Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that people from under-represented communities are able to engage in the development of the NHS 10 Year Health Plan.

We want to ensure the 10-Year Health Plan reflects the diversity of the people who use the National Health Service every day, and it is important that everyone can have their say as we develop it.

The online Change NHS platform is available in multiple formats, with a range of ways to respond to help make it accessible. This includes easy-read, British sign-language formats, and language translations, with other formats available online and by request.

However, the online platform is one part of the wider engagement; we have run a series of in-person and online events in every region across England, and recruitment for these events has used recognised and best-in-class sampling methods to ensure people and staff from different backgrounds and experiences are included. Our in-depth deliberations with the public will consider their priorities and expectations on how we make the NHS fit for the future.

We are also working with partners who have an interest in health and care to hear from local communities, especially those whose voices often go unheard. We continue to monitor which groups we are hearing from and will tailor our approach to ensure we hear from under-represented groups.

We have also asked local health systems to plan engagement with their local communities, front line staff and partner organisations, taking care to ensure they cover their ‘Core20PLUS5’ groups and reach those who are under-represented. The NHS England Core20PLUS5 approach aims to inform action that targets the most deprived 20 per cent of the population and other inclusion health groups, with the aim of reducing health inequalities.

We have provided ‘workshop in a box’ materials to support local health systems and voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to run workshops with their communities. These materials are also available in alternative formats, including easy-read and British sign-language formats. We have recently written to charities representing groups that are currently under-represented in the engagement exercise to ask them how we can help ensure that these voices are heard in the engagement exercise.