Involving the public in primary care commissioning

Primary care services form the largest part of most people’s experience of health care, providing the first point of contact in the health care system and acting as the ‘front door’ of the NHS. Primary care includes general practice, community pharmacy, dental, and optometry (eye health) services.

At NHS England we want patients and the public to be at the heart of everything we do. To help achieve this we have developed a framework for patient and public participation in primary care commissioning. The framework is a guide for primary care commissioners, in NHS England and integrated care boards (ICBs), on how to involve patients and the public in the commissioning of primary care services. It has been co-designed with members of the Working Group for Patient and Public Participation in Primary Care Commissioning. Feedback from stakeholders has also been taken account in the development of the framework.

In addition, information for patients and the public on how to get involved in primary care commissioning has been produced,  along with an easy read version.

The framework is designed to be read in conjunction with the NHS England Patient and Public Participation Policy and the Statement of Arrangements and Guidance on Patient and Public Participation in Commissioning.

Have your say on how NHS England’s guidance is working in practice

This framework has been co-designed with members of the Working Group for Patient and Public Participation in Primary Care Commissioning. Feedback from stakeholders has also been taken account in the development of this framework.

We are keen to understand how the framework works in practice and we welcome views from patients, the public and partner organisations, ICSs and NHS England staff about how useful the guidance is for them.

We will be gathering feedback through an online survey until the end of December 2016 and reviewing comments on a monthly basis. If you have a comment or complaint which needs an urgent response get in touch with our Customer Contact Centre.

The framework is designed to be read in conjunction with the NHS England Patient and Public Participation Policy, the Statement of Arrangements and Guidance on Patient and Public Participation in Commissioning and Equality and Health Inequalities Analysis.