Live polling for NHS engagement
Give people another way to contribute in NHS engagement sessions
PollSpark can help an engagement, improvement or transformation team collect individual responses, explore the result with the room and prioritise prepared options during a session.
A PollSpark session can support an engagement process. It is not the engagement process.
Participants join in a browser using a six-character code or QR code. They do not need an app or PollSpark account.
One useful session
- 01Ask
Collect an individual response before the conversation is framed by the first speakers.
- 02Discuss
Use the combined result to explore differences, context and what may be missing.
- 03Follow through
Explain how the input will be used and tell people what happens next.
The result is evidence from the people who responded in that moment.
Policy context
Care is moving closer to home. Local voices still need to shape the detail.
The 10 Year Health Plan for England names hospital to community as one of three major shifts. It describes more care being delivered through homes, community services and neighbourhood health centres.
The 2026 Neighbourhood Health Framework says listening to and working with patients, people and communities will be central as local areas develop neighbourhood health plans.
Those are policy facts. The practical inference is that local planning and redesign will create meetings and workshops where a structured way to collect views may be useful. Neither source recommends live polling or PollSpark.
Where live polling can help
Use it for a defined moment, not as a substitute for the wider work
Live polling can support patient and public sessions, community listening events, neighbourhood meetings, service-redesign workshops, co-design activity and staff-community discussions. Its job is to make a particular question easier to answer and discuss.
Listen before open discussion
Invite an individual response at the start of a patient, public or community session, then use the pattern to decide what needs discussion.
Explore a proposed change
Use prepared questions in a neighbourhood meeting or service-redesign workshop to find concerns, differences and options that need more work.
Prioritise without declaring a winner
Structure a prioritisation exercise, then discuss what shaped the result, which views are missing and how the decision will actually be made.
Before open discussion
Hear individual views before the most confident voices set the direction
Asking people to respond first can broaden the starting point for a conversation. It gives someone who does not want to speak first another route to contribute and can show a split that an open discussion might miss.
It does not remove power differences, guarantee candour, create psychological safety or make the participants representative of a wider community. The facilitator still needs to notice who is present, who is absent and how the setting shapes what people can say.
Anonymous mode
Make a careful promise
New sessions start in Anonymous mode. The presenter can change that setting before the first accepted response, then it locks for the session.
In Anonymous mode, PollSpark does not collect or display participant names with new responses. It still recognises returning browsers to help limit repeat responses and processes limited technical information for security and service operation.
Match the question to the moment
Different formats produce different kinds of evidence
Start with what the team needs to understand or discuss. Use only the questions that earn their place in the session.
Open Text
Use when people need up to 280 characters to describe an experience, concern or idea in their own words. PollSpark displays the responses but does not analyse or group their meaning.
Word Cloud
Use for one word or a short phrase when the language people reach for first is useful. Repeated wording appears more prominently; similar meanings are not merged automatically.
Multiple Choice
Use when participants should choose one answer from a prepared set. Include a route for missing options when the list may not reflect every experience.
Ranking and Dot Vote
Use Ranking for a complete order of prepared options. Use Dot Vote when people should place limited support across a shortlist. Both need discussion after the result.
Likert Scale
Use the same five response labels across several statements when levels of agreement matter. The result shows a distribution for each statement, not a verdict from the community.
Moderated Q&A
Use Q&A alongside a Live session when people should be able to submit questions for the presenter to review. It is separate from PollSpark’s eleven question types.
Using prioritisation responsibly
A leading option is not automatically a mandate
Ranking and Dot Vote can structure a difficult discussion. Their results reflect the people who responded, the options they were given and the way the question was framed.
Before acting on the result, ask how the options were created, whether something important was left out and what minority views need to stay visible. A poll does not provide democratic or organisational authority to make the final decision.
Compare Ranking and Dot VoteQuestions to ask after the result
- Who responded, and who did not?
- Did the prepared options cover the issue fairly?
- What explains the pattern or disagreement?
- Which less common views still need attention?
- What will this result inform, and what will it not decide?
An important boundary
Engagement, consultation and co-production are different
The language matters because each approach gives people a different role and may carry different responsibilities.
Listen and understand throughout change
NHS service-change guidance describes engagement as an ongoing process and says it should begin early. A live poll can support individual moments within that longer conversation.
Follow the process the change requires
Formal consultation may carry wider procedural and legal requirements. A PollSpark session does not run a statutory consultation or provide consultation compliance. Teams should use their own governance and specialist advice.
Work as equal partners from the start
NHS England describes co-production as equal partnership from the early stages of design and evaluation. Voting on organiser-prepared choices does not create that partnership by itself.
The broader NHS guidance on working with people and communities covers public-involvement responsibilities, early listening, underserved communities and choosing methods that fit the people involved. This page is practical product guidance, not legal advice.
Include more than one route to contribute
Plan for people who cannot or do not want to respond digitally
Browser joining keeps participation simple for many people, but it does not solve digital exclusion. Consider accessibility needs, device access, connectivity, digital confidence and how comfortable people feel using a personal device.
If a digital response could exclude someone, provide another route such as a paper response, a supported device, a facilitator or scribe, or a separate conversation. Explain how those contributions will be included alongside the live result.
Before choosing a digital activity, check:
- Who may need an adjustment or another format?
- Will participants have a suitable device and connection?
- Can someone take part without using a personal phone?
- How will non-digital responses enter the discussion?
- Is there enough time to explain and test the joining process?
Where PollSpark fits
Use it to gather and discuss responses
Participants can respond in a browser by code or QR code without an app or participant account. PollSpark shows combined results during a Live session and supports anonymous-mode participation, written responses, prepared choices, prioritisation and moderated Q&A.
PDF export is available after a session. Free PDFs include a PollSpark watermark, while paid plans provide clean PDF export and CSV export. Compatible question types can also be shared in Survey for responses in people's own time. On Free, Live and Survey share 50 participant slots in each allowance period.
Where it stops
Keep the wider engagement work outside the tool
PollSpark does not recruit a representative group, manage stakeholder relationships, run statutory consultations, segment responses by demographic group or perform equality-impact analysis.
It does not automatically identify qualitative themes, establish community consensus or replace facilitation and co-production. Those responsibilities stay with the people planning and leading the work.
See the broader workshop guideA practical session flow
Plan the question, the conversation and the follow-through
A useful activity starts before the poll opens and continues after the results leave the screen.
Define the job of the session
- State which decision, question or discussion the activity will inform.
- Identify who needs to be heard and who may otherwise be missing.
- Choose question formats and plan non-digital ways to contribute.
Collect, discuss and question
- Gather individual views before discussion where that is appropriate.
- Explore patterns, differences, unexpected answers and minority views.
- Explain what the result can influence and who retains decision authority.
Use the result in context
- Save or export the results only where that is appropriate.
- Combine the responses with other engagement and service evidence.
- Tell participants what happened next and how their input was considered.
For a defined moment in the process
Start with one question people can discuss together
Create a PollSpark session, choose a format that fits the job and be clear about what the result will inform.