The People & Communities Assembly

Norfolk and Suffolk Integrated Care Board facilitate the strategic People and Communities Assembly. Everyone is welcome to join! The People and Communities Assembly help to shape how people are involved in the planning, design, delivery and evaluation of health and care services. The group develop and learn from each other – a community of practice for involvement, co-production and co-delivery.

Use the sign up form here or at the bottom of this page to join!

When we refer to ‘people and communities’ this means everyone who lives or uses health and care services in Norfolk and Suffolk. There are over 1.7 million people who use, access, or who will need to access health and care services, including family carers.

Each are individuals. Each individual also may belong to a number of different communities, that may be based on their geographical area, identified by a health condition or life experience, or a characteristic such as their ethnicity, gender identity or having a disability.

People are powerful leaders and advocates for their own health, care and wellbeing, and that of their communities. Therefore, health and care services and organisations must work in partnership with people and communities to help them to prevent poor health in the ways that they know work best. By working with people from the full diverse range of communities that form our society, health and care services can be specifically tailored to meet everybody’s needs better.

Statutory organisations, such as local authorities and the NHS, have a legal duty to involve people and communities. They must arrange opportunities for members of the public to get involved in planning, proposals, and decisions regarding health and care services.

The People and Communities Assembly formed through workshops and meetings with people and communities since November 2024, where people discussed how they wanted to work together.

Our six working principles are:

Working Principle	Description	Depiction
Insight & Oversight	Both ‘lived’ and ‘learned’ experience from the start - a 45° approach Give oversight - guide the direction and development of engagement, co-production and co-delivery Gain insight - involve people from people, communities and workforce where they are
Equity & Diversity	All voices have equal value Act to include missing voices Listen and have trust Aim to reduce health inequalities
Accessibility & Communication	Plain English and no acronyms Engage using different methods: 1. Group meetings (in-person and online) 2. Bespoke involvement in the community 3. Let’s Talk online platform Honest, transparent and clear expectations, goals and next steps Continuous feedback loop
Community-focused	Partner with voluntary sector organisations & community groups Build relationships Reward, remuneration & recognition Focus on ‘Jobs to be Done’
Future-focused	Enable sustainable involvement embedded across the health and care system Contribute to our collective vision for a more viable future using people's ‘untapped potential’ Preventative and community-based service design and co-delivery
Learning	Be a community of practice for engagement, co-production and co-delivery Reflect and evaluate approaches Not one-size-fits-all Safe space to try out approaches together

The People and Communities Assembly support and encourage all system partners to adhere by the 10 principles for working in partnership with people and communities (NHS England, 2022).

How can I be part of this work?

Please sign up to the People and Communities work using the form below. You will be added to the future meeting invites and receive the latest information.

If you have any queries or want to chat anything over, please contact Su Conquer, Senior Co-production Manager for Norfolk and Suffolk Integrated Care Board: su.conquer@nhs.net / 07729 826502