WHILE Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP) for Hampshire, Southampton and the Isle of Wight will soon be signed off, it is crucial that as we move into implementation, citizen engagement is at the heart of decision making. 

Thankfully there is a powerful set of principles that should guide STP thinking and behaviour.

As part of the NHS’s Five Year Forward View, the People and Communities Board, with support from the National Voices coalition, developed six principles for engaging people and communities.

Those principles (copied below), require those undertaking STP planning to work with the knowledge, skills and experience of people in their communities.

This should also apply to the implementation of plans. Note, planning and implementation.

The first principle is that “carers are identified, supported and involved”.

Carers have vast experience and knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of existing services, and great ideas on how they can be improved.

They also have needs that are not always sufficiently supported.

Involving carers in decision-making is vitally important.

Principle 5 is about ensuring that the “voluntary, community and social enterprise, and housing sectors are involved as key partners and enablers”.

This is vitally important, as the reach of a health or care service will be limited by various parameters.

However, the combined reach of the voluntary and community sector, alongside services, is far greater.

The six principles require that:
1. Care and support is person-centred: personalised, coordinated, and empowering;

2. Services are created in partnership with citizens and communities;

3. Focus is on equality and narrowing inequalities;

4. Carers are identified, supported and involved;

5. Voluntary, community and social enterprise and housing sectors are involved as key partners and enablers;

6. Volunteering and social action are recognised as key enablers.

All of these principles are underpinned by the notion of co-production – that is, a way of developing services that has service users and communities as equal partners in shaping how services are delivered.

Undoubtedly what we do not need is a repeat of the bungled ‘consultation’ on the closure of the Bitterne Walk in Centre.

A poorly run campaign resulted in just over 1,000 responses (out of a Southampton population of c.280,000), who actually voted 71 per cent in favour of keeping the centre open - for it to be immediately closed by the SCCCG. 

Let’s hope that the voluntary sector is much more involved in the STP review and that public feedback is respected in the outcome.

John Chandler, Southampton.