We work together as a collective voice to better influence health and social care policy and practice, with the aim of improving the care and support for the 15 million people living with long term conditions we represent.
We are passionate about bringing the patient and user voice into the very heart of health decision-making and to encourage and facilitate the kind of transformational change which will most improve outcomes and experience for people. We aim to champion the cause of improved outcomes and better use of health and care resources through person-centred, high-quality care.
We work directly with patients, carers and families affected by long term conditions and seek to clearly draw on their experiences in all we do. We also have direct expertise in both influencing and service delivery. So we can support - through both services and influencing activities- transformational change which focuses on improved patient outcomes and experience.
We aim to be a close collaboration, based on long standing and strong relationships between people at all levels in the twelve member organisations, but we also work with other, external partners where this gives us greater impact. We are a critical friend of the health and care system, taking the side of users and patients, but keen to support and accelerate the development of evidence based, sustainable and innovative solutions to the many challenges facing health and care today.
We are here to help.
Tom Wright is Group CEO of Age UK and is currently chairing the Richmond Group of Charities. Since Age UK doesn’t have a condition specific focus, its ambition to make the health and care system work better for the many older people who live with often more than one long term condition, fits well with the wider Richmond Group influencing agenda. Tom was awarded a CBE in 2007.
After completing a law degree, Charlotte came to London from Germany in 1997 for postgraduate studies. She has since then worked in Parliament, for Government and the third sector in senior health policy roles. She has been leading the work of the Richmond Group since October 2013, developing strategy, facilitating discussions and representing the Group externally.
Sarah leads on the day to day coordination of the Group's work and supports members and the Secretariat through planning, briefings and updates. She previously graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in History before completing a Master's degree in Transnational Studies at University College London. She was then awarded a place on the CharityWorks graduate scheme working as a Knowledge Management Officer in Age UK’s Policy and Research Team.
After completing a history degree, David worked in the energy sector, working in community projects and latterly corporate responsibility. In 2012, David moved to Age UK to Programme Manage the fuel poverty programme, linking services with public health policy. In 2013, he took responsibility for the Programme Management of Age UK’s health and wellbeing portfolio, aimed at providing community based services for older people with long term conditions.
We believe that health and care will only be designed, led and delivered in the right way, if the people who rely on services can make their voices heard at every level. This is why it is one of our main aims to ensure that patients, service users, their carers, families and organisations are at the table when important decisions are made. We are hearing every day about what matters to the people we work for, and we are here to bring together the lived experience of people with long term conditions and the expertise of large health and care organisations.
Our aim is to change the way people with long term conditions can use services provided by the health and care system. Too often, these services are uncoordinated, don't help people to stay as well as possible or don't help people to look after themselves. We think about policy solutions, but also bring our experience of practical service improvements to this challenge.
Preventable illness causes avoidable suffering. Many cases of long term illness could have been prevented through reducing people's exposure to risks, such as smoking, inactivity, alcohol misuse and an unbalanced diet. Even people who already have a long term condition often benefit from changes to their behaviour around physical activity, smoking, alcohol use and diet. They need help to understand what they can do, and support to do it. It is never too early or too late to make a difference to someone's health and wellbeing.
a lot of the carer groups which are very helpful and valuable are actually provided by the voluntary groups