Shape our priorities

If your answer is yes to either of these, please get in touch.

How do we set our Priorities?

Our priorities process helps us make decisions about what issues/topics Healthwatch Surrey should be focusing on. The aim of this process is to ensure that our priorities and projects reflect the wishes and needs of Surrey’s communities rather than being dictated by the loudest voices.  Healthwatch cannot possibly work on every issue across the NHS and social care so we have to be selective.  It’s important that we do this in an open manner.

Our priorities remain for three years and we review progress annually towards the end of the calendar year.

What we’ve heard from the people of Surrey is the most important factor in determining our priorities.  Each year we review our evidence to see what people have been telling us and take that as our starting point.  In addition to our evidence gathered when we are out and about talking to the public across the county, we also conduct targeted outreach with communities that are less well heard, and those experiencing the worst health inequalities.

In addition to what we’ve heard from people in Surrey, we consider external evidence such as emerging issues and trends nationally, what the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) for Surrey tells us, and what we know about the priorities of our stakeholders, and put these into the mix alongside what we’ve heard from the public.

Any member of the public can submit a priority proposal at any time but need to consider the following points:

• Does the issue impact particularly on groups already disadvantaged or suffering health inequalities?
• Does the issue feature highly in what we hear from the public?  (balance between talked about and negative sentiment)
• Does Healthwatch Surrey have the ability to influence and is there potential for change?
• Nobody else is actively working on this from a user perspective?
• Does it relate to the Health and Wellbeing Board priorities?
• Does it relate to local Sustainability Transformation Plan priorities?

We will conduct an annual refresh to check that we still have the right priorities. When considering whether an issue should be a priority for Healthwatch Surrey we apply certain criteria such as:

• Does the issue impact particularly on groups already disadvantaged or suffering health inequalities?
• Does the issue feature highly in what we hear from the public? (balance between talked about and negative sentiment)
• Does Healthwatch Surrey have the ability to influence and is there potential for change?
• Nobody else is actively working on this from user perspective?
• Does it relate to STP priorities?

We involve our volunteers in helping to make us aware of the issues emerging at local level, and in helping us rank our long list against the criteria.

Our Board and our Board Meetings in Public make the final decision about our priorities.

Once we have decide our high level priorities, the team and volunteers then consult stakeholders and commissioners to work out where there are gaps in knowledge or understanding, or where the user voice needs to be heard more effectively, so that we can decide where Healthwatch Surrey’s resource and expertise can best be used to add value and help improve services for the better.

Do you have a proposal?

If you would like to submit a priority proposal (500 words max) you can send it together with any supporting evidence to us. Please click here to be taken to our contact page to submit your proposal. Alternatively, send your proposal via the post (details of our postal address can also be found on our contact us page).