South Staffs Council

6th July 2012

www.engagingcommunitiesstaffordshire.co.uk

Through a unique health and social care economy-wide Strategic Partnership Engaging Communities Staffordshire has developed as an innovative new social enteprise which is intended to bring County wide public, patient and user health and social care involvement, advice and feedback together in a central place in a simple, accessible and more efficient way

Lessons learned mean that by coordinating a repository of this information we will be able to get a holistic picture of services, population views, trends and service quality in a way that has not been possible before

It is ECS’s ambition to provide an early warning system for when things are going wrong

It will also create intelligence and evidence to support commissioning from wider and more diverse experiences and views

ECS will give a representative voice knowing for the first time who is being engaged on what and who is not

About the Project

www.engagingcommunitiesstaffordshire.co.uk

Nov 2009

Initial Project

March 2010

Concept Testing

August 2010

Concept Developme

nt

March 2011

ECS developme

nt and planning

April 2012

ECS goes live

Public Consultation Findings - Summary

92% agreed it was

important for the

public to have their

say on health and social care

services

55% felt that quality

of care varied by

service

Only 21% felt that

everyone in Staffordshire receives high

quality health and social care

services

62% knew where to go for

information

44% knew how to make a complaint

42% felt they could have their

say

36% knew where to go to give feedback

Current Involvement

89% of respondents felt it would be useful to have one independent organisation help and support them in

finding their way through health and social care services

Current InvolvementPeople perceptions of their ability to

have their say varied by:

-Geography-Age

-Previous experience

Those working in the sector, either professionally or voluntarily felt more

able to have their say,particularly in comparison with

relatives of those receiving care.

Providing Feedback

59% of respondents felt

unwilling to give feedback on health

and social care services

31% felt it was unlikely to be acted on

26% did not know who to speak to

10% feared victimisation

6% did not want to take up staff time

Providing Feedback

Therefore 78% overall saw a role for an independent organisation

48% felt that the organisation delivering the service should be approach first, followed by the option to use an independent

organisation

30% felt that they should be handled by an independent

organisation throughout

However,likelihood to provide

feedback in any of these scenarios varied

by whether it was positive or negative

Closing the Loop

82% of respondents felt there would be a better understanding of the ‘big issues’ if public feedback was

looked at in one place

76% wanted to see information about public feedback on health and social

care services being published

Value of an Independent Organisation

fair mindednothing to hide

true account

things will not be swept under the carpet

What should the

independent organisation

be?

Independent

Knowledgeable

Fast

Powerful

Representative

Resourced

Authoritative

Characteristics of the Organisation

The ECS Business Plan

ECS Governance

ECS ServicesService Description

Evidence and insight analysis

The provision of comprehensive qualitative data sets on patients’ views and provider stats. CCGs we spoke to were very interested in having access to comprehensive performance data.

Community research and engagement

The provision of community research and engagement services based around the flexibility of being able to access a well resourced organisation that could carry out labour intensive research and engagement activities in a short period of time.

Information sign posting

Provision of information, signposting and non-clinical advice to the public on health and social care services in the Staffordshire area.

Advocacy services

The provision of advocacy services to those who wish to engage with or lodge a complaint against health and social care services in Staffordshire. NHS complaints advocacy will form part of the core Local HealthWatch contract.

Complaints/ compliments

Over time ECS may take on an element of complaints/compliments services currently provided by the Local Authority or NHS Trusts . However, this is not a core Healthwatch service

ECS News

• First Chair person appointed• 4 Non Executive Board Directors appointed• Evidence and Insight Manager appointed• Hosting the Local Involvement Network• Providing support to the NHS and Council to engage local people• Working towards providing Local Healthwatch from April 2013

Questions

Further information from www.engagingcommunitiesstaffordshire.com