Experts by Experience: Another lens into health and social care.
Lived Experience Network (LENs) helps organisations bring the knowledge of patients, people who access services and carers into the work that affects them.
We provide the structure, people and practical support needed to involve Experts by Experience in service review, research, co-production, training, advisory work, testing and events.
- Experts by Experience
- 50+
- Service visits since January 2025
- 2,600+
- Services visited
- 70+
- Founded
- 2021
Organisations LENs has worked with
A checklist asks one question. Lived experience asks the next.
Audits tell you whether something happened. Experts by Experience tell you what it was like. What is an Expert by Experience?
The checklist asksAre activities on the timetable?
An Expert by Experience asksDid anyone ask what I’d like to do?
The checklist asksIs the information leaflet on display?
An Expert by Experience asksCould I understand it on a bad day?
The checklist asksWas the care plan reviewed?
An Expert by Experience asksWas I part of that conversation?
Eight ways to bring lived experience into your work
Not sure which one fits? Tell us what you are working on. We will help you choose, or combine them. Discuss your requirements →
- Expert by Experience ProgrammeRegular service visits, feedback and monthly insight reports.
- Engagement & EventsKeynotes, panels, workshops and films, with support.
- Lived Experience Advisory BoardsA regular forum to review plans and raise themes with senior teams.
- Product & Service TestingUsability, accessibility, dignity, safety and fit with real settings.
- Recruitment, Workforce & SupervisionWe recruit and employ Experts by Experience for agreed roles.
- Research, Evaluation & InsightResearch design, interviews, focus groups, analysis and reporting.
- Strategic Co-Production & AdvisoryPolicy, governance, pathway design and service redesign.
- Training and Accreditation SupportContent review, development and co-delivery of training.
Guides from LENs
All guides →- GuideWhat is an Expert by Experience in health and social care?An Expert by Experience uses knowledge gained as a patient, through accessing services or as a carer to contribute to health and social care work.
- GuideHow to establish a lived experience advisory boardA practical guide to defining the purpose, membership, meetings, governance and follow-up needed for a useful lived experience advisory board.
- GuideHow Experts by Experience contribute to service review and improvementLearn how Experts by Experience can add patient and/or carer insight to service visits, feedback, review activity and practical improvement work.
A word from our Managing Director
People with lived experience are at the heart of services and are leading the way for reform.
Experts by Experience, Co-Production and Peer Support are growing by the day and the impact this is having on services and organisations is simply profound. LENs aims to bring people together to develop and implement more positive change in this area.
Thinking together, working together and changing together.
Why LENs
You bring the question. We bring the people and the structure.
You do not need to arrive with a finished brief.
01
Structure around the contribution
We help define why lived experience is being involved, what the role covers, how the work will be carried out and what the organisation will receive. This gives contributors and organisations a shared understanding from the start.
02
Practical work carried by LENs
Our role can include scoping, recruiting and employing Experts by Experience, coordination, preparation, support, facilitation, analysis and reporting. The exact arrangement depends on the service, but the organisation does not have to build every part of the process itself.
03
The right approach for the question
An advisory board, a service visit and a research interview do different jobs. LENs helps organisations choose the form of involvement that fits the question and combine services where the work needs more than one route.
Who we work with
For organisations working in and around health and social care. LENs can work with:
- NHS organisations and ambulance services
- Independent health and social care providers
- Local authorities and public bodies
- Charities and community organisations
- Universities and research teams
- Training organisations
- Healthcare suppliers, product vendors and innovators
- Other organisations whose work affects patients, people accessing services or carers
Join LENs
Your experience is the expertise.
Have you used health or social care services, or cared for someone who does? You can apply to join LENs as an Expert by Experience.
It is paid work, with support around you. You do not need any qualifications to apply.
Tell us what you’re working on.
You do not need a finished brief. We reply within 2 working days, and work nationally, in person, online or both.