People are involved from assessment when we’re asking what they want to achieve from their care, to working collaboratively with them to develop individual care plans which will help them achieve their desired outcomes.
I like being involved, it has helped me with my confidence. And now I’ve started to write a policy about service users using laptops on the ward.Service user
We believe the expertise of people who use our services is unique and, wherever possible, they should be involved in care planning, making collaborative decisions, staff recruitment and training and planning and improving service quality.
As a direct result of service user groups we have introduced a number of exciting initiatives which includes service users:
- People’s Councils
- Interviewing staff for jobs
- Helping to design and deliver training material for staff and service users
- Working with staff on events to raise money for charities
- Visiting colleges and universities to talk about mental health – reducing stigma
- Educating police and hospitals about challenges associated with mental health conditions
- Chairing service user forum meetings
- Chairing their CPA meetings
- Inviting family members to ward rounds
- Taking part in real work opportunities
- In service therapeutic earnings programmes
- Annual artwork competitions for Cygnet calendar and Christmas cards
- Music 2 Empower
We also sponsor the National Service User Awards which are a celebration of service-user led initiatives and achievements.
The awards are judged by a panel of independent experts.