Experts bring experience to social care inspections
21 December 2006
People who use social care services are helping the Commission
for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) to change the way it inspects and
provides information.
CSCI is using the expertise of these people to influence how we
inspect, and how we write our inspection reports and other
publications.
Frances Hasler, Head of User and Public Involvement, said:
“Working with people who use services has been vital to
improving the way we inspect and provide public information.
“By involving people who use services directly in what we do,
CSCI is able to get a richer picture of what matters when we carry
out our inspections.
“We can make sure we are looking at the things that are going to
make a real difference to people’s quality of life and supply
information in formats that they need.”
Working in partnership with disabled people’s organisations and
those representing people who use social care services, CSCI is
running a series of projects that have helped us develop methods
for involving people in inspections.
These include:
- Experts by experience - people who have experience of using
services, who join some inspectors to help them get a good picture
of the service from the viewpoint of the people who use it.
- Link residents - people living in care homes who help to
distribute our user surveys, so we can get a good picture of the
home between our visits.
- Communication kits - picture based information about
inspections, so inspectors can communicate with people more
easily.
- Easy read report summaries - using images from Change Picture
Bank so that people with learning difficulties can understand our
reports more easily. (Change is a national organisation run by
disabled people.)
One of our major ways of involving people who use care services
is the experts by experience programme.
It was developed from pilot projects with two disabled people’s
organisations.
Sandwell People First (now called Changing Our Lives) and
Darlington Association on Disability supported people with learning
difficulties and people with sensory impairments to join
inspections in care homes.
In Cramlington, CSCI has recruited a group of ‘experts by
experience’ from three homes for older people.
Experts by experience contribute in a number of ways, mainly by
talking to residents.
One person with learning difficulties said: “thank you for
sending someone who really understands me.”
They also observe interaction between staff and residents and
report back good and bad practice.
Experts by experience also take note of the environment of the
home, and can help directly by sharing their knowledge.
Providers have benefited from the involvement of experts by
experience by using some suggestions to help their own quality
monitoring and involving residents in more decision-making.
One provider said: “I found the expert to be polite and of use
to me as I am a new manager in post.
“He was able to provide feedback, both positive and negative,
and from this information help me develop future plans.”
Key to CSCI’s approach is giving contracts to organisations,
many of which are run by disabled people.
CSCI is working in partnership with these national and local
disabled people’s organisations and voluntary groups to recruit,
train and support the experts by experience.
These include Help the Aged, MIND, self-advocacy organisations
for people with learning difficulties - My Life My Choice, from
Oxford, People First groups from Sandwell, Bristol and South
Gloucestershire, and local disability organisations - Darlington
Association on Disability and Barking and Dagenham Centre for
Independent Living.
The National Centre for Independent Living, which is involving
local groups from its network which are run by disabled people,
said: “This is a new exciting project and has demonstrated the
commitment by the Commission to involve people who use services in
part of the inspection process, giving a service user
perspective.”
Barking & Dagenham Centre for Independent Living added: “Our
involvement in this work has exceeded all of our expectations - it
has given recognition and employment to people who use services and
invested in us as a disabled people’s organisation.”
To help develop the partnership between CSCI and support
organisations, the National Centre for Independent Living and
Sandwell People First will organise regular get-togethers for the
groups, and provide training and information.
Sandwell People First said: “It is very important for experts to
pass on their knowledge, skills and expertise to other experts.
“This then builds up a national bank of powerful experts by
experience.”
Involving people with experience of using social care services
has been a real benefit to CSCI inspectors.
One inspector commented: “From my point of view this was a
really good inspection and experience.
The expert seemed to get on really well with residents and the
new expert by experience with learning difficulties, who was
shadowing, was lovely.
Not at all shy and spoke to both service users and staff with
confidence. This has to be the way forward for inspection.”
If you would like to find out more about becoming an expert by
experience please contact the enquiries helpline on 0845 015 0120
or look on our website: www.csci.org.uk
Ends
Notes to editors
1. To find out more about experts by experience please visit our
website: www.csci.org.uk
2. The CSCI is the single inspectorate for social care in
England, responsible for regulating and inspecting all social care
providers - whether in the public or independent sector, and for
assessing the performance of local councils in delivering their
personal social services functions.
3. The Commission’s primary aim is to improve social care by
putting the needs of people who use care services first.
4. The Commission is chaired by Dame Denise Platt DBE and has
five Commissioners. The Chief Inspector is Paul Snell. CSCI staff
work across nine regions in England - aligned with the government
offices of the regions.