Service User Involvement

Creative Support sees service user consultation and involvement as essential to the success of our services. We are committed to involving service users in all aspects of staff recruitment, project development, service delivery and quality assurance. Since Creative Support started we have found many ways to involve our service users, including:

• Creative Life, a magazine written by and for service users
• Active participation in the recruitment and selection of all staff members, with service users on all interview panels
• Service user involvement training as part of our corporate training calendar
• Core training for service users, including First Aid, Food Hygiene, Health and Safety, Service User Involvement and Recruitment and Selection
• Service users as Lay Assessors in Quality Audits
• Service user satisfaction questionnaires
• Tenants meetings and regional consultation meetings
• Service user forums
• Service user representatives on the Management Committee
• Consultation on policies and business plans
• In some areas we have established a Quality Circle which includes representatives of families, service users and other agencies who work in partnership to achieve continuous improvements in their local services

Recent ways of involving service users include:

• A Service User Policy Group, which reviews Creative Support’s corporate policies and suggest formats that may be more user friendly, e.g., our Complaints and Suggestions Policy is available to service users in a hard copy pictorial form and a DVD version, which was acted out as a role play by service users themselves.
• We consult regularly with people who use services on our Service User Involvement Business Plan and set targets which have agreed dates by which to be achieved
• Following a suggestion at our most recent Consultation Meeting we are currently consulting with service users as to providing a training programme, with certification, on becoming a service user representative.

“With regard to service user participation: the group interviews are a good way of having input into the staff that Creative Support employ. Never have I come across an organisation where customers have a say in hiring staff; it is a real plus factor. I am also involved in the Policy Review Group where we are asked for our views on policies and also amend and review them. I also attend the quarterly service user consultation meetings where everyone can have their say and make suggestions. When suggestions are made, things happen; it may take a bit of time but they happen. Service user involvement has improved my mental health and given me confidence. I have had a lot of pleasure from meeting other people and staff.” Roy Havery, Service User For a full profile on service user involvement by Roy, click here

According to service users in Accrington, service user involvement “gives you something to get out of bed for!” For a full profile on service user involvement by Gerry, click here

Service User Involvement Video