The Chair of the Care Quality Commission has informed us that planned activities during the consultation period for the Commission’s proposals for reviews in 2009-10 will include the following three ways of seeking views from people who use health and social care services:
the first will be a round of consultation events with stakeholders through the local involvement networks (LINks) on topics such as assessment of commissioning;
the second is a series of events aimed specifically at people who use services, their families and carers and will be able to comment on the reviews and studies programme including what they regard as their priorities. The topics for the consultation were generated via involvement activity in ‘Improvement Boards’; and
the third will be to receive input to the consultation via an online forum. A panel of people have been recruited from the public and patient and user groups to give their views through an internet discussion forum.
The consultation is scheduled to end on 12 March 2009.
The Chair of the Care Quality Commission has informed us that 1,856 copies of the consultation document have been sent out to date (15 January 2009), consisting of an initial distribution of 1,410 copies, with the remainder being sent out as a result of requests. In addition to this, 24,400 letters have been sent to stakeholders informing them of the consultation and including details on how to obtain a copy on request.
The Chair of the Care Quality Commission has informed us that, as this consultation runs until 12 March 2009, the final details of consultation engagement activity are yet to be confirmed.