Co-production at the heart of BASW Cymru

Time for the latest blog post from BASW Cymru and the subject of this one is co-production. Anyone practising in Wales will be very familiar with the concept of co-production as a central principle of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014.

Co-production means working alongside people to ensure they’re involved in all decisions about their care or support. People after all, are the experts on their own lives and what works for them. Co-production is necessary to ensure that other key principles in the Act such as voice and control, are also realised.

BASW has developed a framework for service user and carer involvement and BASW England has recruited service users and carers to inform the work of their adult’s policy, practice and education group. BASW Cymru is also determined to ensure that all our work is actively informed by those needing care and support and carers. We will also ensure that any policy or guidance that is initiated and developed in Wales, will be underpinned by the principles of co-production.

Our aspiration for the next year is to have service user and carer representation on our committee and we have set up a co-production sub-group of the Wales committee, to realise this ambition. We are fortunate to have a clear and ethical BASW framework to guide us, along with the support and advice of the Wales Co-production Network - who are themselves advised and supported by experts through experience.

Later this year in our social work awards ceremony, we are blessed to have Chris Roberts and Jayne Goodrick speaking about their experiences. Chris is living with early dementia and Jayne is his wife and when needed by Chris, his carer. I have been privileged to lobby and campaign with Chris and Jayne (and other key stake-holders) around the Wales Dementia Strategy and Action Plan, to ensure they are truly informed by those living with dementia and their carers and are fit for purpose. This is an example of co-production in action and what should be happening in all we do and produce in Wales.

I have just finished judging the nominations for the TPAS Cymru ‘Community Action Awards’. I won’t give anything away before the winner is announced on awards night! What jumped out loud and clear was the power of ordinary people combining their creativity, energy, diversity of experience and knowledge to co-produce solutions that have a positive impact on the well-being of their communities. I admit to shedding a tear a two, because I was so moved by the tenacity and ability of people to see solutions where others may see barriers and difficulty.

We would love to hear examples of co-production from our members and if you’d like to join the sub-group please do, just drop us an email with co-production in the header to: basw@wales.co.uk

Allison Hulmes

Professional Officer #TogetherStronger