Co-production: What’s missing?

Posted by Devon Partnership Trust in News, Recovery and wellbeing on 3rd July, 2024

Co-production is a way of working that involves people who use health and care services, carers and communities in equal partnership to help transform services offering people real choice and control.

This week during Co-production Week, we are celebrating the benefits of co-production, share good practice and promote the contribution of people who access care and support in developing better services.

This year’s theme ‘Co-production: What’s Missing’ invites people to look at the need to go beyond familiar voices and increase equity and diversity in co-production, think about how we can access better training and development and have clear definitions and language around co-production.

NHS England are running a number of events throughout the week. You can find out more about the events and register for them by visiting the NHS England website.

Here in Devon across Devon Partnership Trust, MHLDN Provider, Livewell South West and DMHA, we are championing the use of NHS England’s 10 steps to working in partnership with people and communities.

Image from: “Working with People and Communities statutory guidance.”

Sara Traynor, Expert by Experience Lead for the Collaborative, said: “We’re really proud to say that in Devon we are working hard to ensure co-production is at the heart of everything we do and there are so many great examples of where co-production is happening across our services including the Collaborative review of Community Programme Implementation Review (PIR 2), our recently updated Carers Strategy and Livewell’s Patient Involvement and Experience Strategy, Devon Mental Health Alliance’s community listening.

Hear from Emma Flint, Peer Support Lead, about a co-produced project and Christina Maccullie, Participation and Involvement Specialist in Livewell SW, about barriers and solutions to co-production.

Joanna Duke, Together and Carer Lead spoke to Experts by Experience about the impact of co-production:

• “It gives me the ability to use my experience to hopefully improve services and treatment of those with mental illness”
• “Boost to my self esteem, I still have value and worth.”
• “It’s about sharing my own journey and experiences as a ongoing user of mental health services, celebrating what’s going well and inputting to improve what isn’t. I feel if I can support positive change within the system, bringing as much awareness and compassion as I can, this supports others as they navigate what at times feel like very tricky and challenging circumstances (including staff!)”
• “I truly believe after having some negative experiences when I was a patient with Devon Partnership Trust becoming an expert by experience has empowered me to channel my energy and frustrations that I had into something really positive. My confidence has grown since becoming an expert by experience and I’ve also spoken at seminars and soon I will be speaking at an autism event at the NEC in Birmingham. Honestly a couple of years ago I wouldn’t have been able to string a sentence together.”

What’s missing:

• “Ensuring that when staff invite Experts by Experience to participate in a project or event, they have thought exactly why they are involving those with lived experience as it can feel sometimes as a tick box exercise.”
• “I would like to have more opportunities to share my ideas, experiences and approach in a meaningful way. I think the work I do is useful, though at times I still feel under-utilised! For example sitting in meetings and hearing about work that’s being done and feeling I could have an input yet not really being invited to be involved in the *actual* work, just in the meeting spaces. I’m hoping that as time progresses there will be more opportunities for Co-production and collaborative projects.”

Call to action

What is your experience of co-production? We’d love to hear from you. Please share by emailing dpt.mhldnprovidercollaborative@nhs.net and dpt.together@nhs.net