On Tuesday 3 March our Experience and Engagement Team delivered an advanced planning co-production session where service users, carers and colleagues reviewed the draft Co-Production Policy and shared reflections on how it can better support people during important stages of care planning.
The session generated thoughtful and constructive feedback, with the group highlighting that they valued the opportunity to contribute and would welcome further time to explore the policy in more depth following recent amendments.
Through the discussion, four key priority areas were identified to strengthen the policy as it develops, ensuring the culture and language of the document reflects a genuinely person centred approach, improving the recognition and involvement of families and carers as partners in decision making, providing clearer guidance around capacity assessment and related legal considerations and strengthening documentation, governance and consistency across the policy.
The group were highly engaged and expressed a strong interest in continuing to support the review process to ensure the final policy reflects lived experience, improves clarity for staff and better supports service users and carers when planning future care.
Jenna Crook Lead for Triangle of Care within the Trust said:
“This work has a positive impact on the Triangle of Care by strengthening how carers are recognised and involved as key partners in a person’s care. Through the co-production session, feedback highlighted the importance of ensuring carers are consistently acknowledged as experts in the lives of the people they support, particularly during advanced care planning and decision-making.
By strengthening references to family and carer involvement within the policy, the project supports a more collaborative approach between staff, service users and carers. This helps ensure carers are better informed, included in important conversations, and supported during key life moments, which aligns closely with the principles of the Triangle of Care and helps improve overall coordination of care and support.”
Shaun Everitt Business and Curriculum Manager for Community Roots added:
“At Community Roots, we believe that community and service users should be involved in decision making within the NHS at every level. This ranges from our own personal care, right up to decision making and policy writing. This project aimed to involve people in the review policy covering a very emotive time in people’s lives, namely when they have pre-recorded their wishes ahead of time in anticipation of lacking the insight to do so in the future.
Through projects like this, we aim to increase public and staff knowledge in engagement, co-design and where possible, co-production so that power, outcomes and ownership are shared equally.”
If you'd like to find out more about co-production here at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust get in touch with the team at Community Roots.
