LMWS Blog: 3 – 7 July is Co-production week

National Co-production Week is back for the eighth year and takes place from 3 – 7 July 2023 under the theme “Co-production in the real world”.

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) says co-production offers the chance to transform social care and health provision to a model that offers people real choice and control.

Co-production is defined by working in equal partnership with people using services, carers, families and citizens.

At Leeds Mental Wellbeing Services (LMWS), our Co-production Network – made up of staff, service users, carers, people with lived experience of accessing mental health services, and professionals from other local organisations – works on a range of projects to ensure our offer is shaped by those that will use it.

To mark Co-production Week, Beth Stepan, the Co-production Coordinator explains what co-production means for our organisation:

“In LMWS, co-production is about connecting and collaborating with the diverse communities in the city and working towards our service being as inclusive as possible. We aim to blur the boundaries between “professionals” and “service users” and recognise the value of lived experience in informing our approach to mental health support.”

“Our Co-production Network is currently made up of 74 members, who all bring individual backgrounds and interests and are offered the opportunity to develop their skills whilst making improvements to the service for everyone,” She added.

In LMWS, we’ll be sharing information about the work we’ve been doing and its real-world benefits, as well as giving all staff the chance to get more involved.

Download the 2022/2023 impact report.

During the week, there will be series of events and an opportunity to join us. Find events below:

Service users and carers can find more information about getting involved here or by contacting our co-production Team via lmwscoproduction@touchstonesupport.org.uk