Engagement, Involvement, Consultation and other opportunities

NHS St Helens Clinical Commissioning Group is keen to consult and engage with stakeholders and the wider community in shaping and developing policies and services.

We are committed to carrying out meaningful engagement and communicating with the local community and stakeholders, giving them the opportunity to be involved in and to influence healthcare in their local area. Our communications and engagement strategy and operational work plans underpins the wider CCG strategy. We continuously consider how proposals and service reviews may affect different types of people, particularly working hard to make sure that those who are most vulnerable within the community are involved as much as possible.

Engagement is a key element needed to help us improve all aspects of health care, including patient experience and health outcomes – giving people the power to live healthier lives.

Here you will find information about current engagement opportunities as well as previous engagement activities.

Engagement describes the continuing and on-going process of developing relationships and partnerships so that the voice of local people and partners are heard and that our plans are shared at the earliest possible stages.

Examples of this type of engagement include Patient Participation Groups and our Patient Experience and involvement Group  where we ask members to get involved in various pieces of work.

It also describes activity that happens early on in an involvement process, including holding extensive discussions with a wide range of people to develop a robust case for change.

This can also be used in a pre-consultation stage before any formal consultation.

We want to involve our patients and our wider population in the decisions that we need to make about the services we commission for the people of St Helens. We are committed to working to the principles engagement principles set out in our strategy

  • make a difference (not tokenistic)
  • are transparent and are delivered with integrity
  • involve the right number of participants, are fit for purpose and are tailored to their needs
  • are an integral part of the mainstream commissioning and planning process
  • are owned by all CCG partners
  • make clear from the start what is ‘on offer’ (i.e. what can and cannot be influenced, how the results will be used and what feedback will be given)
  • involve people at the earliest stages in the planning, not just consulting them once decisions are made
  • appreciate that people / communities may wish to engage at different levels and some may not wish to become fully involved
  • involve participants being kept up to informed of what changes occurred as a result of their input
  • ensure evaluation, monitoring and feedback are built into plans at the outset

Formal consultation describes the statutory requirement of NHS bodies to consult with patients, the public and stakeholders when considering a proposal for a substantial development of a health service. This is outlined in regulation 23 of the Local Authority (Public Health, Health and Wellbeing Boards and Health Scrutiny) Regulations 2013. 

If you would like to know more about having your say on what we do, have any questions or ideas you would like to share with us, please email us via

We are also regularly engaging and communicating with our Third Sector and local voluntary groups to ensure they are fully involved and have the opportunity to have their say and be engaged and consulted in a meaningful way.

Examples of this includes involvement of various Third Sector organisations in the PEIG, Stakeholder forum as well specific engagement with representatives groups i.e. Carers, Deafness Resource Centre, Visually impaired, Older People.

Engagement, Involvement and Communication Review 2017/2018

Engagement, Involvement and Communication Review 2018/2019

Below, you will see current opportunities for consultation and engagement, as well as the feedback and outcomes from previous work. 

If you have recently attended an event and wish to complete an evaluation form you can find more information here

If you require any information in alternative formats or languages, please contact us on engagement@sthelensccg.nhs.uk