Minister Butler highlights value of Lived Experience in Irish health policy development and service improvement at European Patient Forum

Minister for Mental Health, Mary Butler TD is today representing Ireland at the Patient Engagement Open Forum (PEOF) in Seville, Spain, a high-level European policy event focused on patient involvement in healthcare.

Minister Butler will highlight Ireland’s achievements to date in advancing patient and public engagement in both policy development and service delivery, with a particular emphasis on mental health.

Internationally, health services are shifting beyond traditional consultation models towards co-production, where patients play an active role in shaping policies and services from initial design and development through to implementation and evaluation. This approach depends on meaningful participation, constructive collaboration, and a shared commitment to working within robust governance frameworks.

Speaking in Seville at the conference, Minister Butler said:

The European Patients' Forum (EPF) is co-hosting the Patient Engagement Open Forum (PEOF) with Patient Focused Medicines Development (PFMD) and European Patients' Academy on Therapeutic Innovation (EUPATI) in Seville from 2-4 June 2026.

The Forum is a global gathering bringing together a network of organisations to shape the future of Patient Engagement across clinical research and innovation, in value-driven policies, and service design and improvement. The community meets to collaborate, foster innovation, and co-create solutions to embed patient engagement and lived experience expertise in health services.

The event also marks the publication of the ‘EPF Barometer on the involvement of patient organisations in health policy at national level’, an initiative to address the lack of transparency regarding whether and how patient organisations are involved in health policymaking at national level.

The initiative aims to:

• Map the level of patient involvement in the development, implementation and evaluation of health policies in EU Member States.
• Identify good practices in patient involvement in health policy and the mechanisms and structures in place to facilitate the involvement of patient organisations in policy-making processes.
• Examine the barriers and challenges that patient organisations face in participating effectively in health policy-making.

Minister Butler is representing Ireland at the launch of the barometer by setting out Ireland’s track record of meaningful inclusion of the voice of lived and living experience in Irish health policy-making and service improvement programmes.

Speaking in Seville at the conference, Minister Butler said:

Minister Butler will join a panel discussion with Ministries and Government officials with responsibility for mental health from Spain, Cyprus, Slovenia, Belgium and Finland and patient engagement organisations from Spain and Czechia.

Minister Butler concluded: