Young Persons' Advisory Group used their diverse experiences and insights to enhance patient care

31st October 2021

Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital Young Persons’ Advisory Group (YPAG), is made up of young people aged 11-19 who have used their many and varied experiences of inclusion and diversity to influence actions and improve services within the hospital over the last year.

YPAG offer their views, and work on projects within the hospital to help support staff and improve their services to make them as ‘young person friendly’ as possible. The Trust's young people come from a diverse range of backgrounds and areas and have different motivations for lending their voice to YPAG. Some are patients or ex patients and provide invaluable insight into their experiences, others are siblings of patients and others are simply interested in making our services better.

Regardless of their motivation, they are an incredibly insightful and motivated group who have shown themselves to be resilient as they have overcome personal challenges and the challenges of the pandemic to continue to contribute and make a difference. Most of them have achieved this while in full time education during the pandemic, which has had a great impact on their studies. In the past year, YPAG have contributed nearly 250 hours of their time as a group and, in addition, have donated an incredible amount of project work in their own time.

Over the last year they have helped with research projects, created activity packs, worked with a nurse doing her PhD, begun a project to help improve communication in the hospital, contributed to our Big Build project meetings, conducted staff interviews and helped with the new artwork in the Waterfall House project. They take on any project big or small, offering an invaluable young person’s insight. Their diversity of backgrounds and experience means they can reflect the communities the hospital serves and represent them fully. They are a truly special and deserving group of young people, who continue to surprise us with the perceptiveness of their views.