Proud Moment for the Patient as Coach Team (PaCT) Initiative!
Recognised in the National ‘Learning from the Best’ Report as a Best Practice Example for the NHS 10 Year Plan
I am absolutely delighted to share that the Patient as Coach Team (PaCT) Initiative, which I led the development of, has been recognised nationally in Learning from the Best – Celebrating Patient Experience Innovations to Help Deliver the NHS 10 Year Plan as a Best Practice Example now directly mapped against the new NHS 10 Year Plan – Fit for the Future for England.
This recognition which is part of the Book of Best Practice 2025 by the Patient Experience Network (PEN), celebrates the most innovative, high-impact initiatives that are transforming how care is delivered, experienced, and led across the UK. The awards ceremony took place on 2nd October 2025, bringing together healthcare leaders, educators, and patient experience pioneers to honour excellence in person-centred innovation.
Why This Recognition Matters
The inclusion of the PaCT Initiative in this national showcase reaffirms a powerful truth that many of us working across health and social care already know - embedding lived experience is not optional — it’s essential to creating a system that is equitable, effective, and truly fit for the future.
Through the PaCT initiative, people with lived experience work alongside educators, clinicians, and students to coach the next generation of health and social care professionals. This collaborative model empowers future health and social care practitioners to deliver care that is:
💚Compassionate – grounded in real human stories and empathy
💚Culturally competent – responsive to diverse needs and perspectives
💚Person-centred – shaped by partnership, not hierarchy
Co-Production as a Pathway to Excellence
The PaCT model exemplifies the transformative potential of co-production in education and practice. It creates a learning environment where:
Service users and carers act as educators and assessors, not passive participants
Students learn from lived experience, not just about it
Health and care professionals engage in reflective dialogue that bridges the gap between knowledge and compassion
As highlighted in Learning from the Best, initiatives like PaCT demonstrate how patient and public involvement (PPI) drives not only quality and safety but also innovation, equity, and cultural change across organisations.
Shaping the Future of Person-Centred Practice
This national recognition is more than an accolade; it’s a call to action. As health and social care continue to evolve under the NHS 10 Year Plan, it is vital that lived experience remains at the heart of transformation.
By celebrating and scaling initiatives like PaCT, we can strengthen partnerships that bridge:
Communities and academia
Patients and professionals
Research and real-world impact
Together, these partnerships embody the principle of “nothing about us, without us” as a pathway to excellence.
Get Involved
If you have enjoyed reading this blog and you are passionate about:
💚Embedding service user and carer involvement in education, research,
and professional practice
💚Developing person-centred care frameworks that make a measurable
difference
💚Or learning from best-practice examples in co-production and patient
experience innovation
I would love to connect and share insights.
Contact me via my blog - Care Pathway to find out more about how we can empower excellence through lived-experience involvement, co-production, and person-centred leadership.
