People Centred Public Health Decision Making

1. People Centred Public Health Decision Making Healthwatch Birmingham

2. Healthwatch is central to the governments intentions to “put the patients at the heart” of the NHS and social care, by “strengthening the collective voice of patients and the public”. (Healthwatch England) • We believe that when the public and consumers are involved in decisions affecting the commissioning and delivery of health and social care, it has resounding benefits. Services that are shaped around the needs of the individuals can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of care pathways. • We believe, above all, that Healthwatch Birmingham can achieve this by promoting the principles of consistent involvement and engagement • Our key engagement roles: • •To promote and support the involvement of the public and consumers in the commissioning, provision and scrutiny of local care services. • •To obtain the views of people in relation to their needs for, and their experiences of, local care services. • •To make reports and recommendations about how local care services could or ought to be improved, to persons responsible for commissioning, providing managing or scrutinising local care services and to HWE Healthwatch Birmingham

3. Our approach – embedding public involvement • "Transparency is a great friend to the service, allowing a dialogue with the public about variation. When it says NHS above the door' people think it's the same everywhere. Involving citizens in the shaping of their services and care, and engaging them in decision making  is key to success, the health service must be confident enough to engage citizens” (Mike Farrar NHS Confederation Chief Executive – Conference 2013) • Healthwatch Birmingham is therefore, developing an Engagement and Active Citizenship Strategy based on the following: • Assertive Engagement – clear, timetabled in advance and appropriate • Long term thinking – provide a vision as well as outcomes – future of social care • Working on the ground with real knowledge and experience – Local networks as a structure and Participatory Appraisal as techniques • Support Commissioners and Service providers to actively listen – VOICE & ECHO • Easy to contact – useful and accessible access points across and within the local community

4. Aims for volunteer & citizen engagement • Volunteers will become the public face and resource of Healthwatch Birmingham – our key connectors and communicators: • “Recruiting and retaining volunteers and using their experience, skills, knowledge and commitment is a key part of ensuring Local Healthwatch will be a success” • Enter & View Programme • Community Champions • Community Researchers • Patient Voice, User Representatives and Forums support events • Network of residents whom we share information , events, ideas and whom we seek to help find solutions • Relationships with statutory sector and voluntary sector are KEY to information flow • “to build up networks and partnerships to ensure a there is a range of cohesive and effective services without unnecessary duplication or gaps” • - Identifying organisations who link to others and or citizens. Empower them to work with us. • - • -

5. Interactive not extractive • Participatory Appraisal: • Participatory Appraisal is a family of approaches and methods which enable communities to share, develop and analyse their own knowledge of life and conditions.  By empowering local people to conduct their own modes of investigation, communities can plan and act (Chambers 1992) on their own outcomes, developing more community based solutions (Sellers 1996).  • To achieve this community aim requires researchers to recognise the wealth and value of local knowledge and information.  There is a wealth of knowledge and skills within a community that essentially goes unused during research. • Participatory appraisal methods and tools can be used across all age groups and cultures and do not rely on literacy skills. Participation can be on an individual level or on a group basis.  • Participatory appraisal involves the researcher ‘handing over the stick’ to enable local people to control their own level of input and take ownership of the outcomes. • Linda Tock (2001)

6. Birmingham Healthwatch VOICE CONCORDAT – Public involvement agreement • “A partnership agreement to capture and utilise the public & consumer voice – shaping delivery of health, social care and wellbeing services” • Together we will: • •Provide effective engagement and involvement bringing about improvements to the experiences of health and social care consumers • •Promote the values of public and consumer involvement in decisions affecting the commissioning and delivery of health and social acre (including Public Health) and related services. • •Work together as critical friends to identify areas and activities of engagement and involvement where Healthwatch Birmingham can add value • •Evaluate the impact of engagement and involvement

7. Shared Principles • Commitment to consumer voice – to the involvement and the inclusion of the public and consumer voice in developing and commissioning services • Partnership Working – to agree access to engagement networks and to collaboratively share intelligence and data to avoid duplication •Strategic commitment – to utilise the voice of the public and consumer in the production of the JSNA and the H&W strategy • •Communication – to agree to communication pathways bewteen partners to maximise positive outcomes and identify possible emerging areas of concern in the system • •Impact – all signatories and supporters will undertake regular reviews to monitor and evaluate the efficiency of any public gathering in accordance with principle of the agreement • - Each section of the H&SC sector has varied commitments to achieve the principles

8. Public Health and Healthwatch • • Step away from deciding and consulting – need to get involved in co production and partnership – trust the community to be part of the consultations right from the start. • •“Closing the loop" is crucial -  being able to inform all stakeholders of what has happened 'on the back' of feedback, not just the feedback itself • •Engagement is a long-term process, requiring a menu of different tools and techniques for different audiences; there is no blueprint. • We believe that, by working together, we can not only help to meet the enormous challenges facing health and social care in terms of financially constraint and high demand, but also fundamentally to improve health and social care services for the people of Birmingham and those who use the services within it. • We want to hear from you – ideas, issues, contacts, events, awareness raising, working with Healthwatch Volunteers....please get in touch! • www.healthwatchbirmingham.co.uk • helenb@healthwatchbirmingham.co.uk – Engagement & Volunteer Coordinator • 0121 678 8885 • @HWBrum