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Community Connexions

About us

Who we are

Community Connexions is a patient and public engagement programme that seeks to foreground the lived experiences of local communities in Birmingham and the Black Country regarding their health and access to healthcare services. This helps to adapt our services to better meet local needs, inform future health research and develop understanding for prevailing health inequalities across these regions.

 

Funded by Clinical Research Network (CRN) West Midlands, the programme is led by:

  • Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust (BCHC)
  • Black Country Healthcare Foundation Trust (BCHFT)
  • Aston University is a key partner

 

Our aim is to actively listen, share understanding and collaborate with a broad spectrum of community and voluntary organisations from faith organisations, local charities groups, mutual aid groups and community forums.

 

To better understand the:

  1. Needs and priorities of local communities.
  2. Health behaviours.
  3. Barriers that lead to poor engagement with health services and/or research.

What we do

Vision

Community Connexions Vision infographic

  • Informing future health research and diversifying current recruitment.
  • Collaborative working with various service providers.
  • Capturing voices of the communities through community / faith organisation partnerships.
  • Co-creating mechanisms / projects for improved healthcare outcomes.

Birmingham Footprint

The geographical area of Birmingham is large, so to maximise impact and  strategically identify the areas in which the community connexions team could  network and engage in the 1st  phase we chose the following areas: 

  1. Aston/Newtown/Lozells
  2. Handsworth
  3. Northfield
  4. Sparkbrook/Sparkhill 
  5. Small Health 
  6. Alum Rock 
  7. Saltley 
  8. Washwood Heath  
  9. Ward End 
  10. Bordesley Green
  11. Smethwick
  12. Sutton Coldfield 

Community Connexions Steering Committee (CCSC)

The committee includes representation from:

  • Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
  • Black Country Healthcare Foundation Trust
  • Aston University
  • West Midlands Clinical Research Network
  • BVSC
  • Healthwatch Birmingham
  • Birmingham City Council
  • Black Country ICB primary care representative
  • University of Wolverhampton
  • University of Birmingham
  • Community representatives from partner organisations(VCSE)

Our team

Community Connexions Core Team

Fatima Zakia

Dr Fatima Zakia
Community Connexions Lead
Fatima.Zakia@nhs.net

Urfan Siddiqi

Urfan Siddiqi
Community Development Worker
Urfan.Siddiqi@nhs.net

Chrstine Burt

Dr Christine Burt
Director of Research and Innovation
BCHC
christine.burt2@nhs.net

Celine Benoit

Dr Celine Benoit
Associate Dean for Public Engagement
Aston College of Business and Social Sciences 
 

Roger Leek

Roger Leek
BCHC Research Champion
Community Connextions
roger.leek@nhs.net

 

Our patients and their carers and families are the reason we're here, so we want to hear your views about the Trust and our services.