Fail engagement and you’ll engage failure

The future is unpredictable, but considering diverse perspectives when shaping public policy can help smooth the path for change.

At Freshwater, our healthcare team works closely with NHS clients looking to change how services are offered. People often have strong views about how public services should be run – perhaps even more so with the NHS – which makes premium quality public engagement a must.

Change doesn’t happen in a vacuum. There is often a complex web of competing interests and limited resources vying for the attention of decision-makers. The more we understand about everyone involved – their goals, preferences and ability to help or hinder us – the better placed we will be to steer a course around any rocks in the road. The clients we partner with understand this. They know how critical it is to get engagement right.

Engagement shouldn’t just be something we have to do but something we need to do to achieve the best outcomes. According to a report from The Health Creation Alliance, there is increasing evidence that the more power a community has over its area, the more likely it is that people in that area will live healthier lives.

Getting the basics rights for effective engagement

Building collaborative alliances through meaningful engagement allows us to learn from the widest range of experiences. It gives the people who rely on these services the opportunity to shape how they are delivered.

It also helps NHS organisations build rapport with the communities they serve and deliver services in the most effective way. Perhaps most importantly, for service change programme leaders, it is an essential step toward making change happen.

Of course, the NHS should always be in listening mode, but simply publishing surveys and hosting focus groups – important though these can be – is not enough. Engagement needs to be designed with purpose. So how should we go about it?

• Firstly, start with a clear, honest and accessible story. Articulate why change is needed and stick to that message. Your communications team can help ensure consistency and clarity. It’s essential to frame the conversations clearly so that people understand what is being asked of them.
• Next, make it accessible. Communicate your story in a way that can be understood by the widest audience, but especially by your target audience. Use plain language, avoid jargon and incorporate visuals designed to help people understand the message.
• Manage expectations so that people understand how their contribution could help bring about positive change.
• Show you’re listening. Demonstrate how feedback has shaped decisions and what actions have been taken.
• And finally, always be open and honest with people. Don’t promise anything you can’t deliver and be clear about explaining why, when something simply isn’t possible.

Engaging with purpose

We’ve worked with some clients who have been engaging for years without leading to change on the ground. And when we speak to people in those communities, there is sometimes a sense of engagement fatigue – a feeling that the NHS can ask for views a hundred times, but nothing much will change. Often, this happens because the narrative is unclear, with goals that are too broad or vague.

In some cases, people felt decisions had already been made before public consultation. The law calls this ‘pre-determination’ and it can be a real risk to the success of service change programmes.

Trying to reverse-engineer outcomes like this can make people feel that you’re working despite them rather than with them, leading them to challenge your approach. If pre-determination can be proven, your programme may be stalled or even cancelled by judicial review, requiring you to start over, but now with soured community relations and more work to do on building productive partnerships. Worse of all, delay means your problem isn’t getting solved – services will go unchanged, and patient outcomes may get worse.

So, whether you’re nation-building or planning NHS service changes, it’s wise to look ahead and understand what all interested parties have to say, as well as who and what could help you reach your goals – or put obstacles in the way.

Experience tells us that events won’t always run to plan. Nevertheless, the words of US founding father Benjamin Franklin still ring true – “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Our take on this would be that “if you fail engagement, you’re engaging failure,” and our role is to ensure that doesn’t happen.

If you’re looking for specialist support with your engagement programme, get in touch via hello@freshwater.co.uk or call 029 20 30 40 50. Our team has a wealth of experience in getting public sector clients the results they need.