THIS WEEK, THE Good Information Project hosted its monthly Open Newsroom session on the powerful movement of patient advocacy and how it might impact the delivery of healthcare that is fair, respectful and effective.

Moderator Maria Delaney, investigative health and science reporter at Noteworthy, led a fascinating conversation with experts on the subject, examining where health services were letting patients down, and what needs to happen to draw upon those experiences – positive and negative – of users of our healthcare system and really include them in the creation and implementation of change and policy in the sector.

She was joined by Eileen O’Sullivan, independent cancer patient advocate and breast cancer survivor; Derick Mitchell, CEO of the Irish Platform for Patient Organisations, Science & Industry – IPPOSI; Louise Loughlin, national manager for National Advocacy Service for People with Disabilities, which also operates and oversees the Patient Advocacy Service, and The Journal reporter Orla Dwyer. 

Watch our recording of the event embedded here to see what the panellists had to say about what patient advocacy means to them, the uphill battle for patients to be heard – and the growing involvement of patient advocates and representative groups to make those voices stronger and more impactful.

This work is co-funded by Journal Media and a grant programme from the European Parliament. Any opinions or conclusions expressed in this work are the author’s own. The European Parliament has no involvement in nor responsibility for the editorial content published by the project. For more information, see here.