Last week we joined colleagues from across the Healthwatch Together partnership – ourselves, Healthwatch Lancashire, Blackpool, and Blackburn with Darwen – to take part in an innovative NHS commissioning event in Preston.
Held at County Hall, the ‘Commissioning Intentions Public Insights Check and Challenge’ session brought together Lancashire South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (LSC ICB) commissioners, engagement leads, and insight teams from across Lancashire and South Cumbria. The aim was to ensure that public and patient voices are at the heart of the decision-making process for future NHS services in our area.
A collaborative approach to shaping services
The afternoon began with short presentations from LSC ICB Communications and Engagement Team, Healthwatch Together (HWT), the Lancashire charity Spring North, and the ICB Population Health team.
For HWT, our manager, Kate, and Blackpool’s manager, Amy, gave a presentation highlighting the depth and variety of the engagement and projects each Healthwatch has carried out over the past year, including projects on young people and vaping, transport, women’s health, autism, and ageing well.
Following the presentations, participants took part in round-table ‘check and challenge’ discussions, rotating across commissioner tables to explore:
- The three key pieces of insight that should inform commissioning priorities.
- How services could be commissioned differently to meet public needs.
- Opportunities for collaboration and innovation.
Along with Kate, our Communication and Administration Coordinator, Sophie, and HWT colleagues shared local insight and listened to commissioners’ reflections on how public feedback can shape more responsive and inclusive services.
Putting insight at the heart of commissioning
This event marked a new and dynamic approach to NHS commissioning, with a strong focus on co-production and evidence-based decision-making. Commissioners were asked to identify and justify the top three insights they would carry forward into their shortlisting process – ensuring that public experience is not just heard, but acted upon.
Healthwatch Westmorland and Furness is proud to be part of this collaborative work, helping to make sure that local voices influence local services.
Amanda Bate, Head of Communications and Engagement (Transformation) at LSC ICB said:
“A huge thank you to our presenters and to commissioning colleagues for taking such an active part in the round table discussions. Initial feedback shows some clear themes in terms of patient insight and experience which we can build into the considerations for short listing commissioning intentions.
“There was also a lot of discussion about constraints and barriers and how these might be overcome, some really rich discussion about collaboration, particularly with charity sector colleagues, and lots of suggestions for how we share insight on a more regular basis.”
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