Co-Production and Healthwatch in Newham – Patrick Hall, Commissioner, Adult Social Care

Slide 2 What is Co-Production?

Slide 3 A Working Definition: “Co-Production” was first coined at the University of Indiana in the 1970’s to explain and address the fact that crime was rising when policemen were asigned patrol cars rather than ‘a beat’ Professor Elinor Ostrom described the way in which policing could become over-professionalised and cut off from the communities they protect.

Slide 4 A Working Definition: The point is that professionals need communities as much as those they serve – they make the services they provide – or COMMISSION, more representative, democratic and responsive.

Slide 5 A Working Definition: Recognising People as Assets Building on Capabilities Mutuality and Reciprocity Peer Support Networks Blurring Disctinctions

Slide 6 Why is this Important for Commissioners/Contracts Professionals?

Slide 7

Slide 8 We should recognise: When we have limited resources – we should be looking to the people that use services as being resources themselves – untapped ones!! Salami slicing to make savings risks INCREASING demand and Payment by Results risks perverse incentives Because of a constantly shifting context (political, economic, managerial) - We are not experts!

Slide 9 Co-Production in Newham

Slide 10 The start of our journey: Moving from Council facilitated Service User Consultation Groups (Partnership Boards) Commissioning the third sector to facilitate SELF ORGANISATION Ensuring robust routes for influence

Slide 11

Slide 12 What is Healthwatch? Healthwatch is the new independent consumer champion for both health and social care. It will exist in two distinct forms – local Healthwatch, at local level, and Healthwatch England, at national level. The aim of local Healthwatch will be to give citizens and communities a stronger voice to influence and challenge how health and social care services are provided within their locality. Local Healthwatch will also provide or signpost people to information to help them make choices about health and care service

Slide 13 Co-Producing the Healthwatch Tender Officers have held a number of sessions with volunteers from the Newham Co-Production forum and Local Involvement Network to develop the specification for Healthwatch Newham and the evaluation criteria. An elected sub group with evaluate the tender alongside officers with one representative sitting on the officers panel and reporting back on the evaluation process.

Slide 14 What do we want? Leadership and Professionalism Stakeholders expressed a preference for a Healthwatch Newham strategically driven by a professional core that will coordinate the organisations core functions. They wanted a governance structure which balances skilled professionals and critically honest service users, patients and carers. Bidding organisations will be asked to demonstrate how they will reflect this vision in the governance of Healthwatch Newham.

Slide 15 What do we want? Partnership and Intelligence A key role for Healthwatch Newham will be to ensure that it taps into existing resources of community intelligence and information regarding provision. To do this, it will be required to work in close partnership with organisations in the statutory; community and independent sector.

Slide 16 What do we want? Independence While working in partnership with commissioners and providers, Healthwatch should speak the truth from a service user, patient and carer perspective without individual or organisational conflict of interest.

Slide 17 What do we want? Access We heard from stakeholders that Healthwatch Newham should be accessible. This means that the organisation should be both easily contactable through different media, but also physically accessible through a locally based building. Stakeholders felt that creating a visible Healthwatch brand was vital.

Slide 18 What do we want? Influence Stakeholders felt that Healthwatch Newham should be influential among both service users and decision makers. This will require the new organisation to be staffed by experienced and skilled people, able to put aside their own agendas and represent faithfully the views of Newham residents.

Slide 19 What do we want? Locally Rooted One of the key messages of the consultations was that Healthwatch Newham should be an organisation with roots in Newham’s community. The organisation will be required to show it understands Newham’s community, its geography and particular demographic profile. The organisation should be familiar with the local social care/health economy and engage with existing co-production and engagement networks.

Slide 20 What do we want? Building the Community Voice We heard from our sessions that Healthwatch should speak for community and not serve itself, reach out to those not ordinarily heard and importantly, build the capacity and capability of those it engages with, creating a network of active participants in Health and Social care.

Slide 21 What next?

Slide 22 Challenges: Identifying appropriate measures “Savings”– If co-production is successful, it prevents access to traditional services so it is hard to identify it’s particular financial impact- making it hard to justify in the first place! Developing Practical Models – we are all experimenting- so we must share what works

Slide 23 Patrick Hall, Commisisoner, LBN