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Foundation Trust, Ifti
Majid. ‘Some fantastic
examples of what works
and what doesn’t were
showcased and
discussed. The energy
in the room was
palpable.’
There was a real
sense of a shared
enthusiasm for change
and for doing things
differently, and the
importance of quality of
life and community in
the initiation and
sustaining of recovery was stressed many times. Though the word was never
used, it felt – with all the reference to assets and engaging with the community
– that what many people were perhaps talking about was the need for ‘co-
production’ and a greater recognition of the importance of the ‘core economy’.
‘Family, neighbourhood, community are the core economy,’ says Professor
Edgar Cahn in the Nef manifesto. ‘The core economy produces love and
caring, coming to each other’s rescue, democracy and social justice. It is
time now to invest in rebuilding the core economy.’
I believe that the Derbyshire Trust, in its drive to establish a strategy for
‘whole system’ recovery orientation, its commitment to recovery awareness
training for all trust staff and its intention to establish 90 ‘recovery guardians’
is beginning to explore what co-production means and its central role within
recovery-oriented services. We are seeing similar beginnings in many other
services but there’s a long way to go and there’s always the danger of
buzzword substitution, something we’ve already seen with ‘recovery’.
As another Nef document states, ‘If we get it right, then co-production
will help rebuild public services as equal and reciprocal partnerships
‘Family,
neighbourhood,
community
are the core
economy...’
18 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| June 2013
Recovery |
Co-production
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
Harnessing the
pot
‘C
o-production is an idea whose time has come,’ states
Right here
right now: taking co-production into the mainstream
, a New
Economics Foundation (Nef) and NESTA report on how involving
users in the design and delivery of services is the way ahead for
public services. ‘The idea, put simply, is that people’s needs are
better met when they are involved in an equal and reciprocal relationship with
professionals and others, working together to get things done,’ it says.
Is ‘recovery’ ready for co-production? I considered this question a few weeks
ago while attending a recovery conference hosted by Derbyshire Healthcare NHS
Foundation Trust in partnership with Phoenix Futures. A wide range of
professionals and people from the UK recovery community gathered to share
some of their knowledge and experience and talk about the assets that exist
within services and communities.
Delegates heard from Professor John Strang of King’s College, London,
Phoenix Futures chief executive Karen Biggs and Seamus Watson, national
programme manager for wellbeing and mental health at Public Health England.
Themes included the individual nature of recovery, the need to improve
treatment and recovery rates and the importance of engaging in ‘conversations’
with service users, families and communities.
The conference was a ‘fantastic opportunity for individuals and groups to
demonstrate their passion, motivation and drive to champion recovery – not as
a buzzword but as an individual journey that services must support and be
focused on,’ said deputy chief executive of Derbyshire Healthcare NHS
Is the sector ready for
co-production, asks
Alistair Sinclair