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How do you want to make your voice heard?

We want to hear from people and communities across Kent and Medway.

This one-stop-shop digital platform is one of many ways for people to have their say and includes surveys, discussion forums and idea boards.

We have put together a plan for other ways to hear from people and want to know what you think about them and your ideas for other ways we can hear from people and communities. Let us know what you think on our ideas board.

Here are some details of what we're planning to put in place in the near future.

Kent and Medway Citizens’ Panel

A panel of people who haven’t previously been involved with giving their views on health and care services.

These people will take part in regular surveys and will be representative of the population of Kent and Medway.

The panel will receive regular surveys and opportunities to have their say on a variety of topics.

Involving Medway/Swale and community development

In Medway and Swale we will continue with the successful Involving Medway project which supports communities and helps us to hear their voices.

It includes community grants, community researchers and time credits for volunteers.

We will also be exploring ways of introducing a similar approach in other areas in 2023/24.

Health Network

This is a network of more than 6,000 people which we will continue to build. They are people who have indicated that they want to be kept informed about health and care and opportunities to have their say. Join the network by emailing kmccg.engage@nhs.net

Health Assembly

We will pilot a Health Assembly which will take the form of a large facilitated workshop that takes 40-50 participants through a series of discussions on a given topic.

It will include a range of representative community organisations together with selected members of the public invited through the Citizens’ Panel/Health Network membership.

Working with the VCSE sector

The voluntary, community and social enterprise sector has links with many of the communities we serve and we will ensure those people are able to be heard through the VCSE organisations who we will be working closely with.

People and community networks at place level

We will be supporting the four health and care partnerships (Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley; East Kent; Medway/Swale; West Kent) to develop the patient groups, which were previously aligned to clinical commissioning groups, to suit their needs and be representative of their communities, so the voice of people and communities can be heard at a local level.

Working with businesses and councils

We will improve our relationships with businesses and councils, including elected members, to help us reach a wider population and use them to reach out to people and communities and understand how to create healthy environments for people who live and work in Kent and Medway.

Outreach to our communities

We will use data to understand our communities better, forge better relationships with them and work with them to develop ways for them to have their say which work for them.

Where people do not speak English, we will work with interpreters to do this. We will also use Easy Read and face-to-face approaches for people with learning disabilities.

Experts by experience

Working with our partners across the NHS, we will develop a community of experts by experience.

These will be people who have recently used our services and whose insight will be valuable to help us improve.

Community champions

We will develop community champions who will work in their local communities to encourage people to get involved with shaping health and care services. These may be volunteers from our existing networks and new recruits.

Events, focus groups, workshops and surveys

These will continue to be some of the ways we engage, both face-to-face and online. We will target these methods to specific communities as required.

Formal public consultation

We will deliver best-practice consultations where required for substantial changes to services.

Co-production

We will produce a co-production charter for Kent and Medway health and care system which will aim for co-production as a gold standard for as much of our work as possible.

This will involve people and communities as early as possible when we are looking to improve services and will place them as partners in the decision-making process.

Roving roadshow

We will tour a roving roadshow which will visit community spaces such as shopping centres, hospitals, supermarkets, town centres, rural areas to hear from people about their experiences of health and care and share important information about accessing services.

We plan to work with schools, colleges, universities and youth groups to support young people to help us with this.

Insight Bank

Working with partners, we will develop a searchable insight bank for partners across the system to use to access feedback from people and communities.

Governance

A People and Communities Engagement Advisory Group will oversee the delivery of an Involving People and Communities Strategy which will be launched in July 2022 and work to hear the voices of people and communities.

Working with partners

We have established a People and Communities Engagement Network which brings together engagement and patient experience professionals, Healthwatch, the voluntary sector and non-executives responsible for engagement to work better together across the system.

Improved processes for feeding insights into decision-making

We are improving processes to make sure we not only share feedback from people and communities with those making decisions, but also hear back from them to let us know how those insights have been considered.

We will be improving feedback to those who engage with us about what we’ve heard and what’s happened as a result.

We want to hear from people and communities across Kent and Medway.

This one-stop-shop digital platform is one of many ways for people to have their say and includes surveys, discussion forums and idea boards.

We have put together a plan for other ways to hear from people and want to know what you think about them and your ideas for other ways we can hear from people and communities. Let us know what you think on our ideas board.

Here are some details of what we're planning to put in place in the near future.

Kent and Medway Citizens’ Panel

A panel of people who haven’t previously been involved with giving their views on health and care services.

These people will take part in regular surveys and will be representative of the population of Kent and Medway.

The panel will receive regular surveys and opportunities to have their say on a variety of topics.

Involving Medway/Swale and community development

In Medway and Swale we will continue with the successful Involving Medway project which supports communities and helps us to hear their voices.

It includes community grants, community researchers and time credits for volunteers.

We will also be exploring ways of introducing a similar approach in other areas in 2023/24.

Health Network

This is a network of more than 6,000 people which we will continue to build. They are people who have indicated that they want to be kept informed about health and care and opportunities to have their say. Join the network by emailing kmccg.engage@nhs.net

Health Assembly

We will pilot a Health Assembly which will take the form of a large facilitated workshop that takes 40-50 participants through a series of discussions on a given topic.

It will include a range of representative community organisations together with selected members of the public invited through the Citizens’ Panel/Health Network membership.

Working with the VCSE sector

The voluntary, community and social enterprise sector has links with many of the communities we serve and we will ensure those people are able to be heard through the VCSE organisations who we will be working closely with.

People and community networks at place level

We will be supporting the four health and care partnerships (Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley; East Kent; Medway/Swale; West Kent) to develop the patient groups, which were previously aligned to clinical commissioning groups, to suit their needs and be representative of their communities, so the voice of people and communities can be heard at a local level.

Working with businesses and councils

We will improve our relationships with businesses and councils, including elected members, to help us reach a wider population and use them to reach out to people and communities and understand how to create healthy environments for people who live and work in Kent and Medway.

Outreach to our communities

We will use data to understand our communities better, forge better relationships with them and work with them to develop ways for them to have their say which work for them.

Where people do not speak English, we will work with interpreters to do this. We will also use Easy Read and face-to-face approaches for people with learning disabilities.

Experts by experience

Working with our partners across the NHS, we will develop a community of experts by experience.

These will be people who have recently used our services and whose insight will be valuable to help us improve.

Community champions

We will develop community champions who will work in their local communities to encourage people to get involved with shaping health and care services. These may be volunteers from our existing networks and new recruits.

Events, focus groups, workshops and surveys

These will continue to be some of the ways we engage, both face-to-face and online. We will target these methods to specific communities as required.

Formal public consultation

We will deliver best-practice consultations where required for substantial changes to services.

Co-production

We will produce a co-production charter for Kent and Medway health and care system which will aim for co-production as a gold standard for as much of our work as possible.

This will involve people and communities as early as possible when we are looking to improve services and will place them as partners in the decision-making process.

Roving roadshow

We will tour a roving roadshow which will visit community spaces such as shopping centres, hospitals, supermarkets, town centres, rural areas to hear from people about their experiences of health and care and share important information about accessing services.

We plan to work with schools, colleges, universities and youth groups to support young people to help us with this.

Insight Bank

Working with partners, we will develop a searchable insight bank for partners across the system to use to access feedback from people and communities.

Governance

A People and Communities Engagement Advisory Group will oversee the delivery of an Involving People and Communities Strategy which will be launched in July 2022 and work to hear the voices of people and communities.

Working with partners

We have established a People and Communities Engagement Network which brings together engagement and patient experience professionals, Healthwatch, the voluntary sector and non-executives responsible for engagement to work better together across the system.

Improved processes for feeding insights into decision-making

We are improving processes to make sure we not only share feedback from people and communities with those making decisions, but also hear back from them to let us know how those insights have been considered.

We will be improving feedback to those who engage with us about what we’ve heard and what’s happened as a result.