Hospital and Community Services

Engagement Narrative Toolkit

Intended Audience: engagement staff,

engagement champions and voluntary
sector networks

Status: FINAL
Circulation date: 2 July 2015

Author: Helen Robinson-Gordon, Head of Communications

(interim)

Date:2 July 2015

Authorised by:

Version: final
Page | 1

Aim
The narrative circulated is required to support our pre-engagement activity. The information
provided will be used by the facilitators of this engagement (engagement staff and engagement
champions or voluntary sector networks) to set the scene for the pre-engagement, provide an
overview of where we are at now and answer any questions. In addition we will use paragraphs
to support the development of any questionnaires we may develop to engage people.
The engagement will be targeted to those groups who represent a particular characteristic as
set out in the equality act, a local area and or a service. This will not be wide scale engagement
but the gathering of specific views required that we need to consider or that will further inform
our thinking.
In terms of constructing the narrative ahead of the formal public consultation on hospital
services in Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield, there are two parts to the sequence.
Previous engagement questions
In our previous engagement activity it is worth noting that we asked the following questions:

What do you think about the ideas described in the leaflet?

Do you have any other suggestions for changing Health and Community services?
Do you want to tell us anything else about Hospital and Community services in
Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield?

The narrative and questions we want to ask at pre-engagement stage build on the leaflet called
The Future of Hospital and Community Services information but provide more clarity on the
areas most subject to change. The questions therefore need to probe these areas further and
in more detail.

1. Part one
Note to reader
First is the importance of the wider message - reminding stakeholders of the context to the
need for change and what they can and cannot influence as the more detailed plans take
shape. There are a number of key messages which need to be communicated to all
stakeholders and stakeholder groups during this phase of pre-consultation engagement
and involvement. These are relatively generic, helping to set the scene but they do relate
to the clinically led design principles regarding the future of health and social care in
Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield:
In terms gaining maximum impact, they need to be woven into the introductory briefings
provided to stakeholder groups and then reiterated at the end of a session.

Author: Helen Robinson-Gordon, Head of Communications

(interim)

Date:2 July 2015

Authorised by:

Version: final
Page | 2

The key messages are:

We want to remind and reassure audiences that this is not a new round of engagement
on a new topic; rather it is further opportunity for you, patients, carers, members of the
public, to see we are building on what you have already told us about healthcare
services in Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield. Another chance to make known your
views and provide suggestions on the proposed developments and improvements.

Over the next five years, we want to provide joined-up, holistic, people-centred care, to
support people to stay healthy and live independently for longer. But finances within
health are in a precarious state and there isnt a large pot of money to pay for everything
we may want to do.

From the conversations we have already had, we know people want to have services
based locally, be cared for closer to home and to receive more support and education to
look after themselves better for longer. We are making those changes and although
progress is slow, it is there and has the potential to be very successful. We will keep
refining the Care Closer to Home programme as it grows.

We want to have health care services that are provided by staff that have the right skills,
values and behaviours patients and the public expect. They also need to be services we
can sustain given that we know there are certain staff and skills shortages at a national
level that is also reflected at a local level.

We intend to go out to a formal public consultation we are aiming for the autumn of this
year but ahead of that we want to ensure our local communities have had chance to put
forward their views and are as well informed as they can be so that the public
consultation will have real meaning and be important to local people.

Author: Helen Robinson-Gordon, Head of Communications

(interim)

Date:2 July 2015

Authorised by:

Version: final
Page | 3

2. Part Two
Note to reader
The narrative, or key messages communicated in this part of the process must have
resonance going forward in the content of the formal public consultation. There must be
continuity of theme, tone and message if we are to keep the confidence of local residents.
Continuing with the themes contained with the principles of care and which are already
within the introduction, this part of the conversation is crucial but must be entered into only
once the wider general messages (outlined above) have been discussed and understood.
This is because it is where all involved will be held to account, scrutinised and reminded of
the content, possibly to the letter, at every opportunity going forward. It is worth noting that
CCGs have a legal duty to ensure that that individuals to whom the services are being
provided or may be provided are involved in the:

Development and consideration of any change to the commissioning

arrangements where these will impact on the manner in which the services are
delivered and the range of health services available.1

We need to be mindful of our legal obligations and ensure we dont give cause for any
organisation to call into question our processes. Our stakeholders must feel real
involvement.
The messages for the detailed narrative
We currently have two district general hospitals trying to provide almost all types of
hospital services to about half a million people. This doesnt fit with modern health needs
and we are not delivering national standards of best practice for a significant number of
services. This means patients are not currently getting the quality of care or the safest
level of care to which they are entitled

Calderdale Royal Hospital is a relatively new building and a fantastic resource for the
community. However, it has a long lease on it and will have to be fully utilised for many
years to come. The Huddersfield Royal is a bigger site but the buildings are much older
and will require a lot of money to bring it to modern standards to make it fit for purpose.
These are very practical issues we have to face when considering where we locate
services in the future.

Author: Helen Robinson-Gordon, Head of Communications

(interim)

Date:2 July 2015

Authorised by:

Version: final
Page | 4

The local and national clinical consensus is to put specialist emergency and acute
medical services on a single site as the best option to deliver safe and sustainable
emergency care in the future. This is care for life threatening conditions, which all of us
may experience once in a lifetime.

Putting services which support patients with such conditions on a single site would also
enable the hospital to increase the amount of hours emergency care specialists could be
available in the department on any given day. This means that we would be able to
deliver a safer service and a better quality of care for those needing emergency
treatment. It would also mean that planned or routine surgery would have far less
interruptions. If this type of surgery was centred on one site, the risk of those operating
theatres being used for emergency operations would be much reduced. We believe that
by doing this, we will save more lives.

By September of this year, the Trust is required to develop a plan which shows how it
can be financially sustainable going forward. It is working with the regulator, Monitor, to
do this. So, while its true to say that the Hospital Trust did express a preference for a
single site and for that site to be Huddersfield; the Trusts financial position has
deteriorated since that plan was published. Now, a range of proposals for change have
to be looked at again. No decisions have been made about the future of local hospital
services and its important to emphasise that point

Any changes to hospital-based services are not being considered in isolation. For more
than a year we have been improving the quality and range of health care services we
provide closer to peoples homes. By doing this, we are confident that we can reduce
the need for people to travel to hospital for routine care. For example, we have
introduced new technology which is already reducing the number of routine and
outpatient hospital visits for people with certain types of respiratory (breathing)
diseases. We have changed the way care is provided in care homes to reduce the
number of times older people have to be admitted to hospital as an emergency.

For people who do not need to go to the Emergency Department, but who still require
urgent care, the model proposes the development of two or more centres providing
urgent care services. Best practice indicates that urgent care centres sit alongside
existing hospital facilities - an indeed thats already happening in a number of areas of
the country. It would seem logical to place these services within the existing hospital
estate in Halifax and Huddersfield. A third centre could be developed in order to meet
the needs of more geographically remote communities Those sorts of details may be
something we include in the public consultation as we want to ensure that listen to the
needs of local people.

Author: Helen Robinson-Gordon, Head of Communications

(interim)

Date:2 July 2015

Authorised by:

Version: final
Page | 5

It is obvious that we will need to take account of the widespread belief that decisions have
already been made and that the Halifax A&E service is destined to close. It is the view of
commissioners that there should be a 24/7 urgent care offer operating out of whichever hospital
is not assigned Emergency Care centre status. It is also clear that we will need to ensure that
travel times are taken into account and that a reasonable offer is made to all communities
served by CHFT making best use of the hospital estate that CHFT has at its disposal.
This toolkit will be used to induct the engagement staff and engagement champions or voluntary
sector networks. Other materials such as presentation slides, easy read formats and other
relevant communication materials will be developed based on the content of this document.

Questionnaire
The questions are set to gather information on the following service areas:

Urgent and Emergency care

Planned Care

The questionnaire sheets are with this toolkit. Please contact Sharon Morley if you require
further copies or advice on alternate formats.
Sharon Morley
Project Support Officer - Right Care, Right Time, Right Place Programme
NHS Calderdale CCG
5th Floor, F Mill Dean Clough, Halifax, HX3 5AX
T: 01422 307519
E: sharon.morley@calderdaleccg.nhs.uk

Author: Helen Robinson-Gordon, Head of Communications

(interim)

Date:2 July 2015

Authorised by:

Version: final
Page | 6