The Patient safety healthcare inequalities programme has resulted in the generation of recommendations for improvement that were co-designed with clinicians, patient safety specialists, people with lived experience or expertise in inequalities, and our lay patient safety partners (PSPs). In particular, our two PSPs were part of this large multi-disciplinary group which met virtually each month.

Here the PSPs describe their backgrounds and reasons for helping the national patient safety team and outline how they have contributed to the plan for reducing patient safety healthcare inequalities. They describe how they were able to be a voice for people from ethnic backgrounds that are often not heard; to shape future NHS services making them more inclusive and safe; using ‘real time insight’, to help to close the gap in health inequalities and provide more equitable access to services. As part of the team they were able to challenge perceptions of barriers and bring solutions in how to overcome them.

They have also contributed by helping to develop the role of PSPs by being involved in discussions about how to shape the role and how to ensure recruitment is effective in attracting people from diverse groups.