We are fully committed to meaningful conversations with people, on the right issues at the right time. It is important that you have your say so that we can improve our health and care services.
Our Communications and Engagement Strategy sets out our commitment to ensuring our local communities have the opportunity to input into how services are developed and provided. We want to empower everyone to take more responsibility for their own health and wellbeing in order to lead their best lives.
Engaging and communicating with partners, stakeholders and the public in the planning, design and delivery of services is essential if we are to get this right. We are committed to transparency and meaningful engagement in our work.
If you would like to know more, would like to get involved and have your say about any proposals or find out about our upcoming engagement and consultation activity, please contact us by emailing bswicb.partnership@nhs.net
Citizens Panel
The Our Health, Our Future Panel is a new way for us to engage with those living in BSW to get their views on health and care issues.
In line with our value of "inclusive", the online panel is made up of a representative sample of the population from across our region. Panel members will take part in regular surveys throughout the year as well as form focus groups from time to time.
We have been working with independent market research specialists Jungle Green to develop our panel. Jungle Green is a Bristol-based market research agency that is working on behalf of BSW CCG and the BSW Partnership to support the Our Health Our Future Panel. Jungle Green invite people to join the Panel using a range of methods including face-to-face recruitment in local shopping centres and high streets, and from this, we hope to recruit 1,000 people to our Panel. During the Coronavirus pandemic they have been unable to do face-to-face recruitment, however, we have been promoting virtual recruitment to the panel.
To find out more about the Our Health, Our Future Panel, please get in touch with the Communications and Engagement team: bswicb.partnership@nhs.net
Listening to the views of people across BSW is important to all of our partner organisations. You can find out more about getting involved with decisions and making your views heard by following the link to our partner websites here.
Our campaigns
Throughout the year we run a variety of health and care campaigns that support our population to live their best lives. These campaigns range from national stop-smoking and cancer awareness days to winter health and flu vaccination campaigns.
Communications and engagement specialists from each of our partner organisations work together on these campaigns to make sure the messages reach as many people as possible, in the most appropriate way for them.
See our campaigns below:
#PlayYourPart
In January 2021, local health and care services experienced intense pressures as a result of rising Covid-19 cases and the absence of staff across the region due to illness and/or the need to self-isolate. Some temporary changes were made including closure of two of our Minor Injuries Units.
We asked for our residents’ help by taking actions to reduce the chances of them needing urgent medical attention.
One year of the pandemic
March 2021 marked one year since the Covid-19 pandemic began significantly impacting everyone’s lives. In recognition of this milestone and to highlight the incredible response from health and social care staff across the whole of Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire, we produced a video featuring some of these colleagues and their work.
You can watch our video on our YouTube channel.
Shaping a Healthier Future
We have refreshed of our health and care model to ensure it meets the needs of our population and helps on our journey to recovery from Covid.
Visit our Shaping a Healthier Future page for more information.
Past projects
Our Health Our Future
During the summer of 2019, as we were thinking about our priorities for the future, we gave people in Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire an opportunity to help shape how health and care services are provided in the future.
Over a six week period we invited all local residents to say what they need to live healthier and happier lives as part of a campaign called Our Health, Our Future.
Answers were used by health and care providers as part of a forward looking plan which will set out how everyone will be able to access the services and support they need. The plan outlined a local response to priorities laid out in the NHS Long Term Plan which was published in January 2019.
Transforming Maternity Services Together
The proposal to change the way maternity services are delivered across the region was developed by all the NHS organisations that plan and buy health services as well as those that provide or manage maternity services across B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire.
We engaged widely across BSW and more than 2,400 people took part in public consultation between November 2018 and February 2019.
A team at the Centre for Healthcare Innovation and Improvement at the University of Bath School of Management analysed the survey responses. The full report and other consultation material was published online in January 2020 and are available on the Transforming Maternity Services website.
The proposal to change maternity services was approved by the joint BSW Governing Bodies on 16 January 2020 and implementation of the proposal has begun.
Find out more here: www.transformingmaternity.org.uk
