Better consultation: “It’s about learning to say hello, excuse me, & thank you”

Better consultation: “It’s about learning to say hello, excuse me, & thank you”

Consultation. Public Engagement. Codesign. Coproduction. These are not the same thing (and differentiating between them is vital in order to really do what it is you need to do, for the circumstances you’re in). But the critical importance of getting better at listening to and communicating with the public – whether for formal consultation (big C) purposes or more creative codesign – needs our attention. In this post, the wonderful @lesteph.

Commissioning: if we can’t see it’s broken, we won’t fix it

Is outcomes-based commissioning really happening (yet)? Are we equipped to actually do it?

NEW PUBLICATION: what might REALLY listening to citizens do for public services?

NEW PUBLICATION: what might REALLY listening to citizens do for public services?

Read – Listening, Learning & Telling Stories – a new publication in which we share what’s been happening so far in our work to support radical new approaches to citizen engagement in Essex.

What if we just made sure that we cared about people?

What if we just made sure that we cared about people?

My friend Sophie is on a Back to Nursing course. It’s horrible, on many levels. “It’s almost like you have to lower your expectations to fit in, which I suspect is what the patients do every day. Isn’t that terrible?”

Unusual Suspects, and triangles

Unusual Suspects, and triangles

This week we’ve been at the Unusual Suspects Festival …a free-flowing smorgasbord of workshops, fostering learning and connections between the network of agents who are passionate about using new methodologies to drive social change and better outcomes for the public.

Citizen-centred care: what could that really mean for CCGs?

Citizen-centred care: what could that really mean for CCGs?

It was a real privilege to join West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group’s Board awayday this week, to which I’d been invited to bring a provocation around patient/citizen insight and ethnography. Whilst the brief family stories I shared on film and with quotes/photos were not primarily focused on health-related themes, CCG Board members needed no encouragement to grasp the implications for integrated commissioning of health and social care.

Prepare to be moved: the undeniable power of ethnographic approaches

Prepare to be moved: the undeniable power of ethnographic approaches

For us, listening (and really hearing) what people have to say about their lives and the public services they use is at the very heart of what we do. It’s one of the approaches we believe is right and necessary if we are going to change how organisations and professionals see the world, and consequently improve it.

Reform private roundtable: People-powered public services: the role of technology

Reform private roundtable: People-powered public services: the role of technology

Ruth is out and about today attending the Reform private roundtable on “People-powered public services: the role of technology” with Chi Onwurah MP, Shadow Cabinet Office Minister.

The seminar is exploring new and innovative ways of delivering public services on a tighter budget and will be attended by a host of leading policymakers, practitioners, business experts, journalists and other stakeholders. Wonder which category Ruth falls into?

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