Membership criteria for the CQC Public Engagement Network 

This includes charities, community incorporated organisations, community interest companies and more.

For this programme, we welcome applications from organisations who have sustained and meaningful engagement with specific communities experiencing health inequalities. This is to ensure that the Network remains a dedicated space for organisations that represent the perspectives of people experiencing health inequalities.

What do we mean by ‘strategic priority’?

We recognise that many not-for-profit organisations support people from a wide range of backgrounds, including those who experience health inequalities. However, for your organisation’s engagement with one or more communities experiencing inequalities to be considered a strategic priority, you must be able to evidence one or both of the following:

• The community/communities experiencing inequalities referenced in your application are mentioned in your organisation’s mission statement
• Your organisation delivers a flagship programme – defined as a major, long-term programme that is central to your organisation’s work and explicitly focused on the community/communities experiencing inequalities referenced in your application

In either case, you can demonstrate that this has been or will be a strategic priority for at least five years.

What do we mean by ‘communities experiencing inequalities’?

We mean groups of people who experience unfair and avoidable differences in health and wellbeing due to demographic and/or structural factors. This includes groups protected by the Equality Act 2010, as well as those affected by wider structural inequalities – such as carers or people experiencing socioeconomic inequality. You can find a non-exhaustive list of these communities here.

Do communities with specific health conditions count as ‘communities experiencing inequalities’?

Organisations that are condition-specific, or that take a universal approach to addressing health inequalities, will not normally be eligible. An exception may be made where:

• An organisation can demonstrate that it delivers a flagship programme explicitly focused on a specific community experiencing inequalities.
• A condition-specific organisation can demonstrate that a substantial proportion of the people it serves also experience wider structural inequalities in health and care – typically because they face physical, sensory, communication or cognitive barriers to accessing health and care.

Examples of organisations that would meet this criteria include:

• A spinal injury charity where a substantial proportion of the people it serves experience mobility impairments that create wider barriers to accessing health and care. The organisation can evidence this as a core focus of its work.
• A cancer charity that delivers a long-term flagship programme to improve early diagnosis and access to screening among Black men, where this programme is central to the organisation’s work.
• A dementia charity whose mission statement explicitly states that it exists to support people from Muslim communities affected by dementia.

Examples of organisations that would not meet this criteria include:

• A regional respiratory health charity that provides services for anyone with a respiratory condition across its area but does not have a flagship programme or mission-level focus on a specific community experiencing health inequalities.
• A diabetes charity that provides the same services to everyone with diabetes, including people from South Asian communities, but does not deliver a targeted flagship programme addressing the specific inequalities experienced by that community.
• A rare condition charity who is aiming to improve its reach amongst communities experiencing inequalities but cannot currently demonstrate that engagement with a specific community is reflected in its mission statement or through a flagship programme.

This includes on the Charity Commission website, on your website, on Companies House, on social media and more. 

This can include policy influencing, service delivery or any other way. 

This can include national or local organisations, large or small organisations, and your organisation can have a wider focus than England. 

We ask that all Public Engagement Network members are committed to:

• Meaningful participation of people and communities in your work
• Advancing equal opportunities and tackling inequalities
• Treating others with dignity and respect

Your organisation must remain politically independent, as required under UK charity rules. 

This means such services must account for less than half of its overall activities and income.