Credit for Patients

Agored Cymru has designed a suite of curriculum units specifically for patients/service users, and their carers, who are learning to live with and manage long term conditions. The programme is based on two pieces of Welsh Assembly Government strategy – Wales a Learning Country (2001) and Designed for Life (May 2005) to

• focus on lifelong health
• focus on health and wellbeing, not illness, by using every avenue to promote healthy communities
• empower individuals to take responsibility for their own health
• focus on helping everyone achieve the highest level of independence and personal potential

Accreditation also provides ideal quality assurance for the delivery and assessment of patient education programmes.

These units have been approved for use by the NHS Wales Curriculum Approval Panel and are part of the Qualifications and Credit Framework for Wales (CQFW).

Following a successful pilot in 2008, funding for the programme was received from the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG), the National Leadership and Innovations Agency in Healthcare (NLIAH), Novo Nordisk, and from a generous donation from the family of a patient who had taken part in patient education.

It means that there is funding to train patient educators in using the credit for patients’ curriculum and patients will have free accreditation.

For further information please contact Sue Saunders.