How to get involved – co-production 
We work closely with people who use our services, carers and their families to develop our services, improve quality and better meet the needs of the people we serve.
Our commitment to co-production is something we pride ourselves on and there are many ways to get involved at a local service level through to helping develop Trust-wide strategic plans.
Our definition of co-production is:
“Co-production is a way of working that involves people who use health and care services, carers and communities in equal partnership; and which engages groups of people at the earliest stages of service design, development and evaluation.
Co-production acknowledges that people with ‘lived experience’ of a particular condition are often best placed to advise on what support and services will make a positive difference to their lives.”
Working together with people who use our services, carers and family members means that we are creating services that are truly fit for purpose and meet their needs. This will help us realise our vision to ensure that everyone’s mental health and well-being should support them to lead the best life they can.
There are some important terms within this definition that we want to describe to ensure that this definition is clear:
Someone of any age providing support which can be physical, emotional or mental, for a relative or friend, who could not cope without that support. The care that they provide is unpaid and we need to work in partnership with them when caring for their loved one. We need their input to help shape our services.
We provide services to people across different geographies across Surrey and North East Hampshire, who represent a wide range of ages, backgrounds and cultures. We want to ensure that all are given the opportunity to take part in co-production work and help shape our services.
A group of people agreeing on goals together and working as a team to achieve these goals.
Creating and launching a new or improved service. Identifying and making recommendations for improvements in the patient pathway and administrative processes to enhance the patient experience.
Measuring how successful the service is at achieving the goals.
Experience that people have had firsthand, that gives them knowledge and understanding that others don’t have.
Current opportunities
Crisis and Flow Focus Group
Have you used crisis services or Safe Havens in the past two years? We want to hear from you!
Here at Surrey and Borders Partnership Trust, we are committed to listening to the views of people who use our services, carers and families in order to work together to achieve improvements to our services to deliver the best outcomes.
We’re bringing people together for a co-production focus group to help shape how crisis support and flow through services could work better in the future.
Your lived experience matters and your insights can make real change happen.
Who is this opportunity for?
People who have used crisis services and/or safe havens in the last two years.
What is the time commitment?
We are planning a half-day workshop – date to be confirmed.
If you have any questions, please contact Colette Lane, Lived Experience Development Lead at Colette.Lane@sabp.nhs.uk or 07918 956298.
Recruitment event
The trust is currently in the process of recruiting an exceptional Chief Nursing Officer to shape the future of compassionate, high-quality care for our communities across Surrey and North East Hampshire.
We have a commitment to strengthening involvement with people, carers and families to empower their voices to help us to continue to improve and develop. As part of this recruitment we are seeking people to join us in a stakeholder event.
Who can take part?
We are looking for three people who have either used our services in the last two years or have been a carer or family member for someone using our services within the last two years. You don’t need to have previous experience of taking part in a recruitment process but will benefit from having the confidence and/or experience of talking and sharing ideas in a group setting.
What is the time commitment?
An initial discussion will be held with you prior to the stakeholder event (date not yet determined for the discussion) to explain the structure of the day.
The event itself will take place on 9th December and will be half a day. It will be held at Trust Headquarters, 18 Mole Business Park, Randalls Road, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 7AD.
Candidates for the Chief Nursing Officer role will facilitate a discussion, which will include yourself and other key stakeholders, on a chosen topic. You will then be asked to provide feedback on your experience of the discussion.
The stakeholder event is a paid activity and we will also cover any travel expenses incurred.
Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided on the day.
How to get involved
Register your interest by midnight Wednesday 3rd December.
Any questions?
If you’d like any further information please contact Lovetta Cleghorn, Human Resources Resourcing Manager lovetta.cleghorn@sabp.nhs.uk or call 07825 027 595 between the hours of 9-5.
Adult Eating Disorders Service Optimisation
The Adult Eating Disorders Service is seeking expressions of interest from people keen to become involved in informing the development of our service.
We’re particularly interested in hearing from people with lived experience of eating disorders, their families and carers, as well as healthcare professionals.
This opportunity aims to strengthen co-production within the team and ensure our service continues to reflect the needs and voices of those it supports.
You can have as much or as little involvement as you wish, and no prior experience of service development is required.
You can register as a stakeholder if you wish to be kept informed of the developments and wish to comment on the evolving plans.
Alternatively, you might be interested in joining our Co-production Reference Group which will be meeting via the MS Teams digital platform.
If you’d like to find out more about this work and how you can get involved, please contact:
Debbie Weller,
Service user lived experience Champion
Email: Debbie.Weller@sabp.nhs.uk
Telephone: 01483 448 020
What you can expect
We aim to offer you a variety of opportunities to get involved in. Some activities may be one-off workshops or discussions. Others may provide the opportunity to be involved in regular activities over a period of time as projects.
We want to reach as many people as possible, who represent the diverse community we serve so we’ll advertise these opportunities through a number of different channels to help broaden the participation.
We’ll ask some standard questions about you to so that we can ensure we are reaching as many people as possible, from a broad background, particularly those groups who are underrepresented.
We’ll give you the opportunity to let us know of any reasonable adjustments you may have that will help you to be involved, such as easy-read versions of documents, interpreters or spending some time with you to prepare you for the activity.
We’ll clearly explain what we are trying to achieve and what we’d like you to help us with.
For activities that take place in person, we can reimburse your travel expenses in cash on the day.
Some of our activities may involve roles that can offer payment, which we will advise you of and can process your payments in money or vouchers.
We will provide you with support, should you find sharing your lived experience difficult.
We will invite you to provide us with feedback on your experience of co-production so that we can continue to learn and improve.
IMPORTANT: If your co-production role offers payment
Receiving payment of a fee for involvement is likely to have implications if you are currently employed, unemployed, receiving state benefits or retired. This is because the payment received will be treated as earnings. If you are receiving state benefits, then receiving any form of payment may affect your benefit claim. Advice about receiving payment and the impact on welfare benefits is available via the Surrey Welfare Rights Unit website.
It is vital that you get expert advice from a benefits advisor or from Jobcentre Plus regarding your personal circumstances. Receiving payments may also have implications if you are liable for income tax and National Insurance, receiving a pension or pension credits or tax credits.
FoCUS
If you use our services, or care for someone who uses our services please join FoCUS, our Forum of Carers and people who Use Services.
All our opportunities will be shared directly to members of FoCUS and staff will present opportunities to co-produce at FoCUS Committee meetings.
If you have any questions regarding involvement activities please email the team at: yourviewsmatter@sabp.nhs.uk