Engaging Communities South West (ECSW) has published its Annual Report for April 2024 to March 2025, showcasing a year of growth, innovation and community impact across Devon, Plymouth and Torbay.
The report highlights how ECSW has continued to strengthen community voice, improve access to support, and work alongside local partners to influence positive change in health and social care. It also reflects the organisation’s work in Digital Health Devon, Paignton Community Hub, the Torbay Health & Wellbeing VCSE Network, and our role in delivering Healthwatch across the region.
A year of projects that made a difference
The Annual Report captures key achievements, including:
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Expanding community voice – through engagement projects, co-production and insight reports that ensured local people’s experiences influenced service design.
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Improving access to support – including digital inclusion work, free blood pressure and health checks through the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) prevention project, and growing use of Paignton Community Hub by local residents.
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Driving system-wide collaboration – supporting the VCSE sector in Torbay, working with NHS partners on the 10-Year Plan engagement, and helping improve complaints processes and patient pathways in local hospitals.
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Championing local Healthwatch – gathering thousands of pieces of public feedback, releasing reports on MS care and vaccination attitudes, and supporting people with advice, complaints and signposting.
Highlighting the strength of partnership working
The report celebrates the collaborative work between ECSW, local authorities, NHS Devon, VCSE organisations and communities. It reflects the organisation’s commitment to ensuring the voices of local people continue to shape health and care decisions during a time of significant change and financial pressure across the sector.
Looking ahead
ECSW continues to focus on sustainability, partnership development and the future of community engagement as national changes to Healthwatch and the wider NHS landscape take shape. Alongside this, the organisation is developing a refreshed ECSW Offer and Partnership Framework to support local partners in meeting their engagement and community insight needs.
Read the full report
You can read or download the ECSW Annual Report 2024–25 in full by clicking here.
If you would like more information about our work, or to explore partnership opportunities, please get in touch with the ECSW team.