Listening to lived experience to improve journeys for people living with dementia…
EMED Group welcomed members of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Dementia Panel to its Peterborough base, where they shared their lived experience and explored how patient transport journeys can be made safer, more comfortable and more accessible for people living with dementia.
Members of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Dementia Panel have visited EMED Group’s Peterborough base to share their experiences and explore how patient transport can better support people living with dementia and those who care for them.
The visit was hosted by Ade Gardner, EMED Group’s Community Engagement, Healthwatch and Wellbeing Officer for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. It forms part of our growing work with patients, carers, Healthwatch organisations and community partners to ensure that lived experience helps shape the services we provide.
During the visit, panel members toured one of our patient transport vehicles, met frontline colleagues and discussed some of the challenges people living with dementia may experience when travelling to and from healthcare appointments.
These conversations provided valuable insight into how an unfamiliar vehicle, environment or routine may feel to someone living with dementia. They also created an opportunity to consider practical ways in which journeys could be made safer, more comfortable and more reassuring for patients and their carers.
Listening beyond the boardroom
At EMED Group, we believe that some of the most important ideas for improving our services come directly from the people who use them.
Listening to people with lived experience, their families and carers, healthcare professionals and community organisations helps us understand needs that may not always be visible. It allows us to identify barriers, challenge assumptions and work together to develop meaningful improvements.
Every conversation helps us move towards services that are more compassionate, accessible and person-centred.
The Peterborough visit is one example of the community engagement taking place across EMED Group. We are developing relationships with people and organisations throughout the areas we serve, with work focusing on dementia, neurodiversity, accessible information, health inequalities and the wider patient experience.
Building lasting partnerships
This was the first visit of its kind in Peterborough and one which we hope to build upon through an ongoing relationship with the Dementia Panel.
We also hope to create similar opportunities in other parts of the UK, enabling more patients, carers and community representatives to meet our colleagues, experience our vehicles and help us understand how patient transport feels from their perspective.
By listening, learning and working together, we can continue to improve patient transport and provide care that truly puts people first.
We would like to thank everyone who took part in the visit, particularly the members of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Dementia Panel for giving their time and sharing their insight and expertise so generously.
