Get Involved

NHS St Helens Clinical Commissioning Group is committed to putting the needs of the patients and the public that we serve at the heart of all we do.

Mark Weights, Lay Member for Patient and Public Involvement

As a Lay Member on the CCG Governing Body for Patient and Public Involvement my role is to be the voice for local people on the work carried out by the organisation to ensure patients, public and the community are fully involved in decision making and have the opportunity to share experiences of accessing NHS services locally.

As Lay Member I sit on a number of committees / meetings to ensure that the community are considered in everything we do. These committees include:

Governing body
Audit committee
Primary care committee
Quality committee

As well as the above committees I also chair the patient experience involvement group and the patient participation forum.

My role is also to provide assurance to Governing Body and other committees on the work we do on patient and public involvement and how they are involved.

You can get in touch with me via email mark.weights@sthelensccg.nhs.uk or call 01744 627596

Biography

Mark has worked in the third and voluntary sector at SHAP since 1987, involved in supported housing, working with young people who are in the care of the Local Authority or those who are getting ready to leave care. Mark has been a key part of the local community for a number of years, working in the field of homelessness and supported housing for over 40 years. His experience working with some of the most vulnerable members of our community will no doubt support the CCG to continue carrying out meaningful engagement.

There are a number of ways of getting involved in the work we do and sharing your experiences of accessing local NHS services.

We want to hear what you think about how we design, deliver and monitor the services that we provide and how we can really make a difference to the health and well-being of the people of St Helens. There are lots of ways you can get involved with the CCG including;

Become a member - becoming a member of the CCG will mean that you are always regularly updated on work happening across St helens and given the opportunity to have your say and engage with local health and social care decisions.
Join a Patient Participation Group (PPG) - Each of the 34 GP practices in St Helens has a PPG, which is open to all registered patients and can include attendance at regular meetings to discuss practice matters and act as a voice of the patients at your practice. To get involved, you will need to contact your GP practice.
Attend one of our events - As part of our engagement work, we both run events which you can attend, but also go to local community groups, meetings, and events to talk about the work happening at St Helens CCG.
Make your views heard via engagement opportunities - We are always working on improving health and social care in St Helens and regularly need to know your thoughts, ideas, and concerns about local services.
Social media - St Helens CCG are active users of both Twitter and Facebook. We regularly post updates on what's happening at the CCG as well as opportunities to have your say or attend events.
Other Opportunities - The CCG work closely with NHS England and other organisations to provide training and development opportunities to our local community
Ask our Governing Body a question - Members of the public are welcome to attend but unfortunately, due to following a strict agenda, we cannot accept questions from the public during the meeting. However, we do welcome members of the public to submit written questions to be answered at a Governing Body meeting. These must be sent at least two weeks in advance of the meeting. A response will be given by NHS St Helens CCG verbally at the meeting and where possible, supplied within the paper pack for the meeting or within the minutes. Any further debate or supplementary questions will be at the discretion of the Chair as the Governing Body is a meeting in public and not a public meeting. The public are asked to submit any questions by emailing communications.ccg@sthelensccg.nhs.uk or telephoning 01744 624268.

When undertaking engagement activities the team follow these principles.

For more information, contact our team

Paul Steele - Engagement, Involvement, Communications and Patient Experience Lead

NHS St Helens CCG, 2nd Floor, The Gamble Building, Victoria Square,

St Helens, WA10 1DY

Tel: 01744 627 596 Email: engagement@sthelensccg.nhs.uk

If you require any information in alternative formats or languages, please contact us or visit our accessibility page.

We have developed a communications and engagement strategy for 2017-20 which outlines our commitment to the public and our stakeholders. Here, you can see how out strategy links with St Helens CCG priorities and how we plan to engage with the local population in a meaningful way.

We have also developed an Engagement, Involvement and Communication Review for 2017-18 which highlights our achievements as a team over the last 12 months and to look and plans and priorities going forward.