Co-production

Any service improvement or clinical model of care is greatly enhanced by the contribution of all those involved in development, delivery and receipt of services.

Service-users, their families, frontline staff and the community services that provide support on discharge from secure care all bring their own wisdom, experience and ideas.

To harness this range of perspectives, IMPACT Co-production Forums bring together expertise from the nine provider partner organisations as well as those with first-hand experience of secure care services and their family members, community services, prison services and the voluntary sector. Together, we are able to identify what works well and what could work better in the context of the agreed aims and objectives of the IMPACT provider collaborative.

Our co-production activity and processes are open and transparent, underpinned by a shared vision and values, which we developed together.

In addition to our ongoing involvement with service-users and co-production through representation on our workstreams, we hold large co-production forums throughout the year so our workstream leads can share their ideas and our stakeholders can respond with suggestions of what sounds beneficial, what else could be developed and what might have been forgotten.

We particularly design these events to encourage a full contribution from ‘Experts by Experience’ – those who are or have previously been users of services and who understand from first-hand experience what is needed to improve pathways, service models and the user experience.

Our schedule of co-production forums has recently been suspended due to restrictions on large gatherings due to COVID-19. Details of future events will be available here once confirmed.

To ensure on-going co-production during this time our Lived Experience Co-ordinator continues to make direct contacts with service-users across the region and gather their feedback and experiences to inform service development.

At the end of July 2020, The Partnership Board approved an overarching strategy for the widespread involvement of those with lived experience in the IMPACT programme. A working group has now been formed to focus on the mobilisation of that strategy, with the involvement leads from each of the partner organisations meeting regularly to progress a programme of including contributions and co-production at all levels by experts by experience.

 

Co-production Forums to date:

Forum 1 – 16 January 2019

This event provided an introduction to IMPACT, it’s nine partner organisations and gave an opportunity for people to learn more about what we want to achieve in the East Midlands. We shared information and best practice and started valuable conversations about the best routes to effective service improvement.  

 

Forum 2 – 28 February 2019

Our second forum focused on the national agenda and introduction of Provider Collaboratives in England and the value of peer support in forensic mental health services. We discussed the opportunity to streamline referrals through a Single Point of Access in the East Midlands and took suggestions for a name for the East Midlands provider collaborative.

 

Forum 3 - 24 April 2019

This forum was hosted by St Andrews Healthcare in Northampton and focused on discharge from secure services and support in the community. It was attended by more than 80 people from organisations across the region including the NHS, independent providers, the police service, the voluntary sector as well as service-users and families. We discussed the proposal for a new Assertive Transitions Service and heard powerful stories from two service users and peer support workers from St Andrew’s about their recovery journeys.

 

Forum 4 - 13 June 2019

Attended by more than 90 people, our fourth co-production Forum focused on improved transitions and discharge through the different levels of security within secure care. Phil Coombes from Elysium Healthcare and Amy Semper from Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Trust presented proposals from IMPACT’s ‘Improved Transition and Discharge’ task and finish group for a patient ‘passport’ giving staff and support agencies key information about a service-user’s needs and preferences when planning care and transition.   

Sue Denison and Su Pashley spoke about their national research to gather women’s experiences in and perspectives of secure care. As members of the NHS England Women’s Strategy task and finish group and experts by experience, they were able to give more than 200 women across the East Midlands and North West the space to openly discuss their lived experiences to inform future service planning. The Women’s Blended pilot work grew directly out of their research on barriers women reported when facing transitions from one security level to another.

 

Forum 5 - 12 September 2019

This forum gave attendees the opportunity to learn more about IMPACT’s clinical model and the planned service improvements as part of its delivery. This included the launch of the Single Point of Access (SPA) for referrals, reducing delays and multiple assessments. We also discussed plans for an Assertive Transitions Service (ATS) which would provide service-users approaching discharge from secure services with targeted support to ensure a successful transition into community services.

Leigh Johnson and Dr Rachel Haughton from Elysium Health Care talked about working with service-users on development of the ‘All About Me’ patient information booklet to help professionals and support staff get to know service-users quickly when they transition to new services.

 

Forum 6 - 25 February 2020

IMPACT held its sixth co-production forum in Newark, our biggest yet attended by more than 120 delegates from across the East Midlands. Organisations and groups represented included: Prison services and the Criminal Justice System and those with lived experience of custody, prison mental health services and secure care.

Our shared purpose was to co-produce solutions for:

• Improving how Adult Secure services and the Criminal Justice System work together to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions.
• Improving transitions both ways between prison and Adult Secure care.

Speakers included Kate Morrissey of NHS England, Lynn Saunders Governor of HMP Whatton and Dr Ardash Kaul, Clinical Director of Offender Health at Nottinghamshire Healthcare.