North East Essex CCG

Communications and Engagement Strategy

Date: August/September 2016

Status: FOR BOARD APPROVAL

Authors: Simon Morgan

Contributors: Ray Hardisty (Chair of the Health Forum), Paul Kitson (Complaints and PALS Manager) and Joanne Parlett (Communications and Marketing Manager at Colchester Borough Council)

Communications strategy – North East Essex CCG

  1. INTRODUCTION

North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group came into existence on 1 April 2013, taking over many of the functions of health and social care commissioning for people and patients living in Colchester and Tendring. The demands on the local health economy and the CCG are growing as fast as the population it serves.

Therefore it is important that the aims and objectives of the CCG’s Communications strategy are refreshed to ensure the organisation is best served and supported.

It is important that opportunities are provided for patient and stakeholder involvement in how services are commissioned while ensuring that local voices are at the centre of how the CCG operates. Therefore effective communication has to be a two way process. The CCG will continue to listen to the opinions of the people and groups we serve – a key requirement of the ‘NHS Constitution’, ‘Health and Social Care Act 2012’ and ‘Equalities Act 2010’. In addition, ‘Liberating the NHS: No decision about me without me’ must always be an active driver in the work we do.

A draft version of this strategy was sent to Anglian Community Enterprise, Community Voluntary Services (Colchester and Tendring), Colchester Borough Council, Colchester Hospital University Foundation NHS Trust, East of England Ambulance Service, Essex County Council, Healthwatch Essex, Health Forum as well as staff within the CCG.

  1. OUR LOCAL AREA

North east Essex has a population of around 330,000 – predominantly an elderly population exists along the coastline of Tendring. In April 2015, the GP registered population of north east Essex was 337,354 (male 164,698; female 172,656). The resident population of north east Essex is predicted to rise to around 377,000 (a 12% increase) by 2035. The greatest increases are expected to be in those aged 85 years and over whose numbers are expected to increase by about 125%, from 10,300 to 23,200. This will create additional demand for services over the next 10 to 20 years. This includes not just the absolute increase in the number of residents, but also the increased burden of multiple physical and mental conditions among this group of people.

Public Health England has shown that 40% of all illness results from modifiable risk factors (poor diet, smoking, excessive weight and high blood pressure). Those not addressing these risk factors will have greater need for health and social care services. Professionals actively promoting healthier lifestyle may ease demand on services as well as improve health and well-being.

The level of deprivation in parts of north east Essex also creates localised areas of high health need.

  • In Tendring the life expectancy from birth for a male born in the most deprived area is 10 year less than that in the least deprived. In Colchester the difference is 8 years.
  • Mortality for causes considered preventable was significantly below the national average in Colchester whilst significantly above in Tendring.

More detail on the structure and health of the population in North East Essex can be found in the CCG JSNA on the Essex Insight website at:

  1. OUR VISION AND OBJECTIVES

The CCG’s vision is “Embracing better health and wellbeing for all”, underpinned by its four strategic objectives:

  1. To achieve our vision through an inclusive, holistic approach to patient and service user centred commissioning, embedding personalisation of care through integrated health and social care services;
  2. To transform care and drive continuous improvement in quality and safety. Achieve the best possible outcomes for our service users through high quality care;
  3. To use commissioning resources effectively and responsibly. To develop our organisation, teams and individual staff to be trusted, competent, well trained, talented, enthusiastic and dedicated;
  4. To tackle the biggest health challenges in north east Essex including reducing health inequalities.

We want to work in partnership with public, patients and carers across north east Essex to help them have greater choice, control and responsibility for health and wellbeing services:

  • People will be encouraged and supported to look after their own health and

social care needs;

  • Carers will receive the support they need;
  • Patients, public and community groups will take up opportunities to be involved in planning and developing services;
  • Services will be centred around the patient and will be high quality, evidence-based, cost effective and sustainable;
  • People will receive seamless and joined up services across their health and

social care needs;

  • We are committed to commissioning services which are equitable, inclusive and sustainable.
  1. PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT

This strategy is designed to support the organisation to reach the above objectives and vision. It outlines our approach to communication and engagement both with our stakeholders, including patients and the public as well as with our staff.

It also sets out how we will:

  • communicate with our audiences;
  • further strengthen the reputation of the NHS across Colchester and Tendring;
  • develop closer working relationships with our stakeholders;
  • enhance and protect our reputation;
  • encourage greater awareness for self care;
  • develop communications that support the organisation to speak to audiences and to listen to their views.
  1. OUTCOMES OF STRATEGY

This strategy seeks to ensure that the following outcomes are achieved by the end of 2017:

  • Workforce - An engaged workforce that are clear on the vision of the organisation – with a strong ‘can do’ ethos;
  • Partnerships - Development and maintenance of strong partnerships with key stakeholders and the public who understand the role of the CCG insupporting people to live healthy lifestyles and adapting services so they are sustainable;
  • Reputation - A strong reputation locally as an organisation that is regarded as a local leader for NHS services;
  • GPs and practice managers – an engaged membership who have a strong relationship with the CCG.
  1. A SUSTAINABLE FOOTPRINT (Five Year Forward View)

Local patients and the public, partners and carers have asked for simpler and more joined-up services. Every health and care system is now working to produce a five year Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) which meets the vision set out in the NHS Forward View 2015. The purpose of each STP is to show how local services will evolve and become sustainable over the next five years. To ensure the forward view vision becomes a reality, local health, care, housing, council and education bodies will come together in geographic areas supporting a population of 100,000.

In April 2016, work started to establish a footprint for the areas covered by North East Essex CCG, Ipswich and East CCG and West Suffolk CCG. The aim is to narrow the gaps in the quality of care, improve our population’s health and wellbeing and help to ensure the local NHS is able to balance the books.

There is an additional aspect of our STP which will see Colchester and Ipswich hospitals working closely together to form a long term partnership – known as the Acute Transformation. The aim of this arrangement is to improve standards of healthcare services at Colchester Hospital.

Since April 2016, the communications leads at Ipswich and East and West Suffolk and North East Essex CCGs have been working collaboratively to draft key messages and identify activities that would support the communication of the Five Year Forward View for both areas. There is an urgent need to identify messages so that staff are aware of what plan is all about and how it will impact on their localities.

Both organisations are committed to working closely with a wide range of local government, community, and voluntary sector partners to ensure we harness close links with local people. This is so they are involved in shaping the future of their local health and social care services. This approach will seek to reach areas such as planning, housing, the environment, education, sport and leisure facilities, and community resilience.

Conducting the above activity will allow and support the development of integrated health and social care services that allow local people across north east Essex to receive joined-up care. This will allow them to live happy, healthier and independent lives.

Key deliverables

  • To create a communications plan that supports the Five Year Forward View – Deadline – to be determined by the project.
  1. BIG CARE DEBATE 2

The North East Essex CCG has been engaging widely with local communities finding out local peoples’ views on instances of waste or duplication within local health and social care services. The engagement activities also sought peoples’ experiences of services and how they thought communities could further support people to maintain a happy and healthy lifestyle within their own neighbourhood. The Big Care Debate 2 concluded at the end of April 2016, and the key themes emerging from it will continue to shape the development of the STP.

Key deliverables

  • To produce a report that highlights key themes emerging from the Big Care Debate 2 – these would be fed into the STP transformation work. Deadline – by end of July - Achieved
  1. PRINCIPLES

The CCG will ensure any communications material produced is:

  • Two way – listening to feedback and reporting back on how this will be used;
  • Accessible – to everyone in our community;
  • Clear and concise – easy to understand;
  • Targeted – to ensure our audiences are receiving information that is relevant and applicable to them;
  • Open, transparent and accurate – so that our communities can make informed decisions and know what they’re responding to;
  • Sustainable – to ensure ongoing mutually beneficial relationships;
  • Cost effective – value for money.
  1. AUDIENCES

Creating and harnessing supportive and meaningful relationships with our key audiences is crucial to the success of this strategy. In order to achieve this, we need to understand who our audiences are and the importance they have to the delivery of our vision. In this regard, our audiences and stakeholders include:

  • Patients, carers and public - those who use NHS services within the footprint area. There would be sub groups in relation to this audience and this would influence how we would communicate with them (Young people, old people, commuters, parents).
  • Partners – those organisations that would work alongside system leaders (Essex County Council, Suffolk County Council (through STP work), Healthwatch, district and borough councils.
  • Providers - those organisations that provide services on behalf of the CCG.
  • Employees - this group includes individuals who are either employed by the CCG or closely associated with it (such as GPs or county council seconded staff).

Key audiences

Patients and public / Partners and stakeholders / Providers / Employees
  • Wider public
  • Young parents
  • Parents/carers
  • Troubled families
  • Hard to reach groups (ethnic minority groups black and ethnic minority, gypsy travelling community)
  • Health Forum
  • Carers
/
  • NHS England
  • Department of Health
  • Other CCGs across Essex and Suffolk
  • Essex County Council
  • Local councillors
  • Care Quality Commission
  • NHS Improvement
  • GP practices
  • Monitor
  • Colchester Borough Council
  • Tendring District Council
  • Ipswich Borough Council
  • Suffolk Coastal /Waveney council
  • Babergh / Mid Suffolk council
  • Forest Heath/ West Suffolk council
  • MPs
  • Media
  • Voluntary sector across Essex
  • Voluntary sector with specific service remit
  • Health and Overview Scrutiny Committee
/
  • Colchester Hospital
  • Ipswich Hospital
  • West Suffolk Foundation Hospital
  • GP practices
  • Anglian Community Enterprise
  • Care UK
  • North Essex Partnership NHS Trust
  • South Essex Partnership NHS Trust
  • Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust
  • Herts Partnership Foundation NHS Trust
  • Suffolk Community Healthcare/ Norfolk Community Health and Care
  • Addenbrookes Hospital
/
  • CCG wide
  • Board
  • Senior Leadership Team (SLT)
  • GPs
  • County council staff
  • NHS staff
  • Border CCGs

  1. MESSAGES

Consistent high level messages allow for the organisation to have a clear voice to the key audiences and stakeholders and will form an important part of the overall branding. Our overarching messages will include the following:

  • We are an organisation working to improve the health and wellbeing of local people across north east Essex – and are clinically led;
  • We will plan and buy the highest quality services for local people to use;
  • We are working with our local communities to help people from becoming ill and to assist in making healthy lifestyle choices;
  • We are committed to working with our partners including the voluntary sector to help local people stay fit and healthy within their own communities;
  • We are striving to continuously improve the quality of health and social care services provided to our local people;
  • We are a listening organisation – always encouraging, valuing and acting on the feedback received from the public and patients we serve;
  • We will always ensure that we make the best use of our finite resource.

It is anticipated that these messages will highlight to the public that the CCG is a local health and social care leader. It will also show to the public that the CCG is genuine in its attempts to engage with them and that we want communities to work with us to ensure everyone has the resource and support available to make healthy lifestyle choices within their communities.

  1. DELIVERY OF THIS STRATEGY

There are a number of methods of delivery for communication to our various audiences. These include:

  • Involving patients, the public and our stakeholders;
  • Press and public relations;
  • Parliamentary and public affairs;
  • Digital and web communications;
  • Internal communications;
  • GP communications.

11.1Involving patients, the public and our stakeholders

In order to achieve effective patient and public engagement, we will:

  • engage at regular intervals with our communities and wider public to ensure we hear their feedback and views in the way services are provided. Doing so will act as a way to ensure that everyone has a voice and will help the CCG to understand the needs of the population across north east Essex.
  • ensure our voluntary sector partners and community groups are involved in developing the engagement activities and, with their support, to assist in cascading messages to their audiences and hard to reach groups.
  • produce an annual patient engagement report which details the activities and outcomes of any consultations or engagement activities conducted during the previous year. It will also include plans for future engagement exercises if these are known.
  • always ensure that we feedback to individuals and groups who’ve taken the time and trouble to feed their thoughts to the CCG.

Our duties

As with all CCGs, North East Essex CCG is obliged to conduct effective and meaningful patient engagement and involvement. The NHS Act 2006 (section 242) states that CCGs have a legal duty to involve current and potential service users or their representatives in everything we do with planning provision and the delivery of NHS services. Meanwhile the Health and Social Care Act 2012 stipulates that CCGs must demonstrate how the views of stakeholders including patients, carers, public, Health and Wellbeing Boards, local authorities and practice populations are “translated into commissioning intelligence and decision making.”

We appreciate that in order for us to achieve our vision and ambition, patients have to be at the centre of what we do and the decisions we make. Therefore we have to understand – as well as act – on those key issues that really matter to our local population. Our patients and our communities are regarded by us as active partners who have a vested interest in health and social care services. The CCG has conducted a number of engagement activities through our Big Care Debate, PPG Summit and engagement activities relating to specific service restriction proposals.

Equality Impact Assessments

Any proposals relating to service alteration or change will always undergo an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA). This allows the CCG to assess and understand what impact any proposals for change would have on the nine protected groups. The EIA process will identify any protect or vulnerable groups for consultation and would normally be conducted by the relevant business manager undertaking a particular scoping project. The identified groups would be targeted with any engagement or consultation activity.

Accessibility Information Standard (AIS)

Under the Equality Act 2010, the CCG has a legal responsibility to ensure documents, leaflets, electronic resources are available in an alternative format if requested. During June 2015, the Standardisation Committee for Care Information (SCCI) approved a new ‘accessible information standard’ (SCCI1605 Accessible Information). This means that all organisations that provide NHS or adult social care must follow the accessible information standard by law (under Section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012).

The standard also has implications for provider organisations. As such, the CCG will need to ensure that providers are meeting the standard in the materials they produce for patients.

The standard is in line with the key themes in the NHS Five Year Forward View, access to advice and information aspects of the Care Act 2014.

Commissioning Cycle and its implications for communication and engagement