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Early Adopter Projects (EAPs)

Last modified date:

24 September 2007
Gateway reference:

To be confirmed

Nine early adopter projects (EAPs) have been set up around the country to ensure that the new local involvement networks (LINks) will work well and that the learning and experience of the current system is not lost.

Seven of these projects are being run for the Department of Health (DH) by the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) and are located in:
• County Durham
• Doncaster
• Manchester
• Hertfordshire
• Kensington and Chelsea
• Medway
• Dorset

In addition, the Healthcare Commission has a total of two existing projects in Leeds/Bradford and Plymouth/Cornwall which are being managed as EAPs as part of the LINks project.

The sites for these projects have been carefully selected to represent a geographic spread across England and contain collectively, inner urban, urban and rural communities, contrasts between wealth and deprivation, ethnically diverse and relatively homogenous populations and so on.

Work began on the EAPs in November 2006. The purpose of the EAPs is to work with a wide range of local stakeholders to interrogate the LINks idea by asking hard questions and then applying this learning to the new PPI process so that, assuming parliamentary approval, it can hit the ground running. They also aim to test the LINks concept and add operational detail to the policy framework, to provide LINks and those organisationsresponsible for establishing, supporting or working alongside them with information, advice and guidance on how to maximise the effectiveness of LINks and relationships with them.

A number of reports have been produced from some of the Early Adopter Projects and can be found on the NHS Centre for Involvement’s website.

NHS Centre for Involvement Early Adopter projects for LINks (opens new window)

Related organisations

The Commission for Patient & Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH)
The CPPIH's role is to make sure the public is involved in decision-making about health and health services in England. There are over 400 Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Forums, one for each NHS Trust in England and they work to ensure that local people and communities have a say in improving local health services. The CPPIH are running seven of the nine early adopter sites to prepare for LINks on the Department’s behalf.

The NHS Centre for Involvement
The NHS Centre for Involvement will work with NHS staff and organisations to engage with patients and the public more effectively and implement change based on their information. The NCI have undertaken to carry out an evaluation of the work of the early Adopter Project sites.