Consultations

This page contains information about currently running consultations at Walsall Teaching Primary Care Trust. Use the menu (right) to navigate to the appropriate consultation.

We are happy to receive responses in the post or by email. Relevant email addresses are provided with the consultation documents. If in doubt, though, you can email responses to michelle.cummigs@walsall.nhs.uk Please mark the subject as 'Response to Consultation' to avoid an confusion.

How to make the most of consultations in the NHS

The NHS now has a duty to consult people who are affected whenever there are substantial changes to services. From time to time we will also consult local people and organisations when we are developing long term plans.

A consultation is not a referendum – it is a way for people to put their views and arguments forward so that they are part of the discussion. Ultimately, we are not counting votes but collecting reasons why we should or shouldn’t do something.

What do you do when you consult?

When we begin a consultation, we will publish a consultation document with a letter explaining what kind of questions we are most interested in. In the letter we will also outline a timetable and a way for you to get your responses back to us. We will usually also explain how decisions are made after the consultation is finished. Anyone can respond to our consultation document, either as a group or as an individual.

Who exactly is being consulted?

Generally we consult partners and stakeholders. Partners that have a formal relationship with the Teaching Primary Care Trust. A stakeholder is anyone with a stake in what is going on – patients and potential patients are stakeholders, staff and suppliers are stakeholders, local residents are stakeholders, even if they are not patients. Stakeholders have different shares in what is going on. For example, if we are planning to put up a new health centre, residents in the same street might have more of a say on the parking arrangements than people from the other side of the borough.

What are you asking for?

We welcome views of all kinds. The most helpful responses, though, are the ones which point out implications or consequences that we have not covered in the consultation document, and which go on to offer constructive improvements to the plans which are on the table.

Do you ever disregard particular responses?

We take all responses seriously, but some kinds of responses will have less effect on decisions than others. For example, a petition with two-hundred signatures on it which simply says ‘yes’ or ‘no’ will not carry as much weight as a response from just one or two people which goes into detail about why they agree or disagree with particular parts of the consultation. Equally, if we become aware that someone is getting up a campaign for or against something, and we receive two hundred letters all making exactly the same points in the same words, we are likely to treat this as a single response from a campaign group.

What’s the best way I can make my views count?

The most powerful responses are the ones which deal specifically with the consultation document. In every case, we are interested in why people have come to a particular view. We are also interested in alternatives – especially if they have been carefully thought through. We are especially interested in independent responses which are not part of a campaign, and in responses from people and groups which have a particular stake in what is happening. It’s always worth making it clear what your stake is – for example, local resident, patient, chairman of a user goup, or whatever it is.

For further reading:

See –

The Walsall Compact on Consultation

Section 11 Guidance on Statutory consultations