Our commitment to patient and public engagement

NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is committed to placing the views of local people at the heart of their NHS, ensuring that they are included in the review and co-design of local services.

We work hard to build and maintain relationships with partner organisations, community groups and organisations and continually explore opportunities for collaborative working.

This, together with our public engagement work ensures that the people of Dorset are provided with the best opportunities to influence the work we do.

Find out more about opportunities to get involved and influence our work in our Get Involved news pages.

Engagement principles

We have a set of engagement principles which are published in our constitution and support our approach to engagement.

Fairness, equality, confidentiality and inclusion will underpin all aspects of our community engagement, and will be reflected in our engagement policies and practice
Engagement is a two way and proactive process and we will ensure that this is reflected in our approach to all engagement activity
Engagement activities will have clear and agreed purpose, and we will use appropriate methods and standards to achieve these purposes, ensuring they are relevant to the audience and easily accessible for everyone
Community engagement will be continuous with a commitment to learning from experience and national guidance
There is an acceptance that some communities find it difficult to engage due to capacity or competency. We will work with these communities to ensure that they are able to respond effectively to us. Dorset CCG will ensure the effective implementation of equality principles, to share ownership of the wider agenda, and to enable all viewpoints to be identified, collected and reflected
Skills will be built in the CCG to ensure the effective implementation of equalities principles, to share ownership of the wider agenda, and to enable all viewpoints to be identified, collected and reflected
We will be clear with all our communities the scope of change and the influence that they can have on this change so there is a shared understanding. We will be clear about our reasons for this change and why there may be limitations on public ability to influence change
Accurate, timely information is crucial for effective engagement and wherever possible enough time will be allowed for early information gathering, engagement and if necessary consultation on specific issues
Feedback is essential to develop a trusted and honest relationship. Feedback will be provided following all engagement activities and there will be clarity about the differences engagement has made. If no changes have been made, this will also be explained.

In summary, these principles highlight the importance of equality and recognises:

The diversity of people and communities
The need to ensure that engagement has a clear sense of purpose
The requirement to be open and transparent about the scope of change and what can be influenced
The need to use effective methods to achieve change
The skills and knowledge of all those involved need to be used and developed
That continuous improvement is essential.

Representatives of the NHS Dorset’s CCG’s Engagement and Communications team are members of The Consultation Institute for continuous advice and updates.

NHS Dorset CCG contacts for advice and assurance as appropriate depending on the scale and nature of public consultations.

Putting local people at the centre of our discussions

Dorset’s Public Engagement Group (PEG) produced a guide to putting local people at the centre of our discussions. It was developed to help improve experience as well as outcomes for local people.

Standards of engagement

Honesty – we will be clear about the scope of the engagement activity and what can be changed and what can’t. When changes can’t be made, we will explain why
Involvement – we aim to identify and involve the people and organisations who have an interest in the focus of the engagement
Support – we will identify and overcome any barriers to involvement and support people to engage with us
Planning – we will gather evidence of the needs and available resources and use this evidence to agree the purpose, scope and timescale of the engagement and the actions to be taken
Methods – we will agree and use methods of engagement that are fit for purpose and relevant to the target audience
Working together – we will agree and use clear procedures to work with others where appropriate to avoid duplication of engagement and effort
Improvement – we will ensure that the engagement feeds into commissioning decisions so that people can see results of the engagement activity
Feedback – we will feed back the results of the engagement to the wider community and those who undertook the engagement in a timely manner
Communication – effective communication about the ways and opportunities to engage will be published and proactively shared with communities
Proactive – we recognise that the CCG needs to be proactive in its approach and wherever possible will attend existing meetings and go to where people are rather than expect people to come to the CCG
Monitoring and evaluation – we will monitor and evaluate whether the engagement achieves its purposes and ensure that we monitor those who have engaged with us.

Spectrum of involvement

Range of communication methods

An essential element of meaningful engagement is ensuring timely and accessible information and communication. Each review of services will have its own engagement plan to help make sure we reach the target audience for each review.

We will use a range of methods to ensure we communicate effectively with a wide range of people. This could include:

Our partners including PPGs and voluntary sector organisations
Social media – including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Our website
Press releases
E-newsletter and e-bulletins
Printed materials including documents and posters
Events

Accessible information

We are committed to sharing our story with our public, stakeholders, opinion-formers and staff in a way that will help them to understand what we are doing and why.

Our key publications can be made available in alternative formats, such as EasyRead, large print, braille or audio, and may be available in alternative languages upon request.

Please contact us to make a request at communications@dorsetccg.nhs.uk

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to ensuring that we reduce health inequalities and to keeping the needs of our communities at the heart of our commissioning role.

Read more about our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work including our Equality Impact Assessments.

Working together

NHS Dorset CCG works closely with a number of local organisations. They play a significant role in helping us to reach out to our local communities and groups, providing information and opportunity to be involved.

The CCG has a duty to engage with some of these organisations including Healthwatch, the Health and Wellbeing Boards and the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committees, who can challenge on proposals in the interests of local residents.

It is important that we engage with our diverse communities ensuring their needs are taken into account when co-producing, designing and commissioning services.

The main organisations and groups we work with are:

Healthwatch

Healthwatch is the independent champion for people who use health and social care services. They have an important statutory role in making sure that the organisations who run local health and care services understand and act on what really matters to people.

Healthwatch Dorset’s purpose is to understand the needs, experiences and concerns of people who use health and social care services and to speak out on their behalf.

We hold regular bi-monthly meetings with Healthwatch Dorset officers to ensure we continue to work together.

Health and Wellbeing Boards

Each Health and Wellbeing Board is made up of a group of key leaders representing health and care organisations who come together to improve the health and wellbeing of their local population. Board members work together to understand what their local communities need from health and care services and agree priorities.

In Dorset, we have two Health and Wellbeing Boards, you can find more information about the boards on the councils’ webpages.

Bournemouth and Poole Health and Wellbeing Board

Dorset Health and Wellbeing Board

Health Overview and Scrutiny Committees

HOSCs are made up of elected councillors and their role is to scrutinise local health services. They bring democratic accountability into healthcare decisions and make the NHS more publicly accountable and responsive to local communities. The HOSCs must be consulted on any proposed substantial service changes. Members of the CCG attend Committee meetings as required.

In Dorset we have thwo individual HOSCs and a joint HOSC. You can find out more about the individual HOSCs on the councils’ websites:

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole HOSC
• Dorset HOSC
• Joint HOSC

Some examples of areas of our work we have taken to the HOSCs include:

– Dementia Services Review
– Mental Health Rehabilitation Review
– Our Primary Care Strategy
– Clinical Services Review
– Integrated Urgent Care Services
– MSK Physiotherapy Services Review
– Freestyle Libre Sensors.

Community Action Network, Dorset Community Action and the Volunteer Centre Dorset

The community voluntary sector plays an important role in enabling meaningful public engagement to help shape services and improve health outcomes for the population of Dorset. It is imperative that the CCG works closely with local communities across Dorset’s geography, demography and diversity.

The CCG has a contractual agreement with each of the following community voluntary sector organisations:

Community Action Network (formerly Bournemouth and Poole CVS)
Dorset Community Action
The Volunteer Centre Dorset.

Close working with these organisations enables the CCG to actively promote opportunities for involvement to 100’s of member community and voluntary sector organisations and groups. It also enables the CCG to have an awareness of insight and changing needs across the local community.

The Community Action Network also host and jointly facilitate 3 health and care forums each year for the CCG, providing opportunity for the CCG to actively seek views to inform change and to provide feedback on how local people’s views are being taken into consideration.

Opportunities are promoted via social media, websites, newsletters and e-bulletins. Member groups and organisations are actively encouraged to follow the CCG on both Twitter and Facebook.

Bournemouth and Poole CVSs also host and jointly facilitate 3 health and care forums each year for the CCG, providing opportunity for the CCG to actively seek views to inform change and to provide feedback on how local people’s views are being taken into consideration.

Opportunities are promoted via social media, websites, newsletters and e-bulletins. Member groups and organisations are actively encouraged to follow the CCG on both Twitter and Facebook.

Dorset Race Equality Council (DREC)

We work with Dorset Race Equality Council (DREC). DREC are a charity, their aim is to inform and educate regarding race/ethnic relations.

In December 2018 Dorset Race Equality Council (DREC) hosted the first meeting of a new health ambassador network. This is a group of people from different ethnic backgrounds who are very active in their respective communities. DREC and the CCG meet with them 3 to 4 times a year to help the CCG to reach out into their communities, to help them communicate key messages about health and care services in Dorset and to explore views, needs and understanding of service provision and development.

‘The health ambassadors have a hugely valuable role in representing members of their communities and supporting effective engagement with members of the various ethnic communities within Dorset.’ (Nathalie Sherring, Chief Executive, DREC).

Dorset Association of Parish and Town Councils (DAPTC)

We work with DAPTC. DAPTC provides advice, support, training and assistance to its member councils.

DAPTC assist us in reaching a wider audience by promoting opportunities for involvement, circulating news and providing feedback through their network. Member councils are actively encouraged to follow the CCG on both Twitter and Facebook.

Our Dorset partners

Dorset CCG is part of Our Dorset. Our Dorset is a partnership of health and social care organisations working together to deliver Integrated Care Systems.

Our Dorset Engagement Leads Network

The Engagement Leads network is made up of nominated public engagement leads from each of the Our Dorset ICS partner organisations and representatives from the Community Action Network and Dorset Community Action. The network meets bi-monthly. Progress reports are provided bi-monthly to the Senior Leadership Team.

The purpose of the Our Dorset Engagement Leads Network is to:

– To share information, intelligence and approach to public engagement across Our Dorset (ICS)
– To align as far as possible so that the audiences we seek to engage with see and experience a coordinated and consistent approach Our Dorset (ICS) partner organisations.
– To share best practice and act as a professional group for critiquing and enhancing a professional engagement approach across the county.
– To provide expert engagement advice and guidance in line with national guidance and good practice. It is not the role of the group to carry out engagement work.
– To work with the Sustainability Transformation Plan portfolio leads to ensure that the work programme for the Our Dorset Public Engagement Group (PEG) is timely and meaningful.

Downloads

Our key publications can be made available in alternative formats, such as easy read, large print or audio, and may be available in alternative languages upon request.

Please contact us to make a request at communications@dorsetccg.nhs.uk

Strategic documents

Public Engagement Guidance Chart

Putting local people at the centre of our discussions (infographic)

Consultation Principles – developed in line with national guidance, with the Patient (Carer) and Public Engagement Group (PPEG) 2016.