To drive digital transformation of health and social care, and give staff and citizens the technology they need, we need to involve people at every stage of our work. This includes patients, carers, staff and stakeholders.
The guidance here will help colleagues in health and social care digital teams think about how to involve people and communities in their work. It gives advice on involving people at different stages of digital development, such as:
- policy and strategy (decision-making and governance)
- user research and service design
- delivery
It also reflects on digital exclusion, remembering that it is just as important to reach out to those who do not use digital tools.
It is not intended to be prescriptive. It aims to start you thinking about how you can involve all types of users in digital services that you are developing.
This guidance was created following a workshop held with people, patients and with NHS Digital and NHSX staff. We are sharing the content openly for further ideas and suggestions. We’d like to develop it further as we go. To comment on how we can improve this guidance, email feedback@nhsx.nhs.uk.
