Equal Partners Strategy Summary

Transcription

1 Equal Partners Strategy Summary Informing Consulting Listening Involving Empowering For further information please contact: Sue Eato, Associate Director of Service User and Carer Involvement

2 Introduction Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust has a new strategy called Equal Partners. Its purpose is to ensure that people who use our services, our partner agencies and the wider public are fully engaged and involved and at the heart of everything we do so that our services are based on people s needs, and the quality of them is the best it can be. Meaningful involvement and empowerment is our everyday business and is everyone s business in our Trust Rachel Newson, Chief Executive Our vision is to work for the wellbeing of the people we serve and be recognised as the best at what we do. The strategy is an important part in shaping the way that we listen to, engage with and involve people and our partners to develop positive relationships, to make sure that our services meet people s individual needs and wishes. No decision about me without me White Paper: Equity and Excellence (2010) Working as Equal Partners is about working together and respecting everybody s views, whether they are a member of staff, someone who uses our services, a carer, or a member of the wider public. It is about shared decision making. We believe that everyone has the right to be fully involved in the services that affect them, and in developing the Trust s services, and we are developing more opportunities for them to do so. The Equal Partners Strategy aims to develop a culture of Equal Partnership and empowerment, where everyone has a chance to have their say, to make a contribution and to work alongside the Trust. Equal Partnerships will: Empower people to be involved with our service, Improve the way we keep people informed, Consult with people, and listen to them, Improve the culture of the Trust, Give every voice the opportunity to be heard, Promote individual choice and wellbeing, Enable people to have the best possible experience of our service. 2

3 Principles of working as Equal Partners This strategy is about the active participation and empowerment of people at all levels of the Trust. The way we work with people will be: Responsive Purposeful Consistent Engaging Empowering and collaborative Appropriate and accessible Everyone s responsibility Innovative and creative Open and honest Value for money In partnership Fair & equal Safe...to deliver excellent service user / patient and carer experiences and outcomes Getting involved at every level It is important that people are given the opportunity to get involved at every level of the Trust. People should be able to: Be fully involved in decisions about their individual care and support, Get involved with how services work, and changes are delivered, Have their views and experiences heard at the highest level, to improve quality and influence the planning and direction of the Trust. You have the right to be involved directly through representation in the planning of healthcare services, the development and consideration of proposals for change in the way those services are provided, and in decisions to be made affecting the operation of those services NHS Constitution (2010) 3

4 Involved and empowered It is essential that involvement and participation is real and meaningful for all. It must be based on empowering each individual to have more control over their own life, and to contribute positively to the lives of others. This means creating opportunities to build confidence and self esteem and giving people who have the quietest voice opportunities to get involved and tell us what they think. The strategy highlights the different things that need to be done to make this happen and the different ways we can engage with people. Different ways to support an Equal Partnership Informing Researching Consulting Actively Involving Co-producing Empowering Providing the right information at the right time in the right way in the right format and style Seeking the views of people based on their experiences, analysing complaints and compliments and changing things as a result Asking people about their needs, and their views before we make decisions Discussing with people their wishes and creating opportunities for people to develop their skills Deciding or doing it together Supporting people to reach their full potential by developing their skills, knowledge and confidence Barriers to involvement and engagement Throughout all of this the Strategy aims to understand the individual communications needs of people, and tackle the barriers that exist that stop people from getting involved or being engaged. 4

5 Different ways we will develop Equal Partnerships Research Consultations Questionnaires & surveys Audits Kiosk technology Mystery shopper Written comments Complaints Compliments Information One stop shops Newspapers and bulletins Complaints & compliments Advertising Campaigns Exhibitions Leaflets, brochures and posters One to one explanations Notice boards Trust membership Media Social Media DVDs CD ROMs Internet and Intranet Suggestion Schemes Video Conferencing Audio Tapes Television Social Networking (ie Twitter, Facebook) Radio Web forums Blogs Texts Through the creative ideas of our staff, service users, carers and partners we have the opportunity to empower each other, and ensure that the involvement of people using our services is at the heart of everything we do. Face to face Individual care & support plans Telephone contact Briefings Training Events Workshops Focus Groups Road Shows Public Meetings Public Presentations Public Events Interviews Advisory groups & committees Drama Workshops Patient stories Recruitment Panels PALS 5

6 How will we achieve this? Building a culture of Equal Partnership, and ensuring that it is understood and embraced by all, is a difficult task which involves making changes across the Trust. The Trust has focussed on five main areas these are as follows: Policies People Partnerships Projects Patient Experience Develop policies, standards and procedures to embed Equal Partnerships into the way we work every day. Empower people with the right skills and tools to enable them to get involved, and to involve others. Build relationships within the community, voluntary groups organisations and other partners. Develop specific projects that will create the opportunities for people to get involved and share their experiences. Develop the way in which we listen to, learn from, and work with people to improve their services. New priorities and developments New developments are already taking place to take Equal Partners forward. Staff and partners may already be involved with some of these whilst other are still at the planning stage. These include: Establishing an Equal Partners Engagement Committee that will support the delivery of the strategy and action plans and will monitor and report on progress. Establishing a new Engagement Team that will work within the Trust and the community to develop engagement activity and opportunities and to take forward these priorities. The team will work closely with the newly appointed Head of Staff Engagement and the Trust s Communication Team. Make sure we have the right funding and people to deliver the strategy. Develop a year 1 Action Plan to track and measure achievements of year 1 priorities. This will include detailed engagement Action Plans across the Trust. Commence work on identifying and developing the key policies and standards to support the strategy e.g. payment policy, involvement standards. Development of an Equal Partners Communications and Engagement Plan to launch the strategy and fully engage service users, carers and partners in developing and agreeing priority actions. Making a list of all Trust and partner agency engagement activity, and groups we can engage with, which will build on what we already know, so that we can identify opportunities for joining up and highlighting gaps. Exploring new ways and channels of involving people and getting their feedback through projects like the Every Voice Counts Pilot. Developing a written agreement and work programme for jointly working with LINks, soon to become Healthwatch, community groups and with local Commissioners, on all aspects of involvement. 6

7 We will know we have created a culture of Equal Partnerships when: Individuals Say they feel empowered to make their own decisions and take control of their own lives Say their experience of being involved was excellent Say they were listened to and valued Services There are a range of opportunities for people to be involved Service users and carers deliver training for staff and become volunteers Evidence of changes in services are a result of what people have said Strategic A range of active and appropriate ways and formats for people to engage with us Partnership working is evident at all levels of the Trust with all communities making the most of all resources and opportunities There is open and transparent feedback and publicity showing how people have been involved and how services have made changes Services users, carers, partner agencies and the wider public have a unique contribution to make in how their individual care, support and services are planned, shaped and delivered. The complete Equal Partners Strategy can be found on the Trust website at: At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they hope it can be done, then they see it can be done and all the world wonders why it wasn t done centuries ago Francis Hodgson Burnett, Author 7

8 Headquarters address: Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust Wayside House Wilsons Lane Coventry CV6 6NY