A new policy for Working Together with Everyone

Blackburn with Darwen’s Adults and Health Services have confirmed their commitment to working with everyone to shape services by adopting a new Co-Production Policy.

The policy, sub-titled ‘Working Together with Everyone’, is the result of several months of collaboration with a wide range of partners, stakeholders and residents.

People with lived experience and groups working within Adults and Health were invited to get involved in workshops to consider the definition of co-production to be used in Blackburn with Darwen, and the values underpinning the policy, and to develop the process for how the Council will put co-production into action.

The definition of co-production that the Council is using is:

“An equal relationship between people who use services and the people responsible for services. They work together, from design to delivery, sharing strategic decision-making about policies, as well as decisions about the best way to deliver services.”

The new Working Together with Everyone policy sets out the values that will be at the centre of any co-production work carried out by Adults and Health services.

Councillor Jackie Floyd, Executive Member for Adults Social Care and Health, said:

I am so proud of this short easy to read co-produced document that truly reflects the Council’s values. It’s been nine months in the making to make sure voices are heard. So often we retro-fit polies and strategies, but this puts our citizens front and centre of every service, and puts everyone in the room when a service is being designed.

We want to make sure we give anyone who lives or cares for someone in Blackburn with Darwen the chance to be part of making decisions about what Adult Social Care does and provides. This is at the heart of our co-production work.

By committing to this approach, we will listen to, work with, and involve local people to improve the decisions we make about the services and support we provide across the Council.

When there are changes to services, or anything new, through co-production and co-design, we will fully involve anyone who we think is going to use that service as a starting point, and work hard to remove any barriers. I know that the members of the Co-Production Board will bring forth people and ideas we hadn’t thought of, and I am looking forward to working with them.

James Hadleigh, Chief Executive of Care Network, added:

The process from the very start was extremely inclusive.  Whilst I attended most of the Steering Group meetings and fed back my thoughts and ideas, what mattered most was the feedback from the Hear Us Heroes group of local residents with disabilities.  They welcomed being involved and gave honest and open feedback to the development of the policy, which was nice to see.

To make sure this policy is fully adopted, there will be a Working Together with Everyone Steering Group. This group will include people with lived experience, representatives of community and voluntary groups, and officers from Adults and Health services.

Anyone in Adults and Health who is leading a project to bring in a new policy, set up a new service, or change a service, will come to the steering group. They will agree with the group whether there should be co-production or co-design.

Mark Warren, the Council’s Strategic Director of Adults and Health, added:

Co-production or co-design boards will be set-up to oversee the work of writing a new policy or delivering a new service or an amended service, linking closely with the Working Together with Everyone Steering Group. Engagement and consultation will be part of this work, to ensure the views and interests of everyone are heard, and care will be taken to make sure our joint working is accessible and inclusive.

You can read the new Working Together with Everyone Co-Production Policy on the Council’s website.