing your feedback with our teams or as part of our patient involvement programme.

We’re committed to working in partnership with the public, the local community and every patient to make sure the services our hospitals provide are suited to our patients' needs. 

We believe strongly in our patients getting involved in how we do this and value the support you give us.

Patient and public involvement means 'with' or 'by' the patient and public, not 'to', 'about' or 'for' them.

We’re committed to working in partnership with patients, the public and local communities to ensure our services are both relevant and responsive to local needs.

Providing an excellent experience for our patients, carers, other service users and staff is central to the trust's governing objectives. That’s why we’re keen to further involve patients, the public and wider stakeholder communities to help develop our services.

We strive to have patients and carers involved in making decisions about the commissioning, planning, design and reconfiguration of health services (either as design partners or through consultation). 

This is known as patient/carer involvement, where staff and patients are brought together in partnership to explore findings and work in small groups to identify and implement changes that will improve the care pathway.

In April 2023, the Royal Free London Involvement Register was launched to ensure we have patient and carer voices available to help with involvement activities across our hospitals. 

By signing up to our register, you’ll be informed about opportunities to get involved with the design and improvement of our services. 

You’ll be emailed ah-hoc opportunities as they arise and can choose what you’d like to get involved with. There’s no obligation to get involved with every project. 

Examples of tasks you may be asked to get involved with include:

  • attending focus group meetings to share experiences and have group discussions
  • reviewing patient information 
  • helping us decide how to spend a grant
  • reviewing a new patient survey 
  • sharing ideas on future changes you feel would be beneficial

Ultimately, your involvement will ensure patient and carer voices influence the way we work. 

Read about joining the Involvement Register (PDF)

Complete this form to join the Involvement Register

For more information or if you’re having trouble accessing the application form, you can email us.

Each of our three hospitals has a patient voices group of patients and carers who meet online monthly to help us to understand the experiences of people who use our services and are involved in work to improve them. 

Each group is run by the patient experience team for that hospital. 

Whilst the tasks you ‘d be asked to help with are like those that our Involvement Register members take part in, the patient voices groups require an ongoing commitment of attending at least six out of the 12 meetings a year. 

Please note that you’re welcome to join one of these groups and join the Involvement Register if you so wish. 

Barnet Patient Voices Group

The Barnet Patient Voices Group is run by the Barnet Hospital patient experience team. 

It’s been in existence since April 2022 and meets each month for 90 minutes. 

If you’re interested in finding out more, please read our role description, and if you'd like to apply to join our group, please fill in the application form

Email the Barnet patient experience team if you’d like to find out more.

Chase Farm Patient Voices Group

The Chase Farm group launched in April 2023 and is recruiting members.

If you’re interested in finding out more, email the Chase Farm patient experience team.

The Royal Free Patient Voices Group

The Royal Free Hospital group started in 2018 and meets on the last Friday of each month. 

If you’re interested in finding out more, email the Royal Free Hospital patient experience team.

The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) defines public involvement in research as research being carried out ‘with’ or ‘by’ members of the public rather than ‘to’, ‘about’ or ‘for’ them.  It is an active partnership between patients, carers and members of the public with researchers that influences and shapes research.

Involving patients and the public in research at the Royal Free London is pivotal to our vision of achieving the best access, experience and outcomes for our patients and staff, and for our research to make a major impact in improving the care of our local populations and beyond. In 2023 we launched a research involvement and inclusion group that can help us with the following types of activities:    

  • being a joint grant holder or co-applicant on a research project
  • identifying research priorities
  • being members of a project advisory or steering group
  • commenting on and developing patient information leaflets or other research materials
  • undertaking interviews with research participants
  • carrying out research as user and/or carer researchers

If you are interested in joining our group or more widely in getting involved with research studies, contact rf-tr.researchinvolvement@nhs.net to find out more and go to our ‘be part of research’ page to watch our video.

 

Fundraise for the Royal Free London

Fundraisers for Royal Free Charity in Brighton

The Royal Free Charity is our strategic partner, funding research, equipment and projects that impact positively on our staff wellbeing and our patients’ experience of care. 

By supporting the Royal Free Charity you’re helping to make a real difference for our patients, staff and researchers across the trust and all our hospitals.  

If you’d like to give back to the hospital for the care that you, a friend or family member has received or you’d like to support ongoing research into treatments for a specific condition or disease, you can make a donation to the charity or fundraise for them. 

Smiling Royal Free Charity volunteer

Thinking of volunteering at the Royal Free London? 

Volunteering is a unique experience and can make a difference to many people’s lives, as well as your own.

The Royal Free Charity runs a volunteer programme for our hospitals, with 300 volunteers and 14 pet therapy dogs making a direct and meaningful contribution to organisational efficiency, innovation and patient outcomes.

Volunteers can help us in any of our hospitals — Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, and the Royal Free Hospital — or at two of our satellite sites — Finchley Memorial Hospital and the Neurological Rehabilitation Centre at Edgware Community Hospital.

There are 20 distinct volunteer roles ranging from the practical to the pastoral, from the everyday to the innovative.

Volunteers come from a variety of social, cultural and religious backgrounds and have many different reasons for giving us their time, energy and skills. 

Together, they help to improve patient experience and support NHS staff in making our hospitals a more welcoming place.

If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer at one of our hospitals, visit the Royal Free Charity website for details. 

At North Middlesex University Hospital, we have a team of dedicated volunteers who provide support to the hospital and its community services.

We are looking for people who can display some key personal qualities such as empathy and the ability to listen and help our patients and our service users.

You will need to be at least 17 years old and commit to volunteer for a minimum block of four hours a week for at least six months.

We welcome residents from the boroughs of Enfield and Haringey as well as from across north central London.

Our volunteers support the hospital by:

  • Visiting and talking to patients in the wards, emergency department, outpatients and the community.
  • Providing mealtime assistance on wards. This does not include feeding patients.
  • Meeting and greeting patients, families and visitors, as well as signposting to their destinations.
  • Assisting patients and visitors, especially those with language difficulties, to use the self-check machines to register their clinic attendances and car parking machines.
  • Supporting with collecting patient and carer experience feedback such as the Friends and Family Test (FFT) and the radiotherapy survey.
  • Supporting communities based in Chase Farm Hospital and St Michael’s Primary Care Centre as befrienders.
  • Assisting with administrative tasks and audits for the nutrition and dietetics department.
  • Talking to and helping patients and staff in our inpatient and outpatient pharmacies. 
  • Maintaining and looking after our staff vegetable garden.
  • Engaging in activities such as arts and craft, movie time and general play within paediatrics. Volunteers need to be 18 years old for this role.
  • Assisting the ward staff by supporting mothers and hospital staff in maternity. Volunteers need to be 18 years old for this role.
  • Visiting patients and relatives on wards with your pet. Your pet will need to be registered with the Pets As Therapy charity.
  • Playing instruments or singing to patients and their relatives.
  • Supporting department staff with administrative tasks such as photocopying, scanning, data entry, preparing notes, answering, and directing calls.
  • Performing ad hoc activities from staff requests such as audits, help with events, and training exercises.

Our volunteer placements are subject to two references, a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and occupational health clearances. 

Our volunteer positions are not suitable for people seeking work experience, work placements or clinical and nursing experience. 

If you are interested in a work experience placement with the hospital, please email our work experience team at northmid.workexperience@nhs.uk.

To contact the North Mid volunteering team please call 020 8887 3549 or email northmid.volunteer@nhs.net.

We would like to hear from you if you are interested in becoming a patient partner at North Middlesex University Hospital (North Mid). As a patient partner you would:

  • Spend most of your time engaging with patients who access our services, listening to experiences and understanding what it feels like for different people to be a patient or service user.
  • Become involved in development or improvement work.
  • Be willing to talk about and reflect on the positive and negative care experiences you have had as a patient, family member or carer.

You are eligible for this role if:

  • You have been treated, or have cared for someone who has been treated, at North Mid or have accessed services provided by our community services, within the past five years. If you are a carer, this must be in a personal and unpaid capacity, rather than as a professional.

Or:

  • You are a member of a voluntary or community sector organisation supporting people who access our hospital or services.

You are not eligible for this role if:

  • You are a current clinical NHS employee or contractor (this includes honorary or unpaid medical or dental posts).

  • Reimbursement of agreed upon travel expenses and meal allowance in line with trust policy.
  • Induction to prepare you for the role.
  • Training opportunities as agreed with the head of patient experience.
  • Meetings in accessible venues or via Microsoft Teams. If you have any accessibility needs, we will explore with you how best to make reasonable adjustments.
  • Transparency and honesty about what we can and cannot achieve.
  • An nhs.net email account to provide a secure form of electronic communication and transfer of trust papers as required.

You can contact us about being a patient partner by:

Please note that our patient partners will be subject to references and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.

Evidence shows that supporting patients to be actively involved in their own care, treatment and support can improve outcomes and experience for patients. 

We recognise the need to support patients to:

  • manage their own health and make informed decisions about their care and treatment
  • improve their health and give them the best opportunity to lead the life that they want

To learn more about self-care, visit the NHS England website.