People to Partners: Developing a unique approach for Northern Ireland

Maximising the potential offered by the current situation; with a restored Assembly, an
agreed Programme for Government supported by a multi-year funding agreement
and by the Transformation Fund, as well as an urgency and appetite for change:

• Move away from siloed approaches whilst also aiming to prevent duplication to
  ensure that outcomes are maximised through collaborative working.
• Foster collaboration among various government departments to address the
  interconnected factors affecting wellbeing.

• 77% of respondents to the NISRA NI Continuous Household Survey indicated that
  they trust Civil servants 'to do'. Build on this by embracing the potential of the public
  and communities to focus on problems and drive solutions, in order to make the shift
  to 'do with'.
• Build behaviour-change campaigns (such as 'This is Health') based on engagement
  and insight, to promote a ‘doing with’ approach that enables active participation in
  public services and community wellbeing

• Align policies and governance across sectors and government departments to ensure
  they collectively support the overarching goal of improving public wellbeing.
• Differentiate a ‘do with’ approach to how decisions are made, from a ‘do with’
  approach to how services are delivered every day

• Trust is key to changing relationships. We need to nurture trust where it is found,
  often between people and place, and build on this
• Work to identify and eliminate barriers that prevent access to services for
  marginalised populations.
• ‘People get what they are given, not what they need’ - focus on the needs of
  population identified bottom-up, rather than mandating targets from the top-down.
• Support community development initiatives that demonstrate greater impact at grass
  roots and which strengthen community ties and enhance local problem-solving
  capabilities.

• Viewing the public as “an asset, not a problem” will lead to better health
  outcomes, through shared power, relationships and accountability.
• Build alliances with local organisations and community groups to leverage trust,
  resources and expertise for health and system improvement.
• Ensure diverse representation and engagement, including with those perceived
  as “different” or “difficult” particularly in areas of socio-economic deprivation or in
  some groups which results in inequalities, including disparity in terms of health
  outcomes.
• Create initiatives that facilitate and enable citizens to make informed health
  choices and participate in health promotion, or prevention, activities.

• Develop holistic care approaches that connect health and social care services
  with wider community support systems.
• Work with the Community and Voluntary Sector, who are agile and able to
  innovate much more quickly and responsively to communities.
• Actively engage with communities to understand their health issues, concerns
  and preferences, fostering a sense of ownership by implementing programmes
  that encourage individuals to take an active role in managing their health,
  addressing disengagement.

• Design in this context means the practical process of shaping how services and
  experiences work for people, through co-design, testing and iteration based on
  insights, evidence and lived experience.
• Embedding these approaches ensures engagement leads directly to better policy
  development, service design and delivery.

• People’s interfaces with health and social care are changing rapidly, not least in
  terms of access to information. We must build a system that embraces this as a
  positive and harnesses the power of digital
• Strengthen and align channels for public feedback which allow for triangulation of
  information and insights to continuously improve health and care services based
  on community feedback.
• Use metrics that matter to people, and use learning from elsewhere to inform an
  NI specific model for wellbeing.

By fostering a partnership model that actively engages citizens, HSC (and wider public sector) organisations can leverage the collective knowledge, skills, and resources of the community that they serve. Applying “citizen-centred” design methods to policy development and service delivery will help translate this partnership into practical change. This collaboration not only enhances the effectiveness of health and care services but also facilitates individuals to take an active role in their own wellbeing. When citizens are viewed as partners rather than passive recipients of services, it creates a more responsive and adaptable system that can better meet the diverse needs of the population.

By shifting the nature of the relationship between services and the public to one of partnership, this builds a culture of shared responsibility and accountability. Through engaging the public in decision-making processes, organisations can gain valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities within communities. This two-way engagement fosters trust and transparency, which are essential for building strong relationships between citizens and public institutions. As a result, policies and services can be tailored to reflect the realities of people's lives, leading to more effective interventions, improved health outcomes and more efficient government through strengthened community agency and building local democracy.

A strategic focus on collaboration can help break down silos between different sectors and departments. By working together, health and social care, education, communities, employment and other government departments and public sector organisations can create integrated approaches that address the multi-faceted nature of wellbeing. This holistic perspective not only enhances service delivery but also ensures that resources are utilised more efficiently, transformational change can be delivered (including by potentially accessing cross-departmental Transformation Funding) ultimately leading to better outcomes for individuals and communities.