6 July 2020

This week (6-10 July 2020) marks Co-Production week.

Co-production is when patients, service users, carers or general members of the public work with healthcare professionals to design and deliver a service. This could be in areas of recruitment, training or producing communications. 

Vittoria De Meo, an Independent Mental Health Advisor shares her experience of being part of co-production at CNWL.

She writes:

Service users and carers play an increasingly important role in a variety of activities in regards to health and social care.  What is crucial in their involvement is to build a relationship where professionals and users/carers can support each other on an equal basis and share a common goal.

Trust, respect and value are crucial.

Since summer 2015, I have been involved in different activities around mental health. I call it ‘’my mission’’- encouraging others to achieve their inner potential through my own life experiences, and being the voice for those who don’t have a voice. Since then I have become an active leader of co-production in the area of North West London, challenging, informing and implementing the redesign of services and standards for care and support.

In early 2016, I had the privilege to start doing activities within CNWL. I can give so many examples of when I felt an equal member of the team and shared the decision making with the staff involved.

I would like to highlight the amazing collaboration between myself and the Psychiatric Liaison Team at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital. It all begun mid-2017 when I was invited to be part of a recruitment panel. Throughout the years I have been doing several activities within the team. In addition to being part of the panel, I was also involved in the PLAN re-accreditation process, making interview calls for COMPACT/Urgent Care, and I have also been asked to give my contribution in the development and learning of the team.

I feel that I am playing an important role within the team where working together in equal partnership is at the core of our collaboration and therefore it is effective and mutually beneficial. Key principles such as openness, trust, honesty and shared goals are at the centre.

I feel that everything at CNWL has been positive due to adopting principles that are key to co-production:

  • Recognising people with lived experience as assets
  • Building on people's capabilities
  • Developing two-way, reciprocal relationships
  • Encouraging peer support.

Lucy Keating, Psychiatric Liaison Team Manager said:

“I feel that Coproduction within the Psychiatric Liaison Team has been meaningful and rewarding and something that all members of staff are aware and apart of.

Staff say that it is important to hear the voice of the person with the lived experience therefore making sure they are working on an equal level with people in a professional role.

I feel that the coproduction in the team completes the work that we do. Working together to reach a collective outcome as we as professionals do not always know what this is and are willing to be listen and learn.”

Vittoria continues:

Of course there are still gaps at CNWL in regards to co-production, but I have great confidencein the amazing work that the Patient and Carer Involvement Team are doing. They have created an amazing platform for listening, reflecting and driving future interventions in order to inspire every single service at CNWL to embed the culture of co-production more effectively.

I feel very confident and optimistic that CNWL will achieve good results around co-production.