Service Users, Carers, Family & Friends

Service User Involvement

Service user involvement is highly important at Active Pathways and underpins every decision we make to improve our services. We believe that service users should not be passive recipients in their care delivery, but active and equal partners.

Involvement is at the heart of our therapeutic strategy and we are actively looking for new and innovative ways to involve service users as joint partners in the development of our service.

This includes:

• Involvement in organisational planning and decision making
• Weekly community meetings provide an opportunity for open and transparent dialogue about the service and actively seeks feedback, opinion and ideas from the service user population. Minutes are produced and displayed on the unit. The forum has been influential in changing practice and giving service users a voice with which to influence their care;
• Representation at senior management team meetings
• We will ensure that service users actively participate and take responsibility in their recovery process.
• Encouraging and embracing service users’ ideas in service initiative and developments
• Providing joint training programmes with staff and service users
• Co-production groups are facilitated between managers and service users
• Involvement in our Champions model
• Service user involvement in the recruitment and selection of staff
• Reviewing our processes so that service users are involved in governance, policy and practice
• Supporting people to gain knowledge, skills, confidence and leadership through a variety of training programmes

Through involvement, we aim to increase opportunities by involving service users in how we run, change and influence the development of our services. We are committed to ensuring that all people who are supported by Active Pathways are listened to and responded to, so that they receive high quality, personalised care. In doing this we will:

• Promote and create opportunities for a fulfilling life and recovery.

• Tackle the stigma and discrimination that surrounds mental health so that people are included in society and involved in new opportunities.

Carers, Family & Friends

We understand the important role that family and friends can have in helping your relative or friend on their journey to recovery. You input is highly valued and we encourage you to visit and work with us to support your relative or friend reach their potential.

The Care Act 2014

You have a legal framework of support too in the form of The Care Act 2014.

The Care Act outlines the way in which local authorities should carry out carer’s assessments and needs assessments; how local authorities should determine who is eligible for support; how local authorities should charge for both residential care and community care; and places new obligations on local authorities.