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.”
There are some really important terms within this definition that we want to describe to ensure that this definition is clear:
Carer – 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.
Communities – 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.
Equal partnership – A group of people agreeing on goals together and working as a team to achieve these goals.
Service design – the planning and arranging of our services.
Service development – 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.
Service evaluation – measuring how successful the service is at achieving the goals.
Lived experience – experience that people have had first hand, that give them knowledge and understanding that others don’t have.
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.
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 be 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 provide clear explanations of what we are trying to achieve and what we’d like you to help us with.
For activities that take place in person, we are able to 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 via money or vouchers should you choose.
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 ca continue to learn and improve.
Current Opportunities
We will advertise all current opportunities to work together with us to help shape our services here. Please check back for the latest opportunities.
Alternatively 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.
Contact us
If you have any questions regarding involvement activities please email the team at: yourviewsmatter@sabp.nhs.uk