At the Consultation Institute, we are familiar with thousands of public consultations and are frequently exasperated by the standard of survey and questionnaire design.  Some are perfectly acceptable, and where consultors are working with experienced professionals, we would expect a minimum level of proficiency that should satisfy our Quality Assurance standards.

Too often, however, we see telltale signs of senior management interference – or trying too hard to use a consultation to persuade people to back a particular course of action. How else can we explain our current candidate for the worst question of the year.

It comes from an NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in the North of England and is worded as follows: –

Q 8 Doctors and other health professionals on the CCG Board believe that there is no clinical service provided now, including at the Walk-in Centres (WICs), that would not continue to be provided in the future model in an equitable way across the borough.  They strongly believe the proposed model will improve health outcomes and is a better solution to secure appropriate urgent care services for local people in the future.  Do you believe that there are any clinical services that will not be accessible in the future by the new model?

When posted on my LinkedIn page, Solicitor Graeme Kenna offered us a possibly sarcastic rewrite of the questions as “People who know a lot more than you about this think it’s good. What bit of their expertise do you have the temerity to allege they’ve got wrong?”

Of course, there is much else wrong with the question. Any lawyer trying this on a Court would be ruled out of order for trying to lead the witness. Why public officials think they can treat the public with such disdain is difficult to grasp.

On the other hand, it might be that cash-strapped organisations, under pressure to secure community acquiescence to service change, are tempted to use consultation as a propaganda tool and opt for a homemade DIY survey built by individuals who have never received a single day’s training. After all, we are meant to be in a new age where experts are mistrusted, and surely anyone can devise a survey … can’t they?

Sadly, the stakes are high. Such lack of professionalism carries reputational risk. It also risks delays, costs and embarrassment if challenged in the High Court. Just before Xmas the Sheffield Combined Authority lost a Judicial Review over the inclusion of Chesterfield in its area. It lost because of a foolishly inadequate question.

And they’d spent £350,000 on the consultation !!