Community Involvement is Big Society's Little Sister - But Does Anyone Care?

David Cameron’s Big Society has reverberated throughout the UK way before the coalition government was formed. Its wide-reaching philosophy ensures that it can be applied to every walk of life and the healthcare sector is no exception.

Community involvement is a subset of the Big Society and a vital factor in developing, monitoring and evaluating successful community engagement techniques. But it’s not a brand new idea. The past Labour government made it a requirement for any NHS Trust wishing to become a Foundation Trust. So, how does the idea for the Big Society translate into the healthcare sector? More significantly, does anyone care enough about Cameron’s vision to make it work?

Initially, the theory of involving members of the local community in the decision making process around local service delivery and spending priorities is compelling. Who wouldn’t like to be asked their view on where their own taxed income needs to be spent? But when was the last time you were asked what local services you think should be enhanced, changed or yet closed down? When was the last time you had a chat with your local NHS Trust regarding its outpatient service or the provision of specialist diabetes nurses across the region? Few of us would claim to have been consulted. Even less would claim to be happy with the outcomes - or at the very least be aware of the outcomes and the decision making processes that had led to them. The chances are that, unless you are directly affected by any of these areas, you have never had such a conversation.

In the private sector, organisations make decisions concerning where to spend their money based on who their customers are and what those customers necessitate. If companies are not busy creating a need they are trying to meet people’s needs. Product managers will run big focus groups, sampling many potential customers to make certain that their company provides the right product for the right audience and every piece of that product like the features, benefits and price is explored.

In the end, profitable businesses create products and services that people would like and provide them at a price that people are prepared to pay. They will also continually watch sales figures, customer satisfaction scores, brand perception and the altering demographics of their customer base to ensure that they are in touch with what is necessary to uphold their competitive advantage.

So why isn’t this the case with healthcare delivery? Why should the needs of the local community be treated any differently? After all, we are all customers of UK plc.

In order for the public sector to completely engage with its ‘customer base’ and provide the efficiencies needed throughout the healthcare sector, it must follow the lead of product managers in commercial organisations. Local authorities need to determine: who their service users (customers) are and what services they require (the products the customers want); the size of the community that needs to be serviced (potential market size); how much money needs to be spent to provide this service (what should be charged for the product); how to make people conscious of the service (the level of marketing necessary) and the best ways for users to engage with the service (how best to take the product to market).

These are all questions that health service providers must constantly ask themselves if their services are to remain relevant, useful and valuable to their local users. The health service’s challenge is to interact with the local community on a broader level than just with those who are currently taking advantage of the services provided. Patient groups and the voluntary sector do, of course, supply essential feedback however we also need to get to those who are traditionally tough to get through to. Only by fully understanding what the local community needs will service providers be able to allocate or eliminate resource appropriately and efficiently.

Silverbear Health delivers an inclusive approach to community engagement. Built around Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and utilising Internet Information Server (IIS) and Microsoft Office applications (most notably Outlook, Word, and Excel), Silverbear Health’s Community Involvement Solution (CIS) delivers membership management, membership analysis and can establish and sustain ongoing community relations programmes. Ultimately, CIS empowers healthcare providers to make decisions determined by clear and representative information. Whilst organisations like Silverbear Health exist, more must be carried out to push greater collaboration between them and the public sector so that knowledge relating to community and customer interactions and engagements can be used to improve service delivery.

Such collaboration is already happening as government efficiency targets mean that local service providers have to pool their resources. Local authorities are already working closer with NHS Trusts to supply local services so the platforms on which to have an open and meaningful dialogue are being built. But is it enough to help Cameron achieve his vision of the Big Society?

The Big Society may be the antidote to a Broken Britain yet from a healthcare viewpoint it depends on two important things: firstly that people care enough to want their voice to be heard and secondly, that they have access to the tools that allow them to share that voice. I feel that the people who make up their community do want their voice to be heard. They just need to know the best way to go about doing it. The private sector has the resources in place to help government achieve its targets through successful community engagement and Silverbear Health is proof to this. However before the public sector can effectively listen to the voices of the communities it serves it firstly must listen to the private sector, for it is us who will ultimately help government attain its efficiency targets and play a important part in making the Big Society work.