Co-Production
Open Mental health has set out to transform the traditional model of care, creating a ‘no wrong door’ approach so that people’s needs are responded to regardless of where they come into contact with services, making the system more efficient and easier for people to navigate. A key principle of the approach has been to work with Experts by Experience to co-produce services which truly meet their needs.
Co-Production in Somerset’s Mental Health Alliance
We’re proud to say that, in Somerset’s Open Mental Health alliance, co-production is embedded firmly into our mental health services as a result of hard work from all sectors and areas.
There are various types of involvement, from joining the Recovery Partners when you leave the service, volunteering with fellow charity organisations to improve services, signing up to and/or running a course on the Recovery College, exploring the power of the peer with mentoring and support roles, or being an Expert by Experience Leader with Open Mental Health.
Who are the Recovery Partners?
Recovery Partners are people who have lived experience of using NHS mental health services and want to work with mental healthcare staff and managers to improve service design and delivery. It is an organised form of service user involvement associated with Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.
This enterprise has its roots in the NHS Constitution in terms of ‘patient participation’, and people give their time freely. However, remuneration is offered for project work at a strategic level and/or where shared decision-making is required.
A register of Recovery Partners is maintained, and a small team of NHS staff supports those participating.
Who are the Recovery College?
The Recovery College is made up of students and tutors from Somerset interested in learning new life skills to improve their mental health. Its members are people with lived experience of mental health difficulties, their family and friends, and the professionals who support them. For more information, please visit their page.
Who are Expert by Experience Leaders?
Our Experts by Experience Leaders are people who use their lived experience of mental health services and recovery journeys to influence decision-making within Open Mental Health. They are called ‘leaders’ because they’re leading the transformation of services by using their own life experiences. It’s not a hierarchical term. Rather, it shows that they’re acknowledged to be leading decision-making in this way. We believe all types of Experts by Experience are equal to each other, wherever you are and whatever you are doing.
To meet a few of our Expert by Experience Leaders, please visit this page.
Get Involved
If you’d like join or hear more about the Recovery Partners, there are locality groups that meet as well as fortnightly Countywide MS Teams meeting. Very often becoming a Recovery Partner can lead to informal peer support as people become acquainted with one another. To find out more please contact Paul Milverton on 07979 701247
If yourself, somebody you know or somebody you work with wants to go that extra step and make the most of their lived experience to help shape the future of services in Somerset, contact coproduction@openmentalhealth.org.uk to find out more and start that conversation.