Head of People Participation; East London NHS Foundation Trust, England

Millie Smith is Head of the People Participation department at one of the UKs biggest NHS mental and physical health Trusts, East London Foundation NHS Trust (ELFT). ELFT’s vision is to improve the life of all we serve. The organisation recognises that this can only be achieved if staff are supported to proactively ensure that people with lived experience, and those who care for them, work alongside them to lead, plan, deliver, evaluate, and improve services. This process of coproduction at ELFT is called People Participation. Millie herself is an Expert by Experience of living with bipolar disorder and is responsible for the strategic and operational development of the People Participation (PP) team, which has grown from 17 PP Leads in 2018 to 32 Leads and 12 PP workers in 2022, in addition a peer support team and a befriending team. The department supports service users, patients, and carers to play an active role in how the organisation operates and fosters collaborative working strategies and co-production processes across the Trust. Millie is a skilled and engaging presenter and facilitator and also a huge advocate for staff, she is one of ELFT’s Woman’s Network Leads and is a sponsor with Women for Women International. Millie uses her own experience of living with a mental health condition. She highlights that… “Sharing my own experiences helps me to nurture and create a better service for all whilst developing and promoting opportunities that enable other service users to grow and progress through their own health challenges and achieve success and recovery in their own lives”. Outside of work, her time is spent advocating for positive mental wellbeing and menopausal awareness. Millie is a keen global traveller, sings in a choir and enjoys writing. She keeps physically and mentally fit in the gym lifting weights and doing salsa dancing.