The West Yorkshire Insight Library is a shared digital space designed to help organisations across health, care and the VCSE sector discover, share and reuse insight gathered from communities, patients and service users.
This blog post furthers the conversation held originally at an online event hosted by Forum Central, led by Murray Forrest from the West Yorkshire Communications and Involvement Team at the ICB, part of the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership.
The Library is hosted on the Futures collaboration platform and is supported by colleagues from the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, working as part of the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership. It has been introduced to VCSE organisations through regional briefings and webinars to encourage wider use and contribution.
What the Insight Library is for
The Insight Library brings together insight that already exists across the system, making it easier to find, reference and use. This includes:
-
engagement and consultation reports
-
research and evaluation findings
-
surveys and insight summaries
-
videos, presentations and visual materials
-
reports produced by VCSE organisations and partners
Its purpose is simple: to ensure insight gathered from communities is visible, valued and used well, rather than sitting in isolated folders or inboxes.
The platform is intended for shared use. It is not NHS-only. VCSE organisations are a core audience and contributors, alongside statutory partners, researchers and commissioners.
How access works
The Insight Library sits within Futures platform, which is a secure, invitation-only collaboration environment used across health and care.
Each area of Futures is organised into separate “spaces”. You can only view resources inside a space once you have joined it.
-
You will need a Futures account to access the Library
-
Membership is approved to keep the space secure and relevant
-
If you click a resource that sits in another space, you will see a request-to-join option
You can access Futures at www.future.nhs.uk
You must be logged in and a member of the relevant space to view content.
Why this matters for VCSE organisations
Many VCSE organisations produce high-quality insight through their day-to-day work. Historically, this has been hard to share widely or reuse across the system.
The Insight Library offers a practical alternative by allowing organisations to:
-
upload their own insight and engagement work
-
clearly tag and describe resources
-
make insight searchable and reusable
-
support commissioners and researchers to draw on existing evidence
This helps ensure learning is not lost and that VCSE-led insight can inform decision-making, commissioning and future service design.
Wider features on Futures
Alongside the Insight Library, Futures also hosts related resources that support understanding of the wider system. These include:
-
guidance on communication and involvement
-
population data and insight tools
-
links to national and regional learning resources
These sit alongside the Library and can be accessed depending on the spaces you are a member of.
Ongoing support
Forum Central continues to work with partners at the ICB to support VCSE organisations to access and use the Insight Library. Participation is optional, and organisations can decide how and when they want to engage.
Used well, the Insight Library has the potential to strengthen how VCSE insight is recognised, shared and applied across West Yorkshire — supporting better collaboration and more informed decisions across the system.
