Adult Carers Programme
On this page
- Lead organisation
Central Bedfordshire Council
- Project contact
In 2021, Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) embarked on a journey to test out a new approach to producing a local plan to support carers, with carers themselves at the heart of the development process.
This approach is also called co-production. We wanted to use this as an opportunity to strengthen our relationship with voluntary sector partners, providers and local carers and demonstrate our commitment to improving the lives of local carers.
We used the Working Together for Changing (WTfC) approach, which is an 8-step process for co- producing change. As well as collecting information from a number of carers on what is and is not working well for them and what could be improved, the process involved holding a two-day workshop, which in this case was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 16 people attended in total, made up of four carers, nine Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) employees (including staff with lived experience as a carer) and three representatives from Voluntary Community Sector organisations.
The information from this work was used directly to inform a five-year Adult Carers Strategy, ensuring the strategy reflects the things that local carers told us they want and need.
The strategy was published in 2022 and we are now nearly two years into the five-year programme of works that has come as a result of the strategy. Whilst the programme is broad and not all areas can be covered within this submission, we would encourage people to read the CBC Adult Carers Strategy, available on our website. For the purpose of this submission, our supporting information focuses on the co-production process with carers and high-level outcomes.
- Project duration
The initial co-production work took place in 2021. The subsequent strategy was published in 2022 and covers a five- year period.
- Key beneficiaries
Adult Carers
Adult Carers Programme
Why we started this initiative
Whilst we have responsibilities under the Care Act 2014, we wanted to ensure that what we are commissioning and the processes of support that are in place are truly what carers want and need. Co- producing at a strategic level allowed us and carers in the local area to have the system wide view that was needed to develop the priorities for the upcoming years.
Our Goals
Co-producing ensured that carers were at the heart of the setting of the five year priorities and that we, along with carers, the ICB, commissioned services and our partner organisations, are in agreement as to what is needed in our area to deliver improvements.
We are now working to deliver on what we agreed we would. These priorities are wide-ranging but each one is important to us. This includes reviewing our carers breaks offer, ensuring a more joined up approach with our partner organisations to help identify carers and improving access to employment and training.
How we’re implementing it
Once the strategy was developed and approved, we established a Carers Programme Board, which meets quarterly to monitor progress on the agreed priorities. The Programme Board is made up of managers and commissioners from CBC, the Integrated Commissioning Board, Healthwatch Central Bedfordshire and commissioned carers services.
A workshop is planned for April 2024, where the invite will be extended to carers and frontline colleagues, to review progress so far and the outcomes that have been achieved, as well as reviewing our commitments for the next period.
We continue to co-produce individual projects with people with lived experience – for example, carers themselves and those that they support.
Learnings
Senior management buy-in when embarking on a co-production approach is essential in ensuring colleagues at all levels are committed to co-producing with people with lived experience to deliver the best outcomes.
The Working Together for Change approach to co-production worked really well for us and allowed us all to unpick the feedback from carers so that we could work together to develop a clear action plan. On this occasion, interviews and workshops had to be conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but we have found from similar events since, that holding the event in person is generally preferred and creates a real ‘buzz’ in the room.