How we engaged

We have been listening to the views and feedback of local people in Calderdale and Huddersfield to help us to shape the future of local hospital and community services since 2013.  

To achieve this NHS Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield CCGs ran three years of pre-engagement followed by a 14 week consultation for people living and working in Calderdale and Huddersfield to “Have your say” and give us ideas and feedback about the proposed changes.

The Consultation ran from March 15 to June 21, 2016.

What we did

Pre-consultation engagement

Over three years we engaged and listened to the views of over 4,000 people on local hospital and community health services to help develop the proposed changes.

We had a number of discussions, workshops and forums with local healthcare professionals and clinicians including GPs, hospital doctors and nurses as well as two independent reviews from external clinical experts.

This included engagement about the:

• Strategic Outline Case, produced by Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust in response to the challenges it faced (we also have a summary and easy read version in our documents and information)
• The future strategies and commissioning intentions by both NHS Calderdale CCG and NHS Greater Huddersfield CCG (you can also read easy read and summaries in our documents and information section)
• Care Closer to Home (CC2H) programmes for both Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield
• Hospital standards and hospital services (emergency, urgent and planned care, therapies, new technology, maternity and paediatrics)

Details of our engagement activity and how we responded in terms of shaping the proposed changes we consulted on are included in the Pre-Consultation Business Case and engagement reports.

What you told us in the pre-engagement stage

A clear message from the people we talked to was the need for us to address community health services before looking at the ways that hospital services were delivered.  People wanted to see more services provided in the community, including outpatient clinics, so that people only need to go to hospital when they really have to be there, and if they do have to be admitted, that there are community services in place to reduce the number of times they are re-admitted.

Some of the other key themes were:

• Have as many services as possible close to home in local settings, e.g GP surgeries with improved waiting and appointment times
• Ensure services are coordinated and focused on an individual persons needs
• Staff that are caring and competent and treat people with dignity and respect
• Services that are properly planned and appropriately staffed and resourced and maintain quality
• More information about health conditions and more communication about what is available
• Services that everyone can access, including the buildings, appropriate information and staff that represent the community that they serve
• Any barriers to travel and transport addressed with a clear plan that takes account of diversity and locality
• Improved communication between all agencies involved in a person’s care and treatment including better communication with young people
• Services that are responsible and flexible, particularly in an urgent care situation
• A reduction in delays in getting the treatment required and improved waiting times
• Technology that people can use to reduce travel times and unnecessary journeys, particularly for young people
• Support for mental health across all services

You can read all our pre-engagement reports under documents.

During  the Consultation

We spoke and listened to you in the following ways:

Survey

We provided a survey to formally gather the opinions and ideas about the proposed changes.  The survey was available online and in print in different formats and languages and it was distributed widely across Calderdale and Huddersfield.

CLICK HERE for a PDF copy of the Consultation Survey

CLICK HERE for an Easy Read version of the Consultation Survey

Responses to questions

We received a lot of questions from you about the Consultation and proposed changes – and we are still receiving and answering questions despite the close of the Consultation.

You can read answers to these questions under ‘Questions submitted’ on this page

Events

We held a number of local and accessible events where you could find out more, ask questions and gave your feedback, including:

• Three public meetings, one in Calderdale and two in Huddersfield.  You can read the transcripts to find out more:
  • Public Meeting 6th June Q&A responses
  • Transcript Public Meeting | 14 April 2016 Northbridge Leisure Centre, Halifax
  • Transcript Public Meeting | 18 April 2016 John Smiths Stadium, Huddersfield
  • Transcript Public Meeting | 6 June 2016 John Smiths Stadium, Huddersfield
• 17 Information Sessions in local venues where we met with individuals, provided more information, took comments and answered questions.
• Weekly awareness raising road shows in local town centres and surrounding areas

Read more about the events we held.

Information

We developed a range of materials to help you understand and find out more about the proposed changes. These included:

• Copies of a Consultation Document and summary version were shared with local groups and organisations and we offered to meet with them to discuss the proposals
• Copies of the Consultation Document were also made available in public places such as GP surgeries, the two local hospitals, libraries and council offices
• All of our consultation materials were posted online 
• Information leaflets were mailed to over 120,000 addressed households in the area

We also produced a range of materials for young people and updated and developed new materials when required.

Social media

We posted daily updates, information and links on social media, and responded to key posts and questions from interested people and groups on Twitter and on Facebook. We also:

• Held two Twitter Chats events were delivered so the Public could directly ask questions live of our two Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) chairpersons
• All three Public Meetings were livestreamed in full on Facebook and these can still be viewed here.

Media

We worked with local newspapers, online and broadcast media to raise awareness of the proposed changes and help address your questions. And, as the decision timeline continues, we will continue to update you through the media about emerging information, final survey numbers and any other information about the outcome of the Consultation.

Post Consultation

To help us during the deliberation and consideration stage we held a Stakeholder Event on 13 September 2016 with representatives from local stakeholder, patient representative, voluntary and campaign groups attended a Stakeholder Event at Cedar Court Hotel, Ainley Top.

A presentation from the event is available here.

The report is published under ‘Documents’