Solent NHS Trust provides health services across Southampton, Portsmouth and parts of Hampshire and Isle of Wight. In Southampton, this includes health services for children and families, adult rehabilitation wards and community services, dementia services, diabetes nursing as well as emergency department support for adults over 65 being discharged from hospital.
In their ambition for change and improvement, Solent NHS Trust is reviewing its community engagement approach for the next 5 years. In January 2020, they launched their Community Partners Programme. This is for people who use their services, families, carers and staff members who want to work with the Solent NHS Trust on their approach. Maybe you’d like to join them as a Community Partner?
Solent NHS Trust explain the message that came from the their work so far this year:
What did we learn from the January 2020 Community Partners event?
People told us that they recognised our commitment to getting engagement and experience right, and we were on the right path, but we all agree have a long way go. They shared their experiences of NHS services not acknowledging, respecting or using the wealth of expertise and knowledge that is our local community, and they want to help us change that. Individuals told us they want to be in control of their care and treatment, and they need us to change the way we work to make it easier for them to achieve that.
Two key messages came out of the day:
We must reach out to our community and work with them enabling change to be made by them.
And
Stories and conversations trump surveys and meetings every time!
It was agreed that the next steps would be to further the network of Community Partners, to focus on a few key projects and to ensure that the community engagement strategy is based on what the community has shared with Solent NHS Trust. A booklet called Engage Solent has been created, which you can access online here.
Since lockdown began, Solent NHS Trust has hosted some smaller online Community Conversations workshops, exploring different health issues with members of the public. They are hearing about people’s experience of accessing care, receiving treatment and the outcomes of that care and treatment during COVID lockdown and beyond.
During June and July there have been sessions on the following topics: Mental Health, Families and carers of in-patients, People with a learning disability, Older People and Younger People.
The final two sessions are as follows:
People who have been shielding 30 Jul 15.00 – 16.30
People with underlying health conditions 4 August 10.00 – 11.30
People interested in Solent NHS services can also join in with this larger community event is on Friday 31 July 2020 1-4pm. This online event will give you the chance to have your say about the issues that matter to you.
For more information on any of the issues mentioned in this article, or to book a place on the events on 30, 31 July or 4 August, email CommunityEngagementandExperienceTeam@solent.nhs.uk