Community health services
We spoke to people in Kent and Medway about services that are delivered in the community.
Community Health Services
What are community health services?
Community health services help adults and children get well and stay well, either in their own home or other out-of-hospital settings close to home. They are a critical part of health and care, working closely with general practice and alongside hospitals and embedded in our communities.
Listening to you
To help determine how we can improve community health services, for adults and children, NHS Kent and Medway conducted a series of listening activities with the public, frontline staff, patients and communities to find out:
- What is currently working in community health care.
- What needs to be improved.
- What matters most to the people who use and work in these services.
These reports cover the key findings from the engagement activity.
What we did
Patient, community and staff input are critical to make sure we develop the best models of care and make sure community health services are fit for the future. Between May and July 2024, NHS Kent and Medway carried out a series of activities to gather views and experiences.
We conducted a review of existing patient experience findings, ran three surveys and invited people to listening events across Kent and Medway and online, worked with local community organisations to reach people from communities who are traditionally not well served by health and care services, attended local community events and carried out interviews with people who use community health services but who are not able to leave their homes.
To promote the engagement, we ran digital and offline advertising and sent information through to NHS partners, local councils and voluntary and community organisations to help spread the message and share details of the ways to get involved.
We ran advertisements through Meta channels (Facebook and Instagram) and Kent Messenger papers across the county.
What we heard
Our advertisements reached 1.1million people in total (some more than once) and generated 15,400 clicks to the survey page.
Between 30 May and 24 July 2024:
- 112 people attended eight events.
- 15 community organisations spoke to 361 people from under-served and less listened to communities.
- 1,500 postcards distributed through Kent County Council social care, One You Kent and health and wellbeing buses.
- We spoke to people at four community events.
- 135 adult surveys were completed.
- 39 children surveys were completed.
- 120 staff surveys were completed.
- Seven interviews with housebound patients were conducted..
What happens next
This engagement feeds into the development of principles for improving community health care services. It helps NHS Kent and Medway and the providers of community health services to focus on what matters most to those using and working to deliver services. Further engagement with people, patients and staff will take place in early 2025 focusing on how care should be delivered and looking at pathways of care.