IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This website is no longer being updated.

NHS Barnsley Clinical Commissioning Group has been legally dissolved and from 1 July 2022 has been replaced by a new organisation: NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (SY ICB). NHS South Yorkshire ICB is now responsible for commissioning and funding of health and care services locally. Please go to our new website www.southyorkshire.icb.nhs.uk for information about the work of NHS South Yorkshire ICB and details about how to contact us.

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How we involve the public in our governance

The CCG is accountable to its Governing Body, its member practices, local patients and the Barnsley community. We are overseen by NHS England. Our Constitution sets out the rights and responsibilities of patients, the public and staff along with the plans we have committed to achieve.

Within this section you can find out:

How we involve our public in commissioning

Barnsley CCG is committed to ensuring that patients’ needs are at the heart of everything we do. In order to ensure that we reflect our population we aim to have effective patient, carer and public involvement embedded in our work and in our planning processes. Find out our approach to engagement and how we involve our public in commissioning.

Engagement and involvement reports

For each of the committee meetings the head of communications and engagement provides an update about patient and public involvement. They discuss recent engagement activity and how this impacts upon commissioning work and decisions. The most recent reports, which are also taken to our governing body meetings in public, can be found below (word documents)

Reporting of patient and public experience and engagement activities through our committees

Public engagement and patient experience is formally reported through to our governing body meetings in public. These take place every other month and move around the borough to improve access for people wishing to attend and observe or ask questions.

There are two CCG committees who have the role and responsibility for these two areas.

The first is the engagement and equality committee.  A Healthwatch representative sits on the group which is chaired by a Lay Chair. Minutes and key actions feed into the Governing Body through a standing item on the agenda presented by the lay member. There is also an involvement report which is presented by the Head of Communications and Engagement.

The second is the quality and patient safety committee. Minutes and key actions feed into the Governing Body through a standing item on the agenda presented by the chief nurse.

At the start of each governing body meeting in public we hear a patient story to ensure that the service user voice is at the heart of every meeting.  We also film these patient stories and publish them on our website so anyone can view them. We also use the films in staff training and development.

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    The CCG’s engagement principles

    The CCG has a set of engagement principles which were developed in collaboration with the Barnsley Patient Council and are included at the heart of our involvement strategy.

    • We understand that it is easier to hear some voices than others and we are keen to engage with a more diverse group of patients and public, particularly those who have traditionally been less engaged. We will work with our partners across health and social care alongside patient groups, and local voluntary, faith and community groups to achieve.
    • More integration/co-operation across services/borders - We do not want to duplicate the work of other organisations and we are committed to working in partnership to increase our reach and maximise our collective resources and networks wherever it is possible and appropriate to do.
    • Don’t expect people to always come to you - We want to build ongoing relationships with local people and organisations and be more systematic in how we involve patients in decision making across whole of the commissioning cycle in a timely.
    • We understand that there are many voices and views in Barnsley. In making commissioning decisions, we must ensure that we maintain a balance between the range of views expressed alongside clinical effectiveness and financial implications. We will always aim to be open and transparent about our decision making and justify how we reach decisions that reflect.
    • I’m a part time patient but a full time person - We will work towards creating an environment in which people are empowered to be equal partners in managing their own health and wellbeing and understand how to access the services and tools that they need to enable them to do.
    • Importance of carer/family views in addition to patients and service users - We will ensure that feedback from patients and carers helps to improve the quality and safety of local services. We will listen to patient and carer stories and experiences and ‘walk’ the patient journey in order to gain a full picture of the quality of local services to provide us with a starting point in terms of any service development.
    • Don’t use jargon – be clear about what you are asking and why - We will be clear about when we are ‘communicating’ information and when we are ‘engaging’ and ‘consulting’ and the differences between.
    • We will strive to effectively manage expectations by being open and upfront about what each engagement and/or consultation process can achieve and will feedback the results publicly to all who took part. If for any reason we cannot meet the requirements asked of us, we will explain.
    • Learn from the good - We will utilise and share best practice in terms of what works well in relation to engagement activities.

    More information about how we involve patients and public in our work can be found in our strategy and annual report.

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