Key considerations
The NHS legal duty to involve – the NHS has legal duties to make arrangements to involve the public in its decision-making, set out in the Health and Care Act 2022. We are required to make arrangements to involve patients and the public in planning services, developing, and considering proposals for changes in the way services are provided and decisions to be made that affect how those services operate.
Planning engagement activities – meeting the legal duty can be achieved by consulting people, providing people with information, or in other ways. Building relationships with communities and talking with them openly about service changes ensures we meet our legal duties, and that the voices of patients remain central to everything we do. Understanding people’s experiences is vital to designing care which meets people’s needs. The level of engagement we carry out is based on the scale of any proposed change, and how significant it is likely to be.
Working with Council colleagues – we work closely with Health Overview and Scrutiny Committees in our borough councils to plan engagement activities. They have the opportunity to challenge our engagement work and findings to ensure local people’s needs are central to decision making.
Equalities Impact Assessment – is a tool used to consider the potential impact of activities on the community from different equality perspectives. This understanding helps support the planning process helping to provide better services to patients, service users, carers, and staff. This can be a helpful tool for mapping which communities to engage with as part of any proposed service change. See a template Equalities Impact Assessment form.
Information:
For more advice on a potential upcoming service change teams can get in touch with us by contacting [email protected]