Struggling to ensure your consultation is inclusive, representative and challenge-proof?
The expertise and capability to support NHS consultations – every step of the way.
Helping NHS organisations to engage communities at scale.
We will help you to:
Have meaningful conversations with seldom heard groups and communities and generate insight useful to NHS decision-makers.
We specialise in reaching diverse communities and have pioneered the use of qualitative social research methodologies to inform NHS service changes.
We will create a bespoke programme with a mix of open access and targeted engagement with tried and tested models which combine positive involvement with rigour and real insight.
Ensure that engagement and consultation processes meet best practice and legal duties
We are used to working within NHS England guidance and relevant statutory involvement framework for NHS service change (s242, s14Z2 and s13Q) and compliant with the Equality Act / Public Sector Equality Duty.
Support clinical leaders and programme teams to manage stakeholders and local politics
We have supported clients through NHS England authorisation to proceed to consultation, including managing local authority scrutiny processes.
We know that some changes are controversial, and we have a track record of success managing local politics, engaging campaign groups effectively and navigating challenge (including supporting clients through referral to Secretary of State and/or where judicial review is sought).
Generate large and representative response to NHS public engagement exercises
Developing and using digital engagement is a specialism which we complement with community outreach approaches to ensure a response from people who are less confident online.
We will work with your in-house team to make the most of your own engagement channels and promote involvement positively and effectively to patients and potential service users.
Provide robust, independent analysis of local views on proposals
Our reports summarise questionnaire responses, extracting meaningful correlations where these are supported by the data and being clear where preferences are expressed.
This is supported by in-depth analysis which gets beneath the surface of headline figures and supports decision-makers to develop solutions which make a real difference.
Our reports have been called where are decisions are challenged and have been robust in demonstrating fair and proportionate consultation processes.
Over more than ten years working with NHS organisations, we are proud to have:
- Engaged face-to-face with more than 3,000 patients and members of the public to discuss what matters to them most in healthcare
- Supported over 25 major NHS service change programmes to ensure they meet best practice and legal duties for involvement
- Undertaken more than 20 impact assessments to help our client tackle health inequality and exclusion
- Reached more than XXX,000 patients and residents on health services through social media and developed NHS websites visited by more than X,XXX,XXXX people
- Won prestigious national awards, including CIPR Change or Transformation Programme of the Year.
