Between 2013 and 2023, HWLincs has engaged with more than
1.3 million people
We have enabled them to share their experiences, concerns
and views with us.
Through this, we have produced
4,000+ reports
While health, care and wellbeing has been the focus of our work, HWLincs’ extensive experience in engagement and insight can be replicated across many other areas.
Our engagement methods are varied, from face to face to online and include:
One to one informal conversations
Formal interviews
Focus groups
Co-production sessions
Surveys and quick polls
Webinars
Social media
Meetings and events
Customers and projects
Lincolnshire County Council
- We have successfully delivered the Healthwatch Lincolnshire contract since 2013. This work has required us to extensively engage with the public through a range of face to face and online methods, as well as providing strategic representation, completing thematic reviews and report writing.
- Our work to evaluate Lincolnshire County Council’s Customer Service Centre included one to one interviews with a large cohort of people to learn about their experiences of using this service,
and required feedback analysis and reporting of our findings.
NHS Lincolnshire
- During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, HWLincs was awarded a contract with NHS Lincolnshire to help recruit Lincolnshire residents to join their new Citizens’ Panel. In one year, we raised enough interest for a almost 1,000 people to join the panel, providing a direct feedback loop between the NHS and the public.
- Public information webinars. During Covid-19 lockdown, we facilitated some very successful webinars which allowed a panel of experts to share important messages with thousands of viewers. Another webinar gave an opportunity for a more targeted expert view with Prof. Jonathan Van-Tam addressing the emerging vaccinations.
- HWLincs has completed targeted engagement, detailed analysis of findings and presented reports to NHS Lincolnshire on subjects such as Community Cancer Services, Palliative Care and End of Life Services, Bereavement Services, MSK and Anticipatory Care Services to name but a few. These pieces of work have required us to work closely with the commissioning and delivery teams to design detailed and specialist surveys using SurveyMonkey. Other engagement activities to support this work included events, interviews and focus groups. To find out more about one of the projects please visit Palliative Care End of Life (hwlincs.co.uk)
- As a result of Covid-19 pandemic, the way in which health services dealt with patients had to drastically change, with most patient consultations moving to a more digital approach. HWLincs designed a programme of work that would help the public better understand digital health services, we called it Digi-health. Digi-Health facilitated an information webinar, produced a range of information factsheets, information leaflets and webpage for the public to learn more.
UK Government
- As one of only two organisations in Lincolnshire to receive funding from the Communities Renewal Fund in late 2021, the fund enabled us to complete a Feasibility Study for care work in Lincolnshire.
Care worker recruitment was a challenging subject to take on and research, in part due to historical and ongoing difficulties recruiting into the sector but also due to Covid-19 continued restrictions on care homes. HWLincs is proud of what this project achieved, including working with care homes, producing promotional videos, raising the profile of care home recruitment needs and creating staff retention video content.
Healthwatch England
- HWLincs has completed several time-limited engagement contracts for Healthwatch England. Most employed our expertise in engagement with seldom heard groups, including people with learning disabilities, gypsy travellers and people who are in receipt of social care.
Our work has included online surveys, interviews, focus groups and one-to-one discussions.
Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- HWLincs is proud of the work that we have delivered for CQC, most of which has helped to shape national policy and frameworks. Throughout all the contracts we have delivered engagement with many people, listening to their concerns and sharing back what we have heard has been at its heart. This engagement has enabled the CQC to ensure inspections of health and care services meet the needs of the people that use them.
- Our co-production work with adults with a learning disability is one of our highlights. Our supportive approach encouraged this cohort of people to shape how future Inspections should be conducted to best support people with a learning disability. This is what the CQC fed back to us at this end of this work:
“This is great! We are really pleased. Really useful and important learning.
“The fact that you sought support and informed CCG’s and other partners is excellent.
“Your communication tools are wonderful and clearly worked well”.
- In early 2022, HWLincs delivered a significant piece of work that required us to engage with both the public and our local health and care system to find out how health and care services must integrate to meet the needs of the people they serve. Engagement included surveys, focus groups and one-to-one interviews, with more than 1,200 people reached during a 10-week period. We produced both a formal report and presentation of our findings, presenting them to CQC national engagement team. This work helped to shape CQC’s national inspection framework for the Integrated Care Systems that were introduced in 2021/22.
Shine Lincolnshire
- Shine is a countywide charity which aims to support people with poor mental health to live well by accessing a range of support services. Shine annually distributes funding to support county initiatives that compliment its criteria and ethos. HWLincs has been successful with two grant programmes including:
- A Better Way men’s sucide prevention.
This project was set up to provide support the mental health of men between the ages of 39 and 64 years old by providing several interventions including information and signposting, a dedicated website and physical publication, one-to-one sessions and online workshop sessions. - Coffee & Company – funded through their Managed Care Network, this focused on mental ill health in the workplace working with up to five businesses in South Lincolnshire. The work was a feasibility study which explores preventative measures that recognise the swathe of people looking to leave employment due to mental health, offering support that promotes greater independence and improved wellbeing. Support is offered through one-to-one chats, group sessions and activities and is very much driven by what the employees want. Coffee & Company is not about workplace HR issues, it is about helping individuals to cope with everyday life, with the idea that not everyone can leave their problems at the front door. Particiants in the pilot scheme include University of Lincoln, Crowland Pharmacy, Point74 and Moulton Bulb Company.
Lincolnshire Voluntary Engagement Team and Involving Lincs
- VCSE strategy development.
In 2019, HWLincs’ CEO produced a new three-year VCSE strategy for the Lincolnshire Voluntary Engagement Team. This work required us to interview Charity Chief Executives and key people from our local statutory services to help shape the direction of travel for the counties VCSE. - Involving Lincs is one of Lincolnshire’s voluntary and community sector capacity building networks, set up to help enable growth and development to thrive. HWLincs was asked to engage with the sector to support their Communities Resilience and Recovery work as part of Covid-19 challenges.
Anglian Water and Western Power Distribution
- HWLincs was asked to support Anglian Water and Western Power promote the Priorities Services Register scheme, with the view to signing up new vulnerable customers. We successfully reached the eligible people and assisted in their registration to this essential support service.
