Sharing Best Practice of NHS Membership Engagement

Engagement: it can be hard to define and tricky to measure.

by Ben Weller

So what happens when you invite 29 people into one room in Manchester for a day, throw in a little caffeine, some background music, and ask them to solve these and other problems?

...The “NHS Membership Engagement Network, North West”, of course, or, as it has become known to the Twitterati among you, #NHSNW

The event was designed to facilitate the sharing of “best practice” and ideas on four topics: 

·         Engaging with members

·         Running consultations

·         Governor engagement

·         Getting the most out of data

The aim was for participants to take home tangible strategies in each of the above areas.  These can now be implemented at their respective Trusts.

With such intense discussion on these subjects, and time pressure to complete the assigned tasks, the team scribes had a job on their hands to get it all noted down.  I’m pleased to say, I have received news that most have now regained full use of their writing hands! 

#NHSNW debate

The debate didn’t stop at the four walls of the Harwood room though.  CCGs, and other NHS stakeholders were chiming into the discussion via the live Twitter feed projected large onto the wall.  Questions thrown up were passed on to the teams in the room to answer – with these answers tweeted directly back.  

Bingo, Truffles and Bananas

It wasn’t all frenzied activity for the participants though.  There was a “master-class” on paperless event management to be enjoyed, a game of people bingo to get everyone mingling, and no MES event would seem complete without fine, organic truffles.

The people bingo winner and the people tweeting most vigorously were awarded chocolates, and in one case, a banana, for their efforts!

 As for #pieintrigue?  Well, who knows if it was a desert or a quiche but it tasted good! Well done to the caterers!  

The legacy of #NHSNW

Once the smoke cleared at the end of the day and the smiles on the delegates’ faces came into plain view, I couldn’t help feel there should be more of this.  We are now hoping #NHSNW will be the first in a whole series of collaborative, shared learning events around the country.  It seems appropriate it should start in the North West, a traditional hot-bed of FT activity.   

Well done to everyone involved for their energy and ideas – look out for the full dossier, with all the ideas produced on the day, which will prove that you do indeed have “Weapons of mass engagement” or as Dave Hammond, a chocolate winner, put it – you were “bouncing ideas, not bombs at #NHSNW”