7 February 2008
Service Users Have Their Say - NISCC, RQIA and SCIE Publish New Research to Strengthen Service User Involvement in Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland
Service users, carers and social care representatives have welcomed the publication of a new report which looks across health and social care services for children, young people and adults in NI to identify ways of strengthening user involvement at all levels. ‘Looking out from the middle: user involvement in health and social care in NI’ is based on research commissioned by the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC), the Regulation, Quality and Improvement Authority (RQIA) and the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) to build on the progress they have made and to ensure there is more effective user and carer participation in their work to improve standards in health and social care.
The research team, led by Joe Duffy from Queen’s University Belfast, included members from a range of user and carer organisations who provided their perspective on successful user involvement. People who participated in the research said:
“We need to see if what we are being consulted about is making a difference … we have to be in the middle looking out. ….Organisations need to provide feedback about how the views of service users have brought about changes.”
Jeremy Harbison, NISCC Chair, opening the event said:
"NISCC, RQIA and SCIE want to ensure that the role of users and carers is placed at the centre of work in health and social care in Northern Ireland. We already use a variety of methods to ensure that users and carers have a voice in the development of a high quality workforce, the inspection and review process and in gathering knowledge about good practice. 'Looking Out From the Middle' provides us with some valuable insights into how we can achieve better results from user involvement."
He added:
“This work does not attempt to provide all of the answers in what is a complex area. What it does do, however, is help point the three organisations in directions that should be helpful in enabling them to achieve user participation in a way that is meaningful and worthwhile for all involved. NISCC, RQIA and SCIE will now take the recommendations in the report forward and use them to inform their own participation strategies. Any organisation providing, planning or commissioning health and social care services will find this report useful in helping them to develop more successful user involvement.”
The report and summary are available to download from the SCIE website http://www.scie.org.uk/ Printed copies and alternative versions of the report and summary are available free from SCIE. Telephone: 020 7089 6840 or Textphone: 020 7089 6893 to request your copy.