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Lay members

Lay members are members of the public who may also be patients or carers. They play a key role in making sure that the views of patients, their families and carers, and the general public help to inform decisions about medicines. Lay members also give an independent view and highlight what matters to patients and their families and carers.

AWTTC supports 5 committees:

  • All Wales Medicines Strategy Group (AWMSG)
  • New Medicines Group (NMG)
  • All Wales Prescribing Advisory Group (AWPAG)
  • One Wales Medicines Advisory Group (OWMAG)
  • Quality Assurance Group for Individual Patient Funding Requests (IPFR)

The committee members may include doctors, pharmacists, nurses, a health economist, a pharmaceutical industry representative, and at least one lay member (an interested patient, carer or a member of the public).

AWTTC is also working with health boards and the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee (WHSSC) to support the recruitment of lay members to their IPFR panels.

Click on the links below to find out about each committee and the role of their lay members:

Who can be a lay member?

Anyone aged 18 years and older living in Wales can apply to become a lay member. There are a few exceptions, for example, people currently employed by NHS Wales cannot be lay members. Lay member applicants do not need a background in health – healthcare professionals are already well represented on our committees. No scientific, research or health economics knowledge is needed; AWTTC gives training to lay members in these areas. IPFR panel lay members need to live in the health board area they represent.

The skills and qualities we look for include:

  • understanding of the experiences, needs and issues about medicines use and medicines access that are important to patients, their families and carers and the wider public
  • ability to analyse and interpret information, and provide a summary of the key points
  • good communication and team-working skills
  • an open mind and a balanced outlook, with the ability to ask questions and think laterally but stay focused on the key issues
  • the ability to listen and take part in constructive debate, while being respectful of other people’s views
  • confidence to clearly present the views and concerns of patients and carers with conviction
  • willingness to consider complex information and make decisions (sometimes difficult ones) often without conclusive evidence
  • dedication, conscientiousness and reliability.

What does the role involve?

 All our lay members need to:

  • attend at least 80% of committee meetings
  • take part in discussions at committee meetings
  • read the committee papers before a meeting
  • comment on documents between meetings
  • keep the committee’s work confidential

What do lay members get from the role?

Our past and current lay members say that they get great personal satisfaction from being a lay member. They enjoy the challenge and responsibility of being part of a committee that makes important decisions on medicines for the people of Wales.

We support our lay members throughout their time with us. For all lay members on all of our committees we offer:

  • a designated person for support
  • an induction period on starting
  • regular training including an annual training day
  • expenses (a small honorarium is given for AWTTC-affiliated committees)

Interested? How to find out more

We’d love to hear from you – please contact us using one of the methods below so that we can tell you more about the role and how to apply.

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