Engaging underrepresented people in a regional transformation project : Co-production of a framework

This report summarises the activities from the Engaging Underrepresented People in a Regional Transformation Project, a collaboration with the Lancashire and South Cumbria New Hospitals Programme (LSCNHP). The project was awarded project funding from Research England through the Lancaster University Vice-Chancellor’s Prize for Participatory Research. The project ran from the beginning of March to the end of July 2022. The Lancashire and South Cumbria New Hospitals Programme is part of the Government’s commitment to building 40 new hospitals by 2030. Together with eight existing schemes, this will mean 48 hospitals built in England over the next decade, the biggest hospital building programme in a generation. Find out more on the ‘Improving NHS infrastructure’ website. Discussions with the New Hospitals Programme team identified that, whilst there has been engagement with regional stakeholders, local people, patients, staff, and some health inclusion groups, there was still a gap in the engagement of those who were routinely underrepresented. The project team were open to further insight and suggestions on how to address the gap. This project aimed to: Fill a gap in knowledge on good practice engagement with underrepresented people, Produce a framework for future engagement practice, Provide evidence to inform the New Hospitals Programme’s engagement practice, Inform engagement approaches for future transformation projects.