Welcome to the National Association for Patient Participation

Message from the Chairman

I write to you with a heavy heart, but a sense of gratitude, to share an important message regarding the future of N.A.P.P.

After much reflection and deliberation, the Trustees made the painful decision to table a resolution at the recent Annual General Meeting to dissolve the charity, which was passed.

I would like to outline the difficult decision the Trustees have made and thank a number of individuals for their help and support to N.A.P.P. over several years.

This recommendation has not been made hastily or lightly. It follows a period of intense reflection about our purpose, our sustainability, and the environment in which we now operate. In making this decision, we have sought to balance respect with practicality, and sadness with gratitude. Above all, we have tried to honour the extraordinary legacy of those who built N.A.P.P. and those who continue to embody its values every day.

For almost half a century, N.A.P.P. has stood at the forefront of patient participation in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1978—long before “patient engagement” became part of NHS policy—it was driven by a simple but revolutionary belief: that healthcare works best when patients are active partners in shaping it. That principle, radical at the time, is now embedded in the ethos of modern general practice and healthcare design.

Every Patient Participation Group that meets in a GP practice today is part of that story. When the NHS introduced a contractual requirement in 2015 for all practices in England to have a PPG, it was the culmination of decades of quiet but persistent advocacy by N.A.P.P. and its members. Our influence has never been about noise or numbers, but about the steady conviction that patient partnership is both morally right and operationally vital.

Over the decades, N.A.P.P. has published guides, model constitutions, and toolkits that have become the foundation for patient groups across the country. We have partnered with NHS England, the Royal College of General Practitioners, Healthwatch, and countless charities— embedding patient participation as a core requirement rather than an afterthought. Through initiatives such as PPG Awareness Week, our national conferences, and our online VeryConnect community, we have connected thousands of patients and amplified their voices.

During my seven years as Chair, I have had the privilege of witnessing this work evolve. Our Trustees and volunteers have modernised governance, expanded membership, and embraced digital tools to make N.A.P.P. more accessible and responsive. Above all, we have remained true to our founding principle: that health services must exist for the benefit of the people who use them.

And yet, despite these achievements, we must face a difficult truth. The environment in which small national charities operate has changed beyond recognition. Recruiting and retaining volunteers with the time and expertise to serve as Trustees has become increasingly challenging. The demands on our small staff team have grown year on year, and the cost of maintaining even a modest digital and administrative infrastructure has risen significantly.

Over the past two years, the Trustees have explored every reasonable option to sustain N.A.P.P.’s activities—restructuring, increasing income, partnership working, leadership recruitment. Despite our best efforts, we have been unable to secure the continuity of leadership and volunteer capacity needed to maintain the charity in its current form. With reluctance but clarity, the Trustees concluded that it was no longer viable to continue.

As the members supported the resolution, we will proceed with integrity and transparency to wind down operations. This will include closing our VeryConnect platform, enquiry line, and mailbox, and using any remaining funds responsibly to complete the process. Any surplus will be donated to organisations that share our mission to strengthen the patient voice and champion participation in healthcare.

To describe this moment as sad would be an understatement. N.A.P.P. has been part of the landscape of British health policy for nearly 50 years. It has provided a bridge between professionals and the public, between individual experience and national decision-making. It has been a source of advice, friendship, and inspiration to countless PPG members who have given their time freely to make their communities better places to live and to heal.

Yet even as we prepare to close this chapter, we take comfort in knowing that N.A.P.P.’s spirit will endure. The idea of patient partnership is no longer fragile or marginal. It is embedded in the DNA of the NHS—in every Integrated Care System, every local Healthwatch, and every practice that seeks to engage with its patients before it acts. The work that began in the 1970s has matured and taken root, and in that sense, N.A.P.P. has achieved what it set out to do.

I want to take this opportunity to thank those whose leadership and commitment have sustained us: our Trustees, our staff team, our President and Patron, and above all, you—our members. You have been the heart and soul of this organisation. Your willingness to ask questions, to listen, to share, and to collaborate has changed the culture of healthcare in this country.

Although the formal structures of N.A.P.P. may soon come to an end, the values that bind us will not. I hope that members will continue to advocate for the patient voice, to build partnerships in local systems, and to remind decision-makers that the people who use services are their greatest source of insight and wisdom. In doing so, you will keep the flame of N.A.P.P. alive.

This may be the closing of one chapter, but it is not the end of the story. The conversation that N.A.P.P. began all those years ago continues to echo in every corner of the NHS. As long as patients and professionals meet as equals, listen to one another, and strive to improve care together, the legacy of N.A.P.P. will endure.

With heartfelt gratitude and deep respect – thank you.

Folarin Majekodunmi

On behalf of the Board of Trustees

National Association for Patient Participation