Structure
Priority 2
Actively involve people who use our services and their carers in various functions across our organisation.
Our goal is to enable individuals who use our services to actively participate in a broad range of activities across our organisation at the earliest opportunity. We are committed to enhancing the mechanisms for involvement, ensuring that our engagement initiatives are both accessible and inclusive, reflecting the diverse communities we serve. By fostering meaningful participation, we aim to create a more representative and responsive approach to service improvement.
To embed meaningful involvement in all areas of our work, we will:
- Set clear expectations for involving people with lived experience and carers in key areas such as recruitment, training, policy development, strategic planning, service reviews, quality improvement and other major programmes
- Plan and budget for involvement at ward, service and organisational levels, ensuring participation is properly resourced and not an afterthought
- Develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) within each directorate to ensure consistent, coordinated and effective involvement at all levels of the organisation.
Priority 3
Promote and communicate information about involvement opportunities.
Effective involvement begins with clear and meaningful communication, which is essential for building trust and fostering strong relationships with individuals with lived experience and carers. Insights from our consultation and engagement events highlighted that effective communication is a key enabler in promoting involvement opportunities and enhancing participation. Clear information about how to get involved, along with the use of plain and accessible language, were identified as the most significant factors for meaningful involvement. By ensuring transparency, active listening and responsiveness, we create an environment where people feel valued, heard and empowered to contribute.
We are committed to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to be involved in shaping our services.
To support this, we will:
- Develop clear and accessible information that meets the communication needs of the people who use our services
- Encourage broad participation by reaching out to a wide range of individuals, including those from communities who may have been underrepresented or excluded from involvement activities
- Ensure all involvement opportunities are inclusive and accessible by promoting them across local services and within communities, particularly those who experience marginalisation or health inequalities
- Maintain open, two-way communication by keeping people informed about how their involvement has made a difference
- Offering opportunities for ongoing contribution
- Increase awareness and visibility of involvement opportunities across our organisation, so that more people know how they can get involved and have their voices heard.