Session Two: Putting choice, personalisation and equity at the heart of primary care communications

On 28 June 2023, National Voices held an online national conference to bring together primary care leaders and teams, voluntary sector organisations and people with lived experience to discuss priority actions for the future of primary care. The focus of the conference was on making what matters to people matter in primary care. We delivered this event with generous support from Astra Zeneca, Diabetes UK, the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency.
Primary care services are the front door to the NHS - they are the first port of call when we feel unwell and the main coordinator of care when we are living with ill health. Yet, at National Voices, we often hear examples about people who have not had their communication needs met within primary care. This includes Deaf people, people with learning disabilities, people who don't speak English fluently, people with low or no literacy and many others.
This session explored key issues faced by people with specific communication needs within primary care and what they feel would make the biggest difference, as well as key actions primary care leaders and teams can take to support inclusive communication.
The session began with a presentation of the key issues emerging from a recent National Voices project on inclusive communication in primary care and was followed by insights and reflections from an expert panel who shared what they think can be done to fix it.
This session was chaired by Jacob Lant, Chief Executive, National Voices.
Accessible and inclusive communication within primary care: What matters to people living with ill health and accessibility needs, was presented by Dr Rebecca Steinfeld, Head of Policy and External Affairs (Job Share), National Voices
Panellists included:
Abigail Gorman, Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Signhealth
Leicia Feare, Head of Communications and Engagement - Healthcare Inequalities Improvement, NHS England
Gary Bourlet, Membership and Engagement Lead, Learning Disability England
Mihai Bica, Campaigning and Policy Coordinator, Roma Support Group.
This session was possible thanks to generous contributions from the Department of Health and Social Care, the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England, who through the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance have provided a grant for our independent work on inclusive communications in primary care.
Read Accessible and inclusive communication within primary care: What matters to people with diverse communication needs here - www.nationalvo...