Engagement or Consultation - what's the difference?

These two words are both commonly used when health or social care services are being reviewed, changed or planned.   Yet Engagement (or Involvement) and Consultation are two very different ways that the public can and should be involved. 

Consultation is statutory requirement;  Engagement is not, although it is strongly recommended in all areas of health and social care provision.

Engagement

Health services engage with people to find better ways of meeting their needs and priorities for health and healthcare, and reducing health inequalities.

Engagement and involvement with patients and the public is about users, carers and communities sharing their views and experiences with organisations such as the Primary Care Trust (PCT)or the local authority.  All parties then work together to plan and improve services.

Engagement includes meeting with patients and the public and asking for their views, and discussing their involvement and participation in the work of the trust or local authority. People need to be engaged in deciding how services are commissioned, planned, designed and delivered, as well as how health services are organised and funded.

Engaging with people also includes making sure there is communication between organisations, patients and the public about how they can be engaged, what is done with the views and experiences that they contribute, and what difference their contribution has made.

Consultation

‘Formal consultation’ is a term often used in health care to describe the statutory requirement imposed on NHS organisations by the Local Authority (Overview and Scrutiny Committees Health Scrutiny Functions) Regulations 2002.

This requirement is that NHS organisations must consult with Overview and Scrutiny Committees (OSCs) when they are considering a proposal for a substantial development of the health service in the area of the local authority, or for a substantial change in service provision. 

However, the duty to involve patients and the public in the consultation is also ‘formal’, as it is a legal requirement (as set out in section 242(1B) of the NHS Act 2006). Therefore, NHS organisations must involve users wherever this section requirement is applicable, whether or not the OSC is consulted.

Consultations are usually undertaken over a three month period.

New duty to report on consultation

The NHS currently gets feedback from people about services in a variety of ways including results of consultations, complaints from patients, enquiries to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) and results from surveys.  However, the NHS does not always tell people what action resulted from their feedback.

A new duty to report on consultation came into force in October 2009.  This new duty requires Primary Care Trusts to report on how people’s views have shaped decisions on commissioning services.

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