Building better care together
It is essential you understand, demonstrate and actively support co-production in your local leadership.
Involving people who draw on care and support, their families, carers and the wider community in the design and delivery of social care, enables more collaborative approaches and better person-centred outcomes.
The Care Act 2014 is one of the first pieces of legislation to include co-production in statutory guidance. It emphasises how co-production should be used to develop preventative, strengths-based approaches, support assessments, develop information and advice services, as well as shape the local care market.
Though definitions of co-production may vary, at its core it is a partnership between your council, people who draw on care and support, carers and communities to improve services.
The Care Act says that co-production is:
When an individual influences the support and services received, or when groups of people get together to influence the way that services are designed, commissioned and delivered.
It should bring people with lived and learned experience together as equals, to share power and to have influence over decisions that are made.
It is for social care leaders to encourage and support a culture of co-production within their organisations, from individual level (such as developing a care and support plan based on outcomes and what matters to that person) to service or organisation level (such as when changes are made to an existing service, or a new service is being developed).
You should start by establishing a clear, shared and co-produced vision statement or statement of intent. Many councils have committed to Think Local Act Personal's 'Making it Real', which is a framework for how to develop personalised care and support. It describes what ‘good’ looks like from a person's perspective and what organisations should be doing to live up to those expectations.
It is vital to invest time, people and resources to ensure co-production can be sustained long term. Some areas have co-production or 'Making it Real' boards that bring together people who draw on care and support (sometimes in paid roles) to work alongside council leadership to make decisions about and improvements to services. This also ensures leaders stay accountable.
Think about how you value and acknowledge the equal contributions and experiences of your fellow co-producers, even if they are willing volunteers. This could be by having an approach or policy for remunerating people who contribute their time and expertise or providing relevant training and support.
When working in co-production, start with a blank page and start as early as possible in any change or development. It is important there is genuine opportunity for equal partnership, power sharing and decision making.
Many councils work with local bodies, such as Healthwatch and voluntary and community sector organisations, to support them with co-production and engaging directly with local people. This is a good way to build relationships with important partners and enable you to reach all parts of your community, which you can demonstrate to your political leadership.
Admittedly, it is not always easy, given the pace, scale and volume of council work. As you support your teams with this approach, you will have to develop ways of managing your responses to the challenges and opportunities of a co-production approach. Seeking out ways, for example, to ensure perspectives and involvement come from all communities, and that more articulate or frequently heard voices are heard equally alongside others who need support to speak up.
You will also have to decide how to bring things to a point of agreement when there are many differing views.
Co-production is wonderful when it happens because it leads the way for culture change and transformation. However, it is important to review and evaluate the journey you have been on, and to understand what has worked well and what has not, so that you can introduce further improvements.
Remember: co-production is not a theory; it is a process that you learn from doing.
Despite the challenges, it is important to remember that working in this way leads to better outcomes in the long run, helps to build trust between a council and community, and minimises the risk of mistakes because services are more likely to be right first time.
Seek out learning where you can find it. For example, the West Midlands branch of ADASS has worked on a programme developed by National Voices in which adult social care and health system leaders are coached by people who have lived experience of care and health services.
Being a DASS is one of the most rewarding jobs, largely because of the relationships you develop with people in communities. We should all aspire towards genuine co-production because it offers choice, control, better outcomes and personalisation. It also helps those working in social care (directors included) to think differently, be challenged and step into the shoes of others, all of which play a role in making social care the best it can be.