Having a Voice

Involving people and their families – the CSIP

experience!

Carey Bamber and Tricia Nicoll

Who we areThe Care Services Improvement Partnership

(CSIP)was launched on 1 April 2005 after formal publicconsultation. Our main goal is to support positivechanges in services and in the wellbeing of:

• people with mental health problems• people with learning disabilities• people with physical disabilities• older people with health and social care needs• children and families with health and social

care needs, and• people with health and social care needs in the

criminal justice system.

How we are set up

We are part of the Care Services Directorate (CSD) at the Department of Health (DH). Most of our staff and services are based in eight regional development centres spread throughout England. This means we can respond flexibly to the needs of people locally, regionally and nationally. We also have a small central team.

What we doWe aim to:• provide high-quality support to help services

improve• help services to put national policies into practice

and provide them with a link into government• involve people who use services and their carers

in all improvement work• share positive practice and learning about what

works and what doesn’t• pass on research findings to organisations to help

them improve services, and• encourage organisations to work in partnership

across all sectors.

Our priorities

Much of our work supports organisations to put intopractice the Government’s national commitments forcare services. As well as supporting national policies,our regional development centres must also respond tothe needs of local organisations that provide health andsocial care to people (such as mental health trusts andlocal authorities). We answer to these local providers ofservices as well as central Government and so we planour work to balance local and national priorities.

Our main programmes of work

1. support better social care2. run learning and improvement networks3. support better services for children and families4. support organisations so they can provide

better services for people with learning disabilities and improve their lives

5. support better services for people with mental health problems

6. support better services for older people and those with physical disabilities, and

7. support better health and social care for people in the criminal justice system.

Having a Voice - the context:• The purpose of CSIP as an organisation; ‘help to improve services and achieve better outcomes…..’

• How CSIP operates; National work programmes implemented through 8 Regional Development Centres

• The National Policy context; - personalisation - choice and control - self directed support - prevention - care and support where people live - services working better together

What is Having a Voice?Work to:

Build and support a strong voice of people who use services and their families in all the work that CSIP does:

• in all the National Programmes

• in all the Regional Development Centres

• in all the work that happens within the organisation

• in all the work that we do with partners

• in the work that our partners do

How do we traditionally engage with people?

Formal consultation processes? Questionnaires?

Focus groups? Committees?

Service user reference groups? Complaints process?

Partnership Boards? Patient forums?

Independent consultation? Mystery shopping?

And ……..?????

But why?

Clear purposeWhy are we asking you to get involved?

Culture‘this is how we do things around here’

SupportPractical support, training etc

Structures

Clear purpose

• Not just why, but the underlying principles and values that underpin involvement

• Fulfilment of the organisation versus democratic involvement that enables people to have more control over their lives?

• Honesty

Culture • Leadership and governance

• Clear responsibilities for involvement for Regional Development Centre Directors and National Programme Leads

• Involvement in governance

• Training and development for staff

• People in paid positions

• Attention to the issue of diversity

• Continual checking and reviewing

• Resources

Support

• Information, information, information

• Different ways of getting involved

• Reward for the work you do

• Practical and emotional support

• Supporting training and development needs

• Leadership programmes

• Mentoring

Structures • support for grassroots level organisations to influence the work of CSIP at a local, regional and national level (as part of local commissioning strategies)

• structures that enable broad involvement and reaches people who are not members of groups

Remember – this is last on the list!!

Self-Directed Support

www.in-control.org.uk

SDS Model, Version 3.0

The NIMHE NW Experience

• 2003 inherited regional forums and staff• Small group of very active people• Concerns• Expectations• Limitations• Workers roles • Social inclusion and recovery?• HASCAS Report 2004.

2006 NIMHE NW Strategy for user and carer

involvement• Mainstreaming responsibility across work

programmes• Moved away from user and carer worker roles• Developed role descriptions for opportunities• Established a leadership course and develop capacity• Integral to our work – and what we expect of our

partners• Target events• Payments policy• Events all open• A beginning, middle and end• References, work experience, volunteering,

shadowing