Your priorities for health and social care in Sheffield

Health and social care is a huge area, so each year we focus on key issues where we can have the most impact for local people. 

Between January and March 2023, we ran a survey, held meetings, visited community groups and events, and had conversations with professionals working in the voluntary & community, and health & social care sector, asking what you thought we should be focusing on. Over 300 people shared their views.

Take a look at our plan on a page or continue reading to find out how that's shaped our workplan.

How do we choose our priority topics?

We looked at all the responses we received through our survey, meetings, and other conversations, and considered them alongside several questions, including:

• Which themes have been raised the most frequently?
• Where is there potential for the most significant impact?
• Which issues impact on those with the worst health outcomes?
• What work is already being done by ourselves or others in the health and care system?
• Are there any recent and planned health and care policy changes which we can feed into?

Our Strategic Advisory Group - a group of volunteers who help oversee and guide our work - then helped us to make a final decision.

What else will we be working on?

These priority topics are where we will do larger, focused pieces of work over the next two years. However, our work encompasses much more than this and you can still talk to us about any aspect of health and social care in Sheffield. 

Some topics - like access to GPs and NHS dentistry - come to us regularly via our information and advice service and our outreach activities. We'll be escalating and acting on your feedback on topics like this throughout the year, even if it's not a priority area.

We're also running our #SpeakUp grants programme again in 2023-24, and will be supporting four voluntary and community sector groups to run their own projects amplifying people's views and experiences.

This year we are supporting the following #SpeakUp projects:

• Saalik Youth Project - young Muslims accessing care in Burngreave
• Parson Cross Community Development Forum - local health and care services for older people
• SAVTE - accessing care with English as a second language
• Space to Breathe - GP access for mental health support

We will also continue to focus on these important aspects of our work:

• Providing a high quality information and advice service - including developing information resources, and actively highlighting issues coming through enquiries
• Developing and strengthening our ways of working in the health and care system in South Yorkshire and Sheffield, including collaborative work with other South Yorkshire Healthwatch

• Facilitating the public and patient involvement group for the Sheffield Health and Care Partnership
• Working with our community partners to amplify more people's views and experiences
• Following up on recommendations we made in 2022-23 - what actions have services taken to improve?
• Leaving space to be responsive to new issues and opportunities arising

Our workplan at a glance

We've produced a plan on a page, setting out the work we'll doing over the coming year. Take a look below:

Our workplan