Working well Together at National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health

By Steph de la Haye, National Advisor at NCCMH and Co-production Working Group

NCCMH have taken on the mantle of developing co-production in all its facets, and their genuine commitment to make it real has driven Working Well Together, the paper on co-production and mental health commissioning, which was published on 10th May.

The first thing to state is that the team was made up of more people with personal experience of mental health distress and using services than there were professionals, although many had both hats.

One area of discussion during the development of this paper was around establishing key principles for co-production, which came down to:

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Another central conversation in the development of this paper was about ensuring that we acknowledge the range of involvement and engagement - as well as acknowledging that co-production may not fix everything! Co-production should, however, run through all work streams as a ‘golden thread’, from the start.

Recognising power is fundamental and something that everyone within teams, services and organisations needs to do, and support the equalisation of. Accessibility is another key factor that can create a level playing field for all people, while recognising the equalities and inequities that people experience.

NCCMH already models what we want commissioners to do. By being open to improvements and individual requests, they have made the process of co-production more inclusive while being aware that more can be done. This is the mindset we hope others will take on. 

A member of the co-production working group said:
“I couldn’t have got to the meetings at all without taxis and 2 nights in a hotel, for a 2-hour meeting. This commitment of resource meant someone who would otherwise not have been at the table at all was able to attend.”

Another person reflected on the support they were given so that they could continue to access benefits while being involved in co-production: 
“Being on Employment and Support Allowance was also a barrier to being able to take part. While I worked hard and earned my payments, the flexibility of expectations, the low frequency of meetings and the level of support I needed to engage with the process couldn't really be reproduced in a job. Involvement in work like this shouldn't be used to assess capacity to work. Even though they had no experience doing this before, NCCMH agreed to write a supporting letter to be sent in with my permitted work form.

"This flexible approach of listening to what I needed is a vital part of working well together, inclusively.”