This week’s blog takes a
look at something very dear to our hearts at MES, public and patient engagement
in the NHS.
As we draw into the hopefully anticipated ‘indian summer’ of 2012 I have been reflecting upon the people we’ve met, the conferences attended and the clients we have worked alongside so far this year.
As we draw into the hopefully anticipated ‘indian summer’ of 2012 I have been reflecting upon the people we’ve met, the conferences attended and the clients we have worked alongside so far this year.
Following the assent of the Health and Social Care Bill in March the precedent for patient
and public involvement has never been greater. What’s more it has been set out
as a whole domain (2) for Clinical Commissioning Groups to get to grips with.
But without the rigid measures for engagement that are laid out for Foundation
Trusts to guide them, many CCGS are wondering what effective engagement actually
feels like.
The ladder of engagement offers some useful insight. We see that for longer lasting and meaningful engagement we need to look at how to collaborate with and empower patients. This sounds nice in theory, or as a collections of arrows and boxes in a powerpoint slide, but what does this actually look like in practice?
The ladder of engagement offers some useful insight. We see that for longer lasting and meaningful engagement we need to look at how to collaborate with and empower patients. This sounds nice in theory, or as a collections of arrows and boxes in a powerpoint slide, but what does this actually look like in practice?
Long-time MES collaborator NHS North East Lincolnshire
CCG has been up and running with the ‘accord’ project for about 3 years now. Here, elected members
of the public sit on the actual (not shadow) commissioning boards in the
majority.
Traditionally providers with a
statutory mandate for engagement (i.e. Foundation Trusts and their public /
staff memberships) have had to grapple with short term cost versus potential
longer term savings if the engagement leads to better delivery.
CCGs have a distinctly new
challenge when it comes to engagement, and this takes place before they even get
to grappling with their public obligations in Domain 2. As membership
organisations themselves, they need to; self organise, get practices talking to
each other, and explain their very existence to receptionists, nurses, practice
managers, locums and partner GPs – quite a varied audience!
From taking part in some
workshop sessions in recent conferences, it was intriguing to see that the issue
of, ‘how information could and would travel from CCG down to member practices
and back up again’ was a concern amongst many setting up fledgling CCGs.
As ever, there is always the battle between long terms benefits and what is realistic in the short term. Concerns that the CCG project may be abandoned with a change of government are very real, and consequently a reluctance to commit could ultimately lead to tokenistic engagement, and a failure to put the patient at the heart of the NHS.
However, we have seen plenty to be encouraged about so far in 2012, with MES helping a number of CCGs take positive steps in creating long lasting and meaningful structures. This is something I will explore further in a future blog.
As ever, there is always the battle between long terms benefits and what is realistic in the short term. Concerns that the CCG project may be abandoned with a change of government are very real, and consequently a reluctance to commit could ultimately lead to tokenistic engagement, and a failure to put the patient at the heart of the NHS.
However, we have seen plenty to be encouraged about so far in 2012, with MES helping a number of CCGs take positive steps in creating long lasting and meaningful structures. This is something I will explore further in a future blog.
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