Makara Health initiated this project to demonstrate commitment to insight led patient engagement and support. To continue to help our clients and the organisations we work with to explore how these critical relationships can be improved and deepened. We have invested in a powerful listening exercise with patient organisations and identified some interesting areas of focus. As I reflect on the conversations we have undertaken over the last few months with our generous contributors to this report – leading patient organisations in their fields – I am struck by how consistently the main themes came through across all interviews. From the more straightforward process driven ‘tweaks’ that should be realistic for industry to address (and I urge them to do so) to some of the broader issues worthy of greater consideration and debate. 80% of the top pharmaceutical companies cite some iteration of a patient centred approach as a core value to their organisation, rightly so. If the pharmaceutical industry wants to be truly patient centric then surely that starts with how we interact in every way with the groups that represent those patients? We have explored these interactions to uncover the perspective of the patient groups and have aimed to provide concise insights and tangible recommendations within this short report – quality over quantity and minimal naval gazing! You will find clear recommendations for industry professionals striving to initiate or improve engagement policy and process and for those already doing great work, looking to up their game in this space, guidance on what ‘great’ looks like with our ‘stellar’ recommendations. We have made suggestions across five key themes: Building long-term partnerships, adding value beyond financial support, speeding up and simplifying processes, the power of post covid collaboration and delivering patient insight across businesses.

My own career has varied from starting out working within a UK patient organisation and more recently taking on a voluntary role with a new healthcare charity, to working within industry roles charged with building relationships with such groups. I see the world from all perspectives and I am passionate about leading a team at Makara that can really be a catalyst for change… starting with this report.