Launch of ‘Voice It, Hear It’ initiative to transform health and social care in Wiltshire

The innovative Voice It, Hear It project, launched in early 2024, is set to strengthen health and social care services in Wiltshire. This initiative aims to engage residents and workers to co-produce, co-design, and co-develop local health and social care services.

Funded by Wiltshire Council and the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board (BSW ICB), Voice It, Hear It embodies a collaborative approach to service development.

Community First, in partnership with Wiltshire Service Users Network, Wessex Community Action, Age UK Wiltshire, Alzheimer’s Support, and Celebrating Age Wiltshire, is spearheading this co-production, voice, and engagement project.

Voice It, Hear It is committed to amplifying the voices of adults with lived experiences, ensuring their insights are heard, shared, and acted upon. The project will collaborate with Wiltshire’s health, education, and social care sectors, focusing on those who use these services and their caregivers.

The primary aim of the partnership is to engage and seek the views of adults and children with:

• Learning disabilities and difficulties
• Physical impairments
• Sensory impairments
• Mental health needs
• Autism spectrum conditions
• Conditions associated with ageing, such as frailty and cognitive impairment
• Social, emotional, and behavioural needs
• Speech, language, and communication needs
• Substance use disorder
• Other factors impacting a child, adult, or family’s ability to achieve positive outcomes (e.g., trauma, domestic abuse, exploitation)

Collaboration and partnerships

The project seeks to collaborate with ‘extended partners’ to better understand how and where to engage with the adult organisations you work with. By leveraging existing trusted relationships, the initiative aims to co-host and conduct consultations more effectively, ensuring the voices of these clients are included, valued, and acted upon.

Your participation is crucial. By joining this effort, you will help ensure that the experiences of these communities inform new policies, strategies, and services.

How to be involved

To contribute, please register using the online form: Voice It, Hear It Stakeholder Engagement Registration and tell us about your organisation, your client organisation, and how we might reach out through your networks. We have some funding available to support this work, including running workshops on behalf of Voice It, Hear It.

Your involvement will aid in consulting clients and sharing their information as we develop new strategies and services for Wiltshire Council and BSW.

For more information, please contact voice@communityfirst.org.uk or telephone 01380 722475