Residents helping the Council to shape its Adult Social Care services, have been thanked for their work at a celebration event in the Town Hall.

The residents are members of several groups which helps the Council to improve services for everyone in the borough. These include the Learning Disabilities Partnership Forum, the Autism Alliance Board and the Making it Real Board. The groups work with the Council in what is called co-production, and are either service users themselves, carers or patients in Hackney.

Resident Lola Bello who sits on the Council’s Making it Real Board, was presented with a certificate for her work last week. This included helping to make the Adult Social Care Local Account 2016-17 report more user friendly and accessible for members of the public.

Lola said: “It is good to get together to know how different organisations can come together to improve services. People get involved so they can gain access to different services. These services are tailored to individual needs and personal views are taken into consideration. We all get together not just to improve services, but to also make new friends and to encourage each other.”

More than 40 people are currently involved in co-production within Adult Social Care. The Council is looking for more people to join the existing groups to ensure their services meet the needs of different local communities.

Deputy Mayor, Cllr Feryal Demirci who is the Cabinet member for Health, Social Care, Transport and Parks said: “I would like to say a personal thank you to everyone who is involved in co-producing our services in Hackney, for giving up their time and for their commitment to helping others. Co-production is invaluable in helping the Council tailor services in the borough, to what people need. The involvement of service users, carers and residents as ‘experts by experience’ ensures that they also get to have their say in decisions that will affect them and other people."

The event which was held to mark National Co-Production Week 2018 to raise awareness of co-production in practice, was also attended by the Mayor of Hackney, Philip Glanville. He said: “I am really pleased to be celebrating co-production in Hackney and recognise the groups’ contributions to our work in helping people with their support needs. As a Council we are committed to working with and for people, not just focusing on what we do. It leads to better outcomes for our residents if they are involved in producing the services that they and others may receive.”

The Council is committed to making it easier for more people from all backgrounds to get involved in co-production, in a number of ways involving:

· Flexible meeting times in venues that are accessible

· Help to cover costs of transport and other expenses

· Offer of training and support to ensure everyone can take part as much as possible

· Offer of different levels of involvement, so if people cannot attend meetings they can still contribute

· Ensuring information is accessible and easy to understand

Some example of co-production in Hackney include sitting on recruitment panels for positions within Adult Social Care, deliver user-led training to staff, evaluate and feedback on services and co-chair Council board meetings.

For more information or to get involved in co-production in Hackney email userengagement@hackney.gov.uk or call 0208 356 1493.