During our first phase of engagement in February 2023, we asked members of the public to share their views on what they felt the priorities should be for the NHS in Lincolnshire over the next 5 years, including what they want us to focus on as we develop local services for local people, as well as feeding back their own experiences of Lincolnshire’s NHS.

The NHS Lincolnshire ICB engagement team were busy having conversations with the public and community groups, attending 20 community group meetings across 8 localities in Lincolnshire. This included conversations with young adults, people with mental health issues, minority ethnic groups and those communities who live in deprived areas of the county

In addition to the engagement activities, Healthwatch Lincolnshire developed a survey in partnership with the ICB which was circulated widely to the public, staff and stakeholders. Further to this we have also been gathering experiences of care through a survey which has been open since June 2022.

Below are some of the outputs of the phase 1 communications and engagement activity:

• 1028 responses to the Healthwatch online survey
• Attended 20 engagement events across Lincolnshire, talking to 254 people
• Engagement sent to over 9000 people on our stakeholder database
• Engagement sent to over 13,000 staff through organisation comms
• Focussed on areas with high levels of deprivation and health inequalities
• Supported patients to get involved who would not be able to access the survey online
• 388 responses to the Experiences of Care survey

Outcomes

• Results from this engagement were presented to clinicians, stakeholders and NHS provider organisations at our Joint Forward Plan workshops in March 2023 to inform the development of the draft priorities
• Resulting in a fully engaged programme board and stakeholders who recognised the importance of patient.

The second phase of engagement took place in early June 2023 and saw the NHS Lincolnshire ICB engagement team having discussions with members of the public and testing the five draft priorities.

The team visited 22 community group meetings across 13 localities in Lincolnshire including engaging with health inclusion and underrepresented groups such as those from deprived areas, younger people, people with mental health issues and those from LGBTQ+ community and other protected characteristics. Healthwatch Lincolnshire also undertook 2 webinars to gather views from members of staff.

Below are some of the outputs of the phase 2 engagement activity:

• Engaged with 22 groups across Lincolnshire, talking to 252 people
• 2 virtual events held with our ICB Involvement Champions and PPG representatives
• 2 Healthwatch webinars for members of staff

Outcomes

• Feedback has been considered by the team working on the development of the Joint Forward Plan to help shape the document and also the steering group who have oversight of the process and ensure the engagement has been duly considered
• Detailed feedback has also been shared with priority leads to inform the development of their delivery plans to incorporate the feedback heard, identify any gaps identified, areas of focus within priorities or where we need to strive to make this priority ‘go further’.