From listening to action: putting the voices of people and communities at the heart of health and care

Almost everyone agrees that services will be more effective, more efficient and safer if users’ voices are built into how they are designed, monitored and evaluated.

Our two-day virtual conference on 21–22 November aims to explore how the current strain on services makes listening to people more difficult but even more important, at a time when public satisfaction with the NHS is at an all-time low.

Conference sessions:

• Discussed how the NHS and social care cannot deliver quality unless listening to patients and carers, and acting on their feedback, lies at the heart of its culture.  

• provided learning on how to listen well and what meaningful engagement with people and communities looks like.

• Gave insight into the findings from the Fund’s project on understanding integration with the HOPE (Heads of Patient Experience) network by working with six sites on an action learning piece.

• Learned about how health and social care decision-makers cannot overcome challenges and answer long-term questions alone - such as how the system will address the deep inequalities and how it can adapt to provide the joined-up, efficient care that people want and gives them more control – public input is crucial.