NHS Rotherham CCG’s systems
As a Clinical Commissioning Group, NHS Rotherham CCG seeks to ensure that engagement in many different ways forms part of all our work streams. Over the last two years, we have established and embedded a joint screening that looks at both engagement and equality; as we have found that this streamlines the process and makes it much more meaningful. This gives us a clear and transparent process to demonstrate how we apply sufficient challenge and rigour at all stages, including scrutiny of the levels of public and patient engagement and consultation required in all our policies, workstreams and projects.
The tools are here, alongside all our published and completed assessments
http://www.rotherhamccg.nhs.uk/equality-impact-assesment-eia.htm
Once completed, the forms are either submitted to the Equality and Diversity Group and the Engagement and Communications Committee for discussion; or circulated using an electronic system for comments, discussion and approval.
This helps to provide assurance to the Governing Body of the CCG that:
- Commissioning/decommissioning proposals are developed with appropriate and sufficient public engagement plans and activities;
- Commissioning/decommissioning proposals are reviewed from a patient and public perspective.
Making sure that providers meet their responsibilities
The CCG is a commissioning organisation, buying and planning health services for local people, which are delivered by a number of different organisations. In Rotherham, some of the main organisations providing services are:
- The Rotherham Foundation Trust - Emergency Services; Acute Care, Planned Care, Community Services
- RDASH – Mental Health and Learning Disability Services
- Rotherham GPs; and Rotherham GP Federation - 31 practices and branches provide GP services, and extended hours
- Medequip – aids and wheelchair services
- Voluntary and community sector organisations, for example, Voluntary Action Rotherham, which provides social prescribing
- Care and nursing home
- Rotherham Council is responsible for social care services and public health.
- There are also a number of providers for specialist services
We find out what engagement work the different organisations are doing and we work together as much as possible. We also take action on the back of feedback we get from engagement work, and from feedback. We have a number of systems and processes to check the quality of services,
- Monitoring feedback on NHS websites and social media such as Care Opinion.
- Friends and family test comments and results
- Comments and complaints themes, that providers share with us as part of quality meetings
- Local surveys
- National surveys
We also expect all providers to make sure that people using services (and their families) are offered the same opportunities for
- Making decisions about their own health and care
- Feeding back their comments and experiences
- Getting involved in planning and developing new services
- Sharing thoughts and opinions around changes to services
There are a number of ways that the CCG does this:
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Engagement forms part of all standard NHS contracts
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Engagement is part of GP Quality visits; we look for evidence of an active patient participation group and how the practice has used feedback from the Friends and Family Test and comments and complaints to improve services
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RCCG holds monthly contract performance and contract quality meetings with Rotherham Hospital to provide assurance in a number of key areas. These assurances are taken from reports which have been presented to their Public Board meetings and include the detail of engagement which has taken place. As they are public the information has been uploaded onto their website.
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The Patient and Public Engagement Manager works with Rotherham Hospital to monitor Friends and Family Test Feedback, and the actions taken as a result of this
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We hold contract quality meetings with RDASH and engagement is always on the agenda; in addition we are currently looking at ways to add additional assurance into this process
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We work with all providers of services that the CCG commissions, and the local authority on shared workstreams as part of Rotherham ‘Place’ activity, and make sure that engagement forms part of all these projects. Rotherham ICP comms and engagement group maintains an overview around the quality and scope in service change developments for example, the Intermediate Care and Re-ablement workstream presented in June 2019
Changes to services
When providers want to make a change to a service, they should let the commissioners know. We then ask about their plans to involve patients in their changes and either get involved as commissioners where that is appropriate, or ask to see the engagement reports before any decisions are made.