Critical to the success of all our frameworks, providing the necessary interface between people, communities and the ICS, allowing insight to feed into the system and influence decision-making.
Governance Framework
Our desire to embed the voice of people and communities at the heart of planning, priority setting and decision-making, to drive transformation is reflected in our Governance architecture here at the Integrated Care Board (ICB).
One of the 7 formal sub-committees of the ICB Board is the Public Partnership Committee. This sits alongside others such as the Audit and Governance Committee, Finance & Estates Committee, and the Population Health & Strategic Commissioning Committee.
What is the Public Partnership Committee?
The overall purpose of the Committee is to champion patient and public engagement across the Derbyshire health and care system, providing a watchful eye in scrutinising service developments and to seek assurance, through reports, reviews and presentations that the public are an integral part of designing, commissioning, transforming and monitoring services.
Other objectives of the Committee are:
- To ensure that the development and delivery of the Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Strategy is driven by the insight and opinions gathered from local people;
- To champion the routine principles of continuous engagement and co-production when assessing all public engagement activity, challenging and escalating findings where standards and principles have not been met;
- To seek assurance of work to reach seldom-heard groups and that this is being coordinated across partners and agencies, ensuring that all voices are being heard;
- To seek assurance that the ICB and wider system are meeting statutory duties relating to Patient and Public Engagement, as laid out in the Health & Care Act 2022, including those relating to Local Authority Health Scrutiny;
- To seek assurance that the system has robust mechanisms for training relevant staff on statutory duties relating to Patient and Public Engagement, as laid out in the Health & Care Act 2022;
- To oversee the development and delivery of a robust infrastructure of engagement mechanisms including, but not limited to, place-level engagement, reference groups to provide insight on emerging issues, project-specific lay representation and other mechanisms as required;
- Report to the ICB Board with regard to key risk areas and monitoring actions;
- Make recommendations for improvements and innovations in the way the system works with patients and the public;
The Public Partnership Committee has identified four sub-groups, through which the operational work on public engagement will be shaped and delivered. These groups are a mixture of time-limited groups and ad hoc groups, along with two that we believe will have permanence:
Lay Reference Group
This is a formal sub-group of the committee and is in place to review and help to evaluate all engagement policy and developments, with a broad membership across all population groups and sectors.
This sub-group is currently under development, alongside the Evaluation Framework. An update will be provided in October 2023.
System Insight Group
This is an officer group ensuring the collection and use of patient and public insight is coordinated across partners. Currently the membership is patient experience and engagement leads from across the system and other partners with an interest in the use of insight.
The role and remit of the group is under review and an update will be provided in October 2023.
Confirm and Challenge Groups
These will be organised on an ad hoc basis with interested lay members to shape and review specific engagement plans alongside health service managers.
Co-production Group
This is a time-limited task group seeking to collaborate on how our health and care system works to co-produce service developments with public and patients. You can find updates on this work here.
The ICB also supports the PPG (Patient Participation Group) Network, a peer group of PPG Chairs and Members who meet monthly to share knowledge and best practice to support the overall improvement of PPGs working within general practice.
The ICB also has a Patient and Public Partner programme, where patients, service users, carers and their families, and members of the public are appointed as lay members who want to be involved in improving health and care services. They hold extensive experience and can get involved in various aspects of the work of the Integrated Care System (ICS).
Patient and Public Partners have been appointed to a range of boards and groups to bring lived experiences and support decision making. These roles are now established in health areas including cancer care, CVD, diabetes and respiratory care.
The committee appoints six lay members in total associated with:
- Derbyshire County Place Partnerships & Alliances x 2
- Derby City Place Partnership and its networks and affiliates
- Derbyshire PPG Network
- Derbyshire Patient and Public Partner Programme
- Lay Reference Group
Lay members are appointed for a two or three year term, with a maximum service of two terms.
Guidance
The work of the Public Partnership Committee is supported in its role by our Guide to patient and public involvement in our ICS, and it’s associated Engagement Model.
We have legal and moral obligations to ensure that those who use services or may use them in the future and their carers/representatives are involved in decisions about the design and delivery of services. This guidance supports those considering, and involved in, service change across the system to navigate the common legal and policy issues from the very start of a service change programme through to the final decision-making. It describes the current legal framework and the likely steps required to discharge legal duties when making changes to services. It reflects many of the changes brought about by the Health and Care Act 2022, and embeds the new statutory guidance issued by NHS England Working in Partnership with People and Communities: Statutory Guidance.