Patients are at the heart of everything we do in Sutton and South West London.
As doctors, nurses and other health professionals, we came together to put patients first and improve health services in Sutton. We believe that:
- Patients, carers and local people should be at the centre of our decision-making and we will work in partnership with individuals, patient representative groups, families, carers, local groups and organisations to deliver our vision of high quality, accessible services that tackle inequalities and respond to personal needs
- We will ensure patient and public involvement is a transparent, accessible process open to all, with the aim of ensuring that health service commissioning is informed by the needs and views of the people of Sutton
- Engagement will be active, create different dialogues, partnerships and collaborations between patients, public, carers, the groups that represent them, and local health commissioners in order to promote commissioning that is informed by the needs and views of the people of Sutton
We understand that it is easier to hear some voices than others and we are keen to engage with a more diverse group of patients and public, particularly those who have traditionally been less engaged. We will work with our partners in health and social care alongside patient groups, and local voluntary, faith and community groups to achieve this.
- Integration and co-operation across services– We do not want to duplicate the work of other organisations and we are committed to working in partnership to increase our reach and maximise our collective resources and networks wherever it is possible and appropriate to do so.
- Don’t expect people to come to you – We want to build on-going relationships with local people and organisations and be more systematic in how we involve patients in decision making across the commissioning cycle in a timely fashion.
We understand that there are many voices and views within Sutton. In making commissioning decisions, we will have to ensure that we maintain a balance between the range of views expressed, alongside clinical effectiveness and financial implications. We will always aim to be open and transparent about our decision making and justify how we reach decisions that reflect this.
- Patient empowerment– We will work towards creating an environment in which people are empowered to be equal partners in managing their own health and wellbeing and understand how to access the services and tools that they need to enable them to do so.
- Importance of carer/family views in addition to patients and service users – We will ensure that feedback from patients and carers helps to improve the quality and safety of local services. We will listen to patient and carer stories and experiences and walk the patient journey in order to gain a full picture of the quality of local services and provide us with a starting point in terms of any service development.
- No jargon – be clear on what you are asking and why – We will be clear about when we are ‘communicating’ information, and when we are ‘engaging’ and ‘consulting’ and the differences between them.
We will strive to effectively manage expectations by being open and upfront about what each engagement or consultation process can achieve and will feedback the results publicly to all who took part. If for any reason we cannot meet the requirements asked of us, we will explain why.
- Learn from good practice – We will use and share best practice in terms of what works well in relation to engagement activities/ methods.
If you would like to send us feedback on local services or ask a question – please complete our feedback form.