13 May 2022

NHS England and NHS Improvement have launched a public consultation on the draft guidance on working with people and communities. This will support the new Integrated Care Boards, NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts to build effective, positive, purposeful and enduring partnerships with communities to improve services and outcomes for people. 

It is statutory guidance and will be adopted as policy by NHS England and supports health and care organisations to meet their public involvement legal duties. It is relevant to other health and care organisations, including local governments, on how to work effectively in partnership with their communities. 

The draft has been co-produced by NHS England and NHS Improvement with the following partners: Care Quality Commission, Centre for Governance and Scrutiny, Department of Health and Social Care, Healthwatch England, Local Government Association, National Voices, NHS Confederation, NHS Providers, The Health Creation Alliance and the Integrated Care Systems in Dorset, North East and North Cumbria, Sussex and West Yorkshire along with many of our citizen partners to whom we are extremely grateful.  

A public consultation on the latest draft has been launched, and your views are welcomed. The consultation will run until Monday 30 May. 

A Tweet chat is also being hosted from the @NHSCitizen Twitter account on 19 May from 12 to 12.50pm. The hashtag is #StartWithPeople. Everyone is invited join to share ideas, collectively engage and get feedback and thoughts on the draft guidance and how we can improve it.