HWLincs VOICE Conference 2026: Celebrating Impact & Shaping What Comes Next
The HWLincs VOICE Conference 2026 brought together partners, professionals and communities from across Lincolnshire to do something simple, but powerful: listen, reflect and act on what matters most to people.
This year’s event wasn’t just about conversation. It was about recognising the progress already made, reaffirming our shared commitments, and setting a clear direction for how we continue to strengthen the role of public voice in health and care.
Recognising our achievements
One of the strongest messages from the conference was just how much has already been achieved through collective effort.
Over the past year, HWLincs has continued to bring people’s real experiences into the heart of decision-making. From large-scale research to targeted engagement, thousands of residents have shared their views on services ranging from GP access to social care and wellbeing support.
In fact, more than 2,500 residents contributed to our latest insights work, helping to build a clearer picture of what’s working well and where improvements are needed across the system.
This insight is already making a difference. Partners across Lincolnshire are using what people tell us to:
- Improve communication and accessibility of services
- Better identify and support carers earlier
- Strengthen support around hospital discharge
- Design services more closely around individual needs
As highlighted during the conference, this is what meaningful engagement looks like – where people’s voices don’t just get heard, but lead to real change.
Reaffirming our VOICE pledge
A key moment of the day was the reaffirmation of our VOICE pledge – a shared commitment to how we work with communities and each other.
To see our VOICE pledges click here
These pledges underpin everything we do at HWLincs and across our partnerships. They remind us that engagement is not a one-off activity, but an ongoing relationship built on trust, inclusion and action.
The conference also reinforced the importance of independence. As highlighted in the strategy discussions, maintaining an independent and trusted voice is essential to ensuring that people can speak openly and that their experiences are represented honestly within the system.
Alongside this, we reflected on the importance to CARE about public voice, which asked the delegates to; Connect, Amplify, Represent, Empower.
These values are not just words. They shape how we design engagement, how we build relationships, and how we ensure that insight leads to action.
Understanding what people are telling us
Throughout the day delegates heard from HWLincs, Tonic Health , LIRCH, Age UK Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire Research Network, LCC, ICB & LPFT.
To see more around what was shared click here
One of the workshops explored the findings from the State of Health and Care in Lincolnshire, giving attendees the opportunity to hear directly what residents are experiencing.
Key themes included; access to services, the impact of rurality and transport on accessing care and variability in experiences across different services and communities.
At the same time, people were clear about what good looks like:
- Services that are easy to access and responsive
- Clear communication and timely appointments
- Care that fits around people’s lives
These insights are vital. They help us move beyond assumptions and ensure that future improvements are grounded in real lived experience. The full report will be published in the coming weeks.
Launching our strategy: strengthening public voice
A major highlight of the conference was the launch of the HWLincs Public Voice Strategy – setting out how we will continue to build on this work and respond to what people are asking for.
The strategy is clear: independent public voice must be strengthened in the current changing landscape of health and care.
This strategy focuses on three key areas: Deepening engagement, Strengthening relationship, Increasing influence.
As discussed during the conference, one of the biggest challenges is not collecting insight, but making sure it leads to change. This strategy sets out how we will address that and will be available in the coming weeks.
Working together for the future
The VOICE Conference is always a moment to pause and reflect, but it’s also a starting point.
The connections made, the conversations held and the commitments shared all contribute to a bigger goal: creating a health and care system that truly puts people at its heart.
It also means continuing to work with partners across health, care and the voluntary sector to ensure that engagement is joined up, meaningful and avoids duplication.
As we look forward the focus needs to be on VOICE:
- Valuing lived experience leads to better outcomes
- Opportunities to learn can drive meaningful change
- Impact comes from listening to experts by experience
- Connections strengthen community engagement
- Empowering people and professionals to speak up
Thank you
A huge thank you to everyone who attended, contributed and continues to support this work. From residents sharing their experiences, to partners acting on insight, to staff and volunteers facilitating engagement, this progress is only possible because of collective effort.
Whether you attended or couldn’t make it in person, see slides from the presentations and recap the day with our summary of the event.
Together, we are building a stronger, more responsive system – one where every voice counts. Connect with us and our pledge and sign up for the launch of our strategy and future work by emailing enquiries@hwlincs.co.uk