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Service User and Carer Involvement

We believe in "putting you at the heart of everything we do". That’s why a dedicated team is working to involve you at every level of our organisation and improve services. Click on the links below to read more.

Involving You strategy.

Executive summary of the strategy.

Plain English version of the strategy.

You can also get involved with us by evaluating services, help with recruitment or take part in workshops and much more by becoming a member of our Foundation Trust. All you need to do is fill in a Foundation Trust membership form and we'll be in touch.

Service User and Care Involvement Group

The Service User and Carer involvement Group aims to create better services with your help. It meets monthly to talk to you about your wishes, work in partnership with you to develop projects or services, and help you to improve current services. We do this by providing direct links between service users and carers and the management of our organisation.

The group is made up of representatives from each of our care groups (mental health, learning disabilities, older people, child and adolescent, forensic and drug and alcohol) and corporate directorates. If you have an issue you would like a representative to raise for you please see the contacts page for details.

Volunteering

Volunteers make a very important contribution and create a better NHS. As such, we are developing a volunteers’ policy and practice guideline to make it possible for people to get involved. Look out for this information in the news section of our website over the forthcoming months. For further information please contact Colin Perry on 01274 228157 or colin.perry@bdct.nhs.uk.

Recruitment and Selection

Service users and carers are regularly involved in recruitment and selection of our staff. This includes designing the job description and taking part in interview processes. We offer training to service users and carers interested in being involved in this process. If you wish to receive this training or have any questions then please contact Alison Barraclough on 01274 228325 or alison.barraclough@bdct.nhs.uk

Foundation Trust Membership

All foundation trusts must establish, develop and maintain an active membership. This includes service users, carers and staff. Membership is free and means different levels of involvement for different people. Some people will be interested in only receiving information whereas others will be interested in participating in our work or even standing for election as a governor. For further information please contact Stella Jackson on 01274 363552 or stella.jackson@bdct.nhs.uk

Training Courses

We along with our partner organisations offer training courses which may be of interest to service user and carers. They vary from learning about research and auditing to producing audio material for other service users. If you are interested in receiving information about courses which are relevant to service users and carers then please contact Alison Barraclough on 01274 228325 or alison.barraclough@bdct.nhs.uk

Research

Xplore Research Group is a partnership between service users, carers and staff to research service related issues. The group provides opportunities for all members to engage in research at all levels from proposal and design stages right through to presenting findings. The group was recently formed and will use the principles and framework of participatory action research. Contact Shahid Islam on 01274 228193 or shahid.islam@bdct.nhs.uk

Audit

Recently, we developed a service user and carer audit network. It gives you the opportunity to participate in all aspects of auditing. This is a new area of engagement as audits have been carried out by professionals in the past. Ultimately, the information will be used to improve the quality of our services. Appropriate training and support will be available to people interested in joining the network. Contact Shahid Islam on 01274 228193 or shahid.islam@bdct.nhs.uk

Equality and Human Rights Review Panel

We are committed to treating people and delivering services in a way that doesn’t discriminate. We don’t want age, disability, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation and transgender status to be a disadvantage within mental health and learning disability health care.

To do this we run an Equality and Human Rights Review Panel. This means each service area presenting to the panel, which includes service users and carers, every six months about their progress in tackling inequality.

The panel welcomes and encourages people to get in touch to share experiences, feelings and views. If you have something to say about our services or the way you, a family member or friend experienced them please contact Lisa Wright on 01274 228158 or lisa.wright@bdct.nhs.uk

Equality Impact Assessments

Regularly, we take time to think about how we run our services. This helps us see if the way they are organised discriminates against people because of their age, disability, gender, race, religion, beliefs, sexual orientation and transgender status. We also look for good practice that promotes and supports equality and people’s human rights.

If we find opportunities to tackle inequality we can change services appropriately or spread the word about good practice taking place. This process is called an equality impact assessment. It is important to have service users, carers, staff and community members involved so that we can get a real picture of people’s experiences.

We run training for people who would like to get involved in the assessments. If you are interested please contact Lisa Wright on 01274 228158 or lisa.wright@bdct.nhs.uk