Health and Wellbeing
This is an area for potential innovation. The connections between PB and wellbeing are already there, but PB has yet to realise its potential in this sector.
Wellbeing isn't limited to health - it covers all aspects of life, but it's generally considered within the health sector. However, this may change with indicators of wellbeing being developed by the governmnet.
Although there's been a requirement for patient involvement in health, engagement beyond this has been quite limited in the health sector. However, we believe that PB can help both focus tight resources where they're most needed and involve patients and the broader public in decisions on health.
The Practice-based Commissioning model which was due to be implemented, and now on hold, was a good example of how citizens might get involved at the local level.
PB is beneficial to wellbeing because it reduces isolation, makes people feel more a part of a community, encourages volunteering, enables citizens to meet new people in their area, links local community and voluntary services with new users, encourages participation and empowerment, enables peoples voices to be heard and shapes services to local needs.
Whilst there are always going to be budgets within health that cannot be opened up to public decision making, and whilst the medical expert opinion is very important, in the arena of wellbeing, involving citizens is part of ensuring wellbeing and contributes not only to the process but also the intended outcomes.
There have been a few examples where health budgets around wellbeing have been used for PB, most notably in Thornhill in Southampton, who have run a PB process with health money for 4 years. Their case study is below. Also the LINk in Tower Hamlets ran a PB programme and in Manton the Primary Care Trust added money to the pot to be allocated because they recognised the benefits of PB to wellbeing. But we would welcome more PB initiatives in this sector and would be happy to work with anyone to develop it.
The Participatory Budgeting Unit is changing!
We need to move beyond the ‘Councillors know best’ approach in Edinburgh
The People's Budget workshop at TPAS conference
