The statutory guidance on working with people and communities contains case studies which show how different organisations are benefiting from effective partnerships with their communities. You can find further information about the case studies below.

Building a consistent approach to involvement across North West London ICS
North West London ICS set up the EPIC (Engage – Participate –Involve – Collaborate) programme to try to address some of the challenges around how it works with residents. A key strand of the programme was co-production of a future, best practice approach to resident involvement in the CCG and future ICS. This included ‘collaborative spaces’ – open meetings to discuss health and care issues – targeted outreach to diverse groups, and roles of people with lived experience on programmes.

Community conversations on public mental health
Poor mental health is a major challenge facing London, and the prevalence of mental health problems is often much higher in the communities facing the deepest inequalities.

Recognising this, the Mental Health Foundation and Thrive LDN co-ordinated 17 community conversations across half of the city’s boroughs, involving more than 1000 Londoners, with the aim of finding out how local systems could best implement a public mental health approach.

Embedding Cultural Awareness in Maternity Neonatal Care
The East of England Local Government Association and the Strategic Migration Partnership have been delivering a wide range of engagement projects with ethnic minority groups to understand the specific barriers that each faces when accessing neonatal care. These include language barriers, mistrust of public organisations and a lack of relevant information and knowing how to navigate the health and care system.

Cultural awareness workshops were delivered by members and advocates of ethnic minority groups considered hard to engage with across the region, including LGBTQ+ groups, African groups, Orthodox Jewish groups, Gypsy and Traveller groups, Roma groups, South Asian groups, Eastern European groups, Asylum Seekers and Refugees.

Working at neighbourhood level in Morecambe Bay to reduce health inequalities
This project was designed to explore what access issues and inequalities were being experienced by a range of health inclusion and other key groups. It started with the Primary Care Networks (PCNs) using population health management approach to identify groups of patients that may experience health inequalities, including young people, adults with learning disabilities and their carers, and workers from migrant communities. Engagement took place with these groups to understand what changes were needed to improve how they can access and use primary care services.

Co-producing a new model of community mental health support
In Somerset, the NHS, local authority and VCSE sector partners have worked with people with lived experience of mental illness to co-produce community mental health services. They co-designed the Open Mental Health model, whereby 24/7 support is available to adults in Somerset who are experiencing mental health issues. Provision is offered through an alliance of provider organisations from the VCSE sector, NHS and social care working in partnership. Experts by experience have an ongoing role as partners in the governance, continuous development and evaluation of the service.

Northern Cancer Alliance’s work with communities in the recovery of urgent cancer referrals
The COVID-19 pandemic had a dramatic effect on the rate of cancer referrals across England. At the start of the pandemic the Northern Cancer Alliance saw referral rates across the region drop to less than half of pre-pandemic levels. The Alliance decided to build on the national ‘Help Us to Help You’ campaign with locally produced material. Key to all aspects of their work plan is the effective involvement of people. The Alliance value to ‘always involve the right people at the right time’ was a fundamental aspect of the design and delivery of the campaign.

System Insight Group and Patient and Public Insight Library at Derby and Derbyshire ICS
During the early stages of COVID-19, partner organisations within the Derby and Derbyshire ICS wanted to gather insights on how people were experiencing the pandemic and how it affected their lives. To avoid duplication, these efforts needed to be co-ordinated, so the ICS set up a System Insight Group, bringing together patient and public experience and engagement leads from NHS trusts, the local authorities and the VCSE sector.

The group has developed a Patient and Public Insight Library set up on the NHS Future platform. The aim is to assist decision-makers to find current insight in the system, with the aim of avoiding duplication and ‘consultation fatigue’.

Building people’s skills and knowledge to take part in co-production
NHS England’s Peer Leadership Development Programme enables people with lived experience to develop their knowledge, skills and confidence to co-produce.

The programme provides people with an opportunity to learn about how the health and care system works, about local and national policy and about how to share good information. This programme enables people with lived experience to access up-to-date information and support, in the same way that people working in the health and care system do. This ultimately enables people with lived experience to co-produce on a level playing field.

The difference made to the NHS England Musculoskeletal Services (MSK) programme by the Musculoskeletal Lived Experience Group (MSK LEG)
The first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown had a devastating effect on the provision of Musculoskeletal Services (MSK) services. Face-to-face consultations became a rarity, replaced by telephone and video consultations. MSK clinicians had to quickly learn new skills to assess and treat patients in these unfamiliar formats.

The group has worked collaboratively with clinicians to assist with restoring and improving MSK services to better meet people’s needs.

Working with young people to develop key working in the Black Country
Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust worked with children, young people and families from the outset to design its keyworker service. Co-production was at the heart of the approach from day one. A steering group was co-chaired by a young expert by experience. Young people were helped by Dudley Voices for Choice to take part with pre-meetings and debriefs; resources and papers were written in plain English, and support was provided for the emotional nature of the work. They worked on all stages of the pilot, including the bid for funding, communications and job descriptions for key workers.

Vibrant Communities Partnership Board
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council has developed the ‘vibrant communities’ approach which focuses on developing strength-based ways of working within individual communities and within council services. The board is a partnership between the council, the local VCSE sector and the NHS and other partners. It aims to deliver strength-based approaches and interventions that focus on the inherent assets of people, communities and organisations. The Board has two co-chairs, one elected by the council and the other by the voluntary sector, so a mixture of community and council priorities are covered; and to empower non-public sector partners by devolving responsibility.

Embedding the VCSE sector in the planning and design of systems in Humber Coast and Vale ICS
A well-established VCSE leadership programme has meant that the system has a mechanism to speak to the sector and the leaders around the table to understand their place. From the outset the approach has always been to make the connections with the partnership and ensure the sector is embedded. This has led to investment in the sector and its involvement in the partnership’s governance and strategic planning. It has resulted in the system embracing the value of the VCSE sector and is proactively involving it at the earliest opportunity.

Co-designing a new green social prescribing project to improve people’s mental health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities
In South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw ICS, a green social prescribing project shows how connecting with nature, green spaces and the outdoors can improve people’s mental health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities across the community. The project was co-designed with VCSE sector organisations, community groups and people with lived experience to make sure new green social prescribing activities meet people’s needs and are accessible.

Community Hospital change
The NHS in Gloucestershire used a Citizens’ Jury to decide the location of a new community hospital. Involving the public in the change process and gathering strong public evidence, ensured the team recognised the strength of local feelings and emotions rooted in the area. The site selection stage of options development used an independent Citizens’ Jury to make a recommendation from three possible locations. The system accepted the Citizens’ Jury recommendation because they trusted the process that had created more neutral, clinically framed public evidence.

Co-producing a Patient and Public Involvement Strategy
East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust with support from their Healthwatch partners developed their Public Involvement Strategy using a co-production project, effectively starting from a blank page. Co-production was a move away from the traditional consultation process, and was collectively led by the people who would be affected by the strategy.

You can find more powerful case studies on the #StartWithPeople FutureNHS page