Involving local people and staff
Our partners continue to work with, engage and involve local people in changes and new ways of delivering services in neighbourhoods, in local partnerships and across Lancashire and South Cumbria. We have listened to the feedback of local people as we have developed our five-year strategy.
We hear from local people through:
- Outreach with specific groups
- Comment cards
- Workshops
- Events with neighbourhoods
- Involvement of patients with lived experience, taking active roles on boards and steering groups
- Community group discussions
- Telephone interviews
- In depth conversations
- Face-to-face interviews
- Public engagement events
- Surveys and questionnaires.
Local people have told us:
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They were not aware and did not recognise the changes and developments that are being made to the health and care system
- They are positive about the inclusivity of the vision but raised concerns over a focus on the elderly at the expense of younger people
- Opinion was divided over whether these were a positive development, although it was evident that understanding of primary care networks and local partnerships and how they work is low
- They felt positive about links being formed between different healthcare services
- They felt positive about work taking place in some of our neighbourhoods where communities, health and care services and local organisations are working together
- They are positive about intentions to improve community services
- They feel there is a lack of support for mental health issues and lengthy waits for referrals.
Get involved in a specific area of work across Lancashire and South Cumbria:
Consultation and Engagement Framework
The partnership has agreed a Consultation and Engagement Framework which provides the standards and principles for involving local people in service change in Lancashire and South Cumbria. This was approved at the Joint Committee of Clinical Commissioning Groups and outlines the principles of involvement, engagement and consultation to be adopted for large scale service change. The framework is a mixture of legal, mandatory and aspirational requirements in relation to best practice to be applied to involvement, engagement and consultation.
Share your views with local Healthwatch
Local Healthwatch are part of their local community and work in partnership with other local organisations. We encourage local people to get involved with local Healthwatch and share their experience of using local services. Healthwatch are independent from the NHS and are able to represent local people.
To find out more or get involved with Healthwatch in your area use the links below.
- Healthwatch Blackpool (opens in new window)
- Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen (opens in new window)
- Healthwatch Cumbria (opens in new window)
- Healthwatch Lancashire (opens in new window)
Engagement as a system with local people
There has been extensive direct engagement with staff, patients, public and partners since early 2017 in the development of local and system plans, individual programmes of work and on the vision for Lancashire and South Cumbria. Much of this activity has taken place in each of the five local partnerships to involve local people, staff and partner organisations in the design of local partnerships and their priorities. This engagement has contributed to work taking place at all levels of the partnership. This information has been summarised in our draft five year strategy.
In early 2020, the Integrated Care System (ICS) worked with the partnership of Healthwatch organisations to publish a report summarising the findings of 23 targeted focus groups. Audiences for the focus groups were identified based on local need and included seldom heard, difficult to reach groups and those in neighbourhoods. These have provided valuable local insight on the ICS vision and partnership priorities along with topics identified by Integrated Care Partnerships/Multi-speciality Care Partnerships or in some areas Primary Care Networks (PCNs).
Read the Healthwatch engagement report here (opens in new window)
A version produced by Healthwatch for print is available here (opens in new window)
NHS England and NHS Improvement nationally commissioned Healthwatch England to undertake an engagement exercise to capture insight from local people to contribute to local plans across the country. In Lancashire and South Cumbria, the ICS has worked in partnership with Healthwatch Together, a partnership of the four local Healthwatch, to deliver this activity which included surveys and focus groups with 969 local people. The ICS has ensured that the insight independently reported by Healthwatch is being used to shape plans in relevant areas such as mental health, primary care and maternity services. The evidence from the report shows that access, getting the right treatment, receiving care and support at home and security of personal data are all important issues for local people.
Read the Healthwatch engagement report here (opens in new window)
A version produced by Healthwatch for print is available here (opens in new window)
Programmes of work across Lancashire and South Cumbria have involved patients and local people to develop their plans for improving health and care services. Examples of this include targeted engagement to involve people with lived experience of stroke, suicide, cancer, bereavement by suicide, mental health and diabetes. This includes representatives within the decision making groups of the partnership who have actively influenced programmes of work.
From January to October 2019, the Children and Young People’s Transformation Programme has involved 114 children and young people, aged 5 to 19 years of age, in face to face sessions across Lancashire and South Cumbria in each Integrated Care Partnership areas to understand how they could be supported in their emotional health, wellbeing and mental health using digital channels such as websites and apps. The groups have included children and young people who are young carers, identify as LGBT+, are in the care of local authorities, have an eating disorder and one child with selective mutism.
An extensive programme of engagement was undertaken during 2018 which involved the collection of 1,225 survey responses (online and paper survey), in depth conversations with people at 38 community engagement events and a further 12 targeted focus groups, where 185 people participated. Working with a diverse range of people through focus group discussions and other engagement has provided the ICS with specific insight into ways of working with people and communities to manage their health and wellbeing through digital technology which is a key message in the vision for Lancashire and South Cumbria.
Read the Healthwatch engagement report here (opens in new window)
A version produced by Healthwatch for print is available here (opens in new window)
In spring 2017, groups of local people in each of our five areas were involved in focus groups to develop ‘A healthier Lancashire and South Cumbria’ publication which introduced the partnership and the Healthier Lancashire and South Cumbria identity which continues to represent the partnership vision. Principles established during this programme have been used to shape engagement and involvement activities at system level.
Involving staff in partner organisations
There has been extensive involvement from all partner organisations within Lancashire and South Cumbria in partnership priorities and the development of system working which has provided opportunities for organisations and individuals to contribute.
Clinical leadership and engagement in the development of the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System and partnership working has taken place at all levels of the system. Priority clinical areas of work have been built upon well-established networks where clinicians, nurses and health practitioners have been at the heart of pathway and service redesign.
Between May and September 2019, staff in partner organisations were actively involved in discussions regarding the key messages from the Our Next Steps document which set out the vision for Lancashire and South Cumbria led within local organisations.