UK Vision Strategy: Engagement, Partnership, Information, Communication(EPIC) Project
Invitation to become a round three EPIC Area
Application Guidance Notes
Please read the guidance notes carefully before completing the application form
The UK Vision Strategy's EPIC Project aims to support the planning and development oflocal vision strategies as part of the implementation of the UK Vision Strategy. To do this the project has developed support tools and guidancethat will be further tested in the pilot areas.
In addition, the EPIC Project willgather evidence of best practice, and things to consider in relation tothe planning and development of local vision strategiesthat will be disseminated to organisations across the eye health and sight loss sectors.
Round three of EPIC builds upon the learning from stages one and two, and includes guidance to support local areas in planning and identifying their vision strategy priorities. We are asking stage three areas to use the guidance as a structure to enable them to do this, and provide examples of approaches to strategy planning and development that can be shared with other areas across the UK.
1.Who Should Apply?
We are looking for applications from a mix of urban, rural and mixed areas in the England regions, with both large and small populations to ensure we have a range of examples of different approachesreflecting different needs, geographical considerations andissues. We encourage applications that reflect the many different areas and sub-areas acrossEngland, so that we can develop good practice examples and support mechanisms that can be used in whole or in part across the UK.
2.We already have a vision strategy document - can we apply?
No. The aim of the programme is to support the process of identifying priorities for inclusion within a Local Vision Strategy, so if you have already developed a vision strategy in draft or finalised, this pilot is not for you.
If you have already developed a draft or final vision or sensory strategy and have not yet made contact with us, get in touch with a member of the UK Vision StrategyProject Team who will be happy to explore withhow you developed your strategy.
3.What is expected of a successful pilot area?
If you are one of the areas chosen as an EPIC pilot, you should be prepared to take an evidence based approach to developing your local vision strategy. This means going through a process of working with your strategic partners to gather and analyse evidence, which will help you identify some key local priorities. Areas can then go on to clarify that those priorities are appropriate and are able to be implemented, before going on to develop and finalise their vision strategy drafts for sign off and implementation. Information and advice will be available throughout the process.
Successful areas are also expected to report back on the usefulness of the guidance being tested to support the development of local vision strategies, provide examples of approaches taken to using the guidance and the advantages or considerations (we envisage approaches taken may work well in some areas, but not so well in others) so that we can develop tested guidance for use across the UK along with some case studies examples of the benefits and considerations for different approaches to tackling the steps within the guidance.
Once your strategy has been developed and approved, areas are expected to keep us updated on how the implementation process is being progressed, and any evaluation that is undertaken.
3.1Essential stages that you will undertake during the first nine months should include as a minimum:
3.1.1Identify strategic partners their roles and responsibilities for taking strategy development and implementation forward.
3.1.2Consultation with service users and their carers to assist with identification of local priorities, needs and issues.
3.1.3Map existing services provided by health, Local Authorities, the voluntary sectors and other sources and identify service overlap and gaps and plot local patient/service pathways to identify the reality of service delivery and the impact on service users
3.1.4Identify the links between local approaches and the UK Vision Strategy
3.2Desirable Stages:
3.2.1Provide and analyse evidence of the current and future local needs by population, gender, ethnicity and sight condition.
3.2.2Evidence links to all strategic partner's strategies, policies and business plans, plus links to national regional or local strategy, policy, guidance and performance indicators, to ensure that your strategy supports eachstrategic partner's delivery aims,objectives and guidance.
4Application Criteria Guidance
In order to benefit from this process and to support the development of a vision strategy that is firmly embedded into strategic delivery of all strategic partners locally, we expect applicants to consider the following:
4.1Why do you think your area will benefit from taking part in the round two of the EPIC project?
How do you think your area will benefit from developing a local vision strategy? Will there be any positive impact on those involved in the process? What do you think will be the benefits for people with sight loss and their carers? Is there the potential for benefits outside of the area taking part in EPIC? Are there other short, medium or long term benefits that you want us to know about?
4.2Provide evidence of the commitment of key strategic partners to the development, implementation and evaluation of a local vision strategy
Please provide us with the name and signature of either a senior manager or higher designation with responsibility for sensory services from the Health Sector (must include a lead from the local GP consortia if available), Local Authority and Local Society (voluntary and community sector). You should also advise us of any additional commitment you have from other leads in these sectors, as well as other local advisory groups, interest groups or organisations with a remit for eye health and sight loss services that supportdeveloping and implementing your local strategy.
To find out whether there is a GP Commissioning Consortia in your area, click on the web link below:
4.3What experience do your named strategic partners have of leading on multi agency partnership initiatives?
We want to be sure that leads are able to work across the health, local authority, voluntary sector and advisory agencies. Tell us about their experience of doing this, and how you envisage getting and keeping key partners on board throughout the planning and implementation of the strategy.If there were issues with partnership working, tell us how you overcame them.
4.4Evidence that arrangements are in place to manage the process of developing your local vision strategy.
We need to be sure that you have systems in place to gather and analyse the evidence gathered, that you will be able to ensure all partners contribute to strategy development, and that we are kept informed of progress, approaches used, good practice and learning considerationsidentified throughout the planning process. Each area will need to commit to reporting progress to the EPIC project on a monthly basis during the 9 months of the project, and regularly thereafter.
You will also need to give an indication of how you will bring all the evidence together to identify your strategy priorities.
4.5People with sight loss, local representativesand carers need to be at the heart of the planning dialogue and strategy planning
Tell us how people with sight loss and their carers will contribute to strategy planning, take part in any steering, planning or advisory groups formedto lead on strategy development. Also, tell us how local people will inform the strategy priorities through consultation or other approaches.
4.6Commitment to sharing local approaches, good practice and learning with other areas local considering developing their own Local Vision Strategy
How will you contribute to the raising awareness of things to consider by other areas thinking of developing a vision strategy? How will you let others know how strategy implementation is progressing? Consider the opportunities for learning for both local areas and nationally. If you are able to provide advice, support or mentoring to other areas, let us know here.
5Timescales for activity
The EPIC project will advise and guide successful pilot areas for a 9 month time frame (May 2011 - February 2012), where it is envisaged that participating areas would have gathered the evidence to inform the identification of evidence based strategy priorities. Please check with your all your strategic partners that they are happy to work with EPIC during this timeframe(and beyond in terms of finalising and implementing the strategy) before submitting your application to be a stage three pilot area.
6Commitment from key partners
It is also important to ensure that you get commitment to develop the strategy from all your key strategic partners. This will ensure that the final strategy is fully owned by health, local authority, the voluntary sector and other key partners, and that the resources to implement the strategy can be negotiated through the existing resources, or the reconfiguration of service delivery across all local area delivery agents.
7What if we cannot confirm commitment immediately, or work within the timeframe?
If you cannot get a commitment from all your strategic partners, or all partners cannot commit to identifying strategy priorities within the 6 month timeframe, you may wish to consider developing your strategy outside of the EPIC project's framework. The UK Vision Strategy Team can provide advice and information, so that you can begin to develop your strategy when your area is ready.
8What should we consider before applying to be a round three pilot?
8.1EPIC is an initiative that will guide local areas through the process of evidencing the priorities that will be contained in your local vision strategy/plan. There is no funding or grant award attached to the successful application to EPIC.
8.2Successful applicants will receive advice and support on possible approaches to undertaking the key stages set out within the planning guidance being tested and facilitation and negotiation of any barriers that may impede the process of evidence gathering and strategy development. Support will also be available through other areas developing their vision strategies.
8.3Is the commitment you have from strategic partners to the ideaof developing a vision strategy, or to actually developing it? If commitment is only in principle, you are likely to spend a lot of time confirming actual commitment - which will leave you with little time left togather the evidence to inform your strategy. You also have the potential of developing a partially informed strategy with the input of key strategic partners missing if they are not fully engaged from the outset.
8.4Are you able to fully engage with all the strategic senior leads from health, local authority, voluntary sector and advisory agencies across your chosen geographical area? This is particularly important if you are working across more than one local authority or specified area. If you are not sure, consider scaling down to a smaller area.
8.5If you agree to be the main contact for EPIC, are you happy to negotiate with your strategic partners the gathering of evidence? It’s the role of the lead to encourage all partners to jointly evidence the strategy - not to try and do it all themselves.
8.6If you are one of the main contacts for EPIC, you will also need to consider how you will manage both the process of engaging with EPIC, (which includes regular reporting), and facilitating the development and implementation of a local vision strategy in addition to all your existing commitments. You may wish to agree with partners who will be the main contact before submitting the application - or you may decide to share the process amongst two or three key partners.
8.7How will you bring the evidence together to identify your priorities? You will need to get your partners to agree how you will analyse the evidence that you gather. Although the EPIC project will be able to provide advice and guidance, we need to make sure that ownership of the strategy remains local - so we cannot bring your strategy together for you.
9I'm still interested - How do I apply?
If you are interested in being considered as one of the stage three pilot areas, please complete and return the EPIC application formto Celia Watson, EPIC Project Manager by 5pm onFriday 1 April 2011.
Additional information about the EPIC Project and the UK Vision Strategy is available on the UK Vision Strategy website, or from Celia Watson, EPIC Project manager
Direct Line:020 7874 1368
Email:
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