Skip to content

Navigation breadcrumbs

  1. Home
  2. Publications
  3. What We Need Now

What We Need Now

We follow the publication of our report What We Know Now – a rapid response review of 11 National Voices members’ surveys, which gave us compelling insight into the experiences of people using health and care services during the first wave of COVID-19 drawn from over 66,000 responses – with What We Need Now, first-person testimony of the first wave that is equally as powerful.

Read our report here
  • What We Need Now
  • I statements
  • COVID-19
  • Health inequalities

The report was drawn from National Voices’ OurCOVIDVoices platform, which asked people to contribute their personal experiences and stories, and features some co-produced recommendations as to how people would like to be treated, and how they would shape services.

From these insights National Voices has facilitated the creation of a new set of I Statements, simple expressions of how patients hope to be treated presented as a straightforward, practical guide for application in health and care settings.

This document tells the people who design and deliver services what people are actually experiencing and what they feel truly effective and just treatment should look like.

Some people are experiencing mental health stresses, some financial strains, and most are experiencing delayed or altered treatment.

These stories are accompanied by a set of I Statement illustrations designed to represent the message at the heart of each of the eight statements. We have made the report available here in four versions for different requirements:

And we have made the illustrations available for your use if you would like:

  1. I am listened to and what I say is acted on.
  2. I make decisions that are respected, and I have rights that are protected.
  3. I am given information that is relevant to me, in a way I understand.
  4. I am supported to understand risks and uncertainties in my life.
  5. I know how to talk to the person or team in charge of my care when I need to.
  6. I know what to expect and that I am safe when I have treatment and care.
  7. I am supported and kept informed while I wait for treatment and care.
  8. I am not forgotten.

Please take a look at What We Need Now film – a short explainer of our I Statements.

The webinar recording is available to watch back on our YouTube channel.

If you would like to read any of the above resources in an alternative format, please get in touch.

Read our report here