Community Involvement

Share your expertise and experience of health and social care

For the February 2010 Update on Community Involvement activity, click here.

For more information visit the Consultation Hub

updated February 2010

in Health and Social Care

Share Your Experience: health and social care

People who use health or social care can have their say in many ways. Their experience is what policy makers need. RCVS is currently recruiting Service User Members and Carer Members to Richmond committees, and promoting other ways to get involved.

What is community Involvement?

There are many different ways that residents, patients, carers and others can be involved in health and social care, ranging from action through voluntary sector groups to sitting on Council and NHS Committees and from making complaints to subscribing to newsletters. The Council and its partners are working currently to provide information on different ways to get involved. Meanwhile, click here for a map of 8 different channels of engagement between the public and statutory authorities. To learn more about them, follow the links below to Key Organisations; check our Share Your Experience page for several ways to get involved, and our Consultation page for information on recent and and forthcoming engagement activity.

RCVS and Community Involvement

RCVS employs a Community Involvement Coordinator (CIC), whose role is to strengthen community engagement in health and social care provision. Specifically we facilitate involvement of service-users and carers in the work of the Council (London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, LBRUT) and NHS Richmond. NHS Richmond and Richmond Council support the post and participate in its Steering Group. Click here for Terms of Reference of the Steering Group.

RCVS’s also leads on strengthening partnership between the voluntary sector and the statutory authorities. While different from direct engagement with the public, this work is of course closely related. Contact Kathryn Williamson kathrynw@richmondcvs.org.uk, Health and Partnerships Manager, for details.

Useful organisations, resources and links

RCVS resources

Community, service-user and carer involvement in health and social care. Stocktake: where are we now? what can be improved? This report of September 2009 reviews some key channels of community involvement in health and social care: what’s working, what isn’t, and what could be done. The aim is to stimulate further discussion and action for more effective engagement. Click here for the full report, and here for the Executive Summary.

Updates on Community Involvement. Every few months RCVS produces an update on what is happening on community involvement: results of past engagement, future plans, progress, problems and results. Click the links below for

Key Organisations

NHS Richmond has a strong mandate to involve patients. Primary Care Trusts have a statutory 'Duty to Involve' and a 'Duty to Feedback'. NHS Richmond will be looking to boost their score on Engagement for the next Panel Report on World Class Commissioning. The new Engagement Strategy, approved by the Board, is here, and includes several ways to keep the public informed, and listen to their views. The website includes updates on consultations (click here), dates and papers of Board meetings which are open to the public (click here), or to join their database for receiving information, contact involve@rtpct.nhs.uk

London Borough of Richmond: under the 'Duty to Involve,' the Council and its partners (known as the 'Local Strategic Partnership' ) has a responsibility to inform, engage and consult with people who live, work and visit in the Borough. There are currently webpages on current and past consultations (click here), though relatively few relate to health and social care. Information on work of committees within the Health and Wellbeing Partnership is here, and several include User Members, Carer members, and the voluntary sector. The Health Housing and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee meets roughly monthly to scrutinise policy and peformance. All its papers are available in advance here, and meetings are open to the public.

Richmond LINk is an independent organisation that promotes involvement of the community in improving health and social care services. The LINk's role is to investigate, report and make recommendations on service issues identified by community members. It is hosted by Richmond CVS. Join LINk and see the latest information here.

The User and Carer Group comprises all the Service User Members and Carer Members who sit on Joint Commissioning Groups that fall under the Health and Wellbeing Partnership. The group is supported by the Community Involvement Coordinator and its role is to strengthen the voice of users and carers in decision-making. The group's Terms of Reference is here, and minutes of meetings will be available on the new website later in the year.

External Resources

There are a host of national resources dedicated to supporting involvement and engagement. This is not a comprehensive guide, but you may find these useful:

The Community Development Network has produced guidance on the Duty to Involve and Making it Work.

Fontis, a new social enterprise aiming to transform the quality of public services, public life and well-being in the UK by improving the practice of involvement, engagement and participation.

The Improvement and Development Agency, I&DEA, supports innovation in local government, and has a dedicated theme on community empowerment.

The NHS National Centre for Involvement has just closed but retains useful material on the website, such as good practice from around the UK presented at a conference in 2009. See the day’s presentations.

Contact Caroline Ashley 020 8288 2528 for more information or to give your input on any of the above.

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A new website is under development and further information on community involvement will only appear when it goes live, due in April. Meanwhile, contact Caroline Ashley, Community Involvement Coordinator, for further information; carolinea@richmondcvs.org.uk tel 0208 255 8500 Share Your Experience: health and social care People who use health or social care can have their say in many ways. Their experience is what policy makers need. RCVS is currently recruiting Service User Members and Carer Members to Richmond committees, and promoting other ways to get involved. Click here for more details. What is community Involvement? There are many different ways that residents, patients, carers and others can be involved in health and social care, ranging from action through voluntary sector groups to sitting on Council and NHS Committees and from making complaints to subscribing to newsletters. The Council and its partners are working currently to provide information on different ways to get involved. Meanwhile, click here for a map of 8 different channels of engagement between the public and statutory authorities. To learn more about them, follow the links below to Key Organisations; check our Share Your Experience page for several ways to get involved, and our Consultation page for information on recent and and forthcoming engagement activity. RCVS and Community Involvement RCVS employs a Community Involvement Coordinator (CIC), whose role is to strengthen community engagement in health and social care provision. Specifically we facilitate involvement of service-users and carers in the work of the Council (London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, LBRUT) and NHS Richmond. NHS Richmond and Richmond Council support the post and participate in its Steering Group. Click here for Terms of Reference of the Steering Group. RCVS’s also leads on strengthening partnership between the voluntary sector and the statutory authorities. While different from direct engagement with the public, this work is of course closely related. Contact Kathryn Williamson kathrynw@richmondcvs.org.uk, Health and Partnerships Manager, for details. back to top Useful organisations, resources and links RCVS resources Community, service-user and carer involvement in health and social care. Stocktake: where are we now? what can be improved? This report of September 2009 reviews some key channels of community involvement in health and social care: what’s working, what isn’t, and what could be done. The aim is to stimulate further discussion and action for more effective engagement. Click here for the full report, and here for the Executive Summary. Updates on Community Involvement. Every few months RCVS produces an update on what is happening on community involvement: results of past engagement, future plans, progress, problems and results. Click the links below for February 2010 Update October 2009 Update August 2009 Update To subscribe to future updates, email Caroline Key Organisations NHS Richmond has a strong mandate to involve patients. Primary Care Trusts have a statutory 'Duty to Involve' and a 'Duty to Feedback'. NHS Richmond will be looking to boost their score on Engagement for the next Panel Report on World Class Commissioning. The new Engagement Strategy, approved by the Board, is here, and includes several ways to keep the public informed, and listen to their views. The website includes updates on consultations (click here), dates and papers of Board meetings which are open to the public (click here), or to join their database for receiving information, contact involve@rtpct.nhs.uk London Borough of Richmond: under the 'Duty to Involve,' the Council and its partners (known as the 'Local Strategic Partnership' ) has a responsibility to inform, engage and consult with people who live, work and visit in the Borough. There are currently webpages on current and past consultations (click here), though relatively few relate to health and social care. Information on work of committees within the Health and Wellbeing Partnership is here, and several include User Members, Carer members, and the voluntary sector. The Health Housing and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee meets roughly monthly to scrutinise policy and peformance. All its papers are available in advance here, and meetings are open to the public. There are currently several opportunities to get more involved in the work of NHS Richmond and the Council in relation to health and social care. See our pages on Share Your Experience, for more information. Richmond LINk is an independent organisation that promotes involvement of the community in improving health and social care services. The LINk's role is to investigate, report and make recommendations on service issues identified by community members. It is hosted by Richmond CVS. Join LINk and see the latest information here. The User and Carer Group comprises all the Service User Members and Carer Members who sit on Joint Commissioning Groups that fall under the Health and Wellbeing Partnership. The group is supported by the Community Involvement Coordinator and its role is to strengthen the voice of users and carers in decision-making. The group's Terms of Reference is here, and minutes of meetings will be available on the new website later in the year. External Resources There are a host of national resources dedicated to supporting involvement and engagement. This is not a comprehensive guide, but you may find these useful: The Community Development Network has produced guidance on the Duty to Involve and Making it Work. Fontis, a new social enterprise aiming to transform the quality of public services, public life and well-being in the UK by improving the practice of involvement, engagement and participation. The Improvement and Development Agency, I&DEA, supports innovation in local government, and has a dedicated theme on community empowerment. The NHS National Centre for Involvement has just closed but retains useful material on the website, such as good practice from around the UK presented at a conference in 2009. See the day’s presentations. back to top We welcome your feedback! Contact Caroline Ashley 020 8288 2528 for more information or to give your input on any of the above. 0208 255 8500 action@richmondcvs.org.uk back to top
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