Ways we involve people
Our approach to involvement
We are committed to involving people who use our services and their carers as early as possible when planning, designing, delivering, or reviewing services. The insight that comes from lived experience is invaluable. It helps make our services more effective, inclusive and meaningful. Involvement should always be genuine, timely and relevant to the activity, not just a tick-box exercise.
We take a flexible approach to involvement, recognising that how we involve people depends on the nature of the project and what we aim to achieve. Using a combination of approaches helps us to gain a fuller understanding of what matters most. By combining the expertise of staff with the experiences of people who use our services, we can work together to create real, lasting improvements.
Ways we involve people
- Consultation - asking for people's views on ideas, plans, or options
- Engagement - listening carefully to understand people's experiences and perspectives
- Co-design - working together to shape ideas and develop plans, with people's input clearly reflected in the outcome
- Co-production - collaborating as equal partners from start to finish, sharing decisions and responsibility throughout the process.
Each of these approaches offers a different level of influence-from giving feedback to sharing power in decision-making. Choosing the right approach, or a combination, helps ensure the most meaningful outcomes.
We have heard from people who use our services that it's frustrating when something is described as co-production but doesn't reflect the values or practices of true partnership working. It's important to be clear: co-production is not just another word for involvement, it is one specific and distinct way of involving people.
To ensure involvement is meaningful, we are committed to being clear about:
- The type of involvement being offered
- The level of influence people will have
- How people's views have shaped the outcomes.
By being transparent and respectful, we can build trust and ensure that everyone's contributions are recognised and valued.
Becoming an expert by experience gave me back a sense of my own voice. From a position where every aspect of my life had utterly and catastrophically altered without any agency on my part, I was suddenly afforded an opportunity to voice my opinion - and not merely in relation to my care or my every-day life - and to have that voice listened to on an issue of considerable importance to other service users of DPT psychiatric provision. - Expert by Experience.
Existing feedback and insight
The starting point for any involvement is to consider existing feedback and insight - what do we already know, what have people already told us? This can save time and money and point to any gaps, while also avoiding asking people to repeat themselves. Using existing insights helps to ensure that involvement is focused, meaningful and avoids duplication. This may come from patient feedback, complaints, needs assessments and insights collected during previous activities.