Building Together is about asking those who use our Adult Social Care services to get involved in shaping our services by becoming a part of our new Building Together Forum.

We want to make sure that our service users and their families and carers, are given the opportunity to improve Adult Social Care across the county by contributing their experience, skills, and influence on the design, development and delivery of our services. 

This process is called 'co-production' and is something we as a council are fully committed to. Co-production is about people who use services, and people who run services, coming together as equals. Meaning people who use services are being consulted, included, and working together from beginning to end on any project that affects them. 
 

We’d love to hear from anyone who wants to work with us to make a real impact to the development of our Adult Social Care services!

You don’t need any professional qualifications, just lived experience of receiving social care in Worcestershire!

Members of the Building Together Forum will work with us as equals to review and shape services in an honest and open environment, and in doing so will make a huge difference to the lives of people who use our services.

You can get in touch with the team here:

Contact the Building Together Team

We look forward to hearing from you.

- The Worcestershire Adult Social Care Building Together Team!

Download: An easy read version of what will the Building Together Forum look like (PDF)

Building Together Forum

We are developing a forum with:

• adults who use social care 
• their carers and families
• providers of social care

The forum will include a Peer Support Network and a Building Together forum board.

The goal will be to ensure that at all times people who use services and their carers have an equal voice and influence over decisions made.  

Peer Support Network

The peer support network will: 

• share their views and ideas with the board, for example at meetings, workshops
• be a support network for adults who use services and their carers 

Building Together Forum Board 

The board will work in partnership with Worcestershire County Council. They will develop the following:

• Building Together Charter
• values 
• strategy 

The Charter will state:

• how the forum expects adult social care to work in partnership with people who use services and their carers
• how people who use social care will be involved in the designing, review, and ongoing monitoring of service

Board Members

The Building Together Forum Board will be made up of ten diverse people who use services and/or carers:

• you will be committing to attend board meetings every other month, normally lasting between two to three hours
  • payment payable at £25.38 per hour
  • support will be provided to prepare for and participate in meetings, as required
• induction and support will be provided for the role
• to assist with developing and co-producing our Building Together newsletter, every two months
• continue to learn, review and shape services together whilst having fun in an honest and open environment

To register you interest in being recruited for the Board or the Volunteer Peer Support Network please complete the One Page Profile

If you require help to complete the one page profile please contact the Building Together Team by phone or email.

Once we have received your one page profile we will contact you for an informal chat.

If you would like to find out more about joining the Building Together Forum, please do come along to our events – we’d love to meet you and answer any questions you may have!

• if you can’t make the session in person - online session are available at your request via Microsoft Teams or a phone call
• follow up sessions will also be held in our libraries: Redditch Library 5 May 10:00am to 12:00pm, The Hive, Worcester 9 May 10:00am to 12:00pm, Bromsgrove Library 9 May 2:00pm to 4:00pm and Kidderminster Library 24 May 2:00pm to 4:00pm

contact the Building Together Team

We look forward to hearing from you.

- The Worcestershire Adult Social Care Building Together Team

The ladder of participation below shows the different ways that people can be involved with organisations delivering services.

Worcestershire County Council is committed to working in equal partnership with residents who use adult social care, shown on the ladder as the highest rung, which is Co-production.

Ladder breakdown:

• Doing with - in an equal and reciprocal partnership
  • Co-production
  • Co-design
• Doing for - engaging and involving people
  • Engagement 
  • Consultation
  • Informing
• Doing to - trying to fix people who are passive recipients of service
  • Educating
  • Coercion

Ladder of participation reproduced with permission of TLAP

The Ladder of Co-production by Think Local Act Personal- Subtitled

We want to work in equal partnership with adults who use social care to improve services with people who use them.

We already have some forums and organisations which involve people who use services. We are contacting these groups and inviting them to be involved. 

Invited groups

• Learning Disability Partnership Board
• Worcestershire Autism Partnership Board

• Speakeasy NOW 

• Redditch Disability Support Project

• Worcestershire Association of Carers

• Healthwatch Worcestershire

• ONSIDE Advocacy 

• Our Way

We undertook the Your Views Count Survey to see if our residents feel that they have a say in how we run our Adults Social care services and if residents would like to have more of a say.

Download an Easy Read summary of the survey (PDF)

We asked everyone the same four questions:

Do I feel I have a say in my care and support services?

•  Half the people and carers were happy all or most of time
•  Third of the people and carers said some of the time
•  The remaining people and carers felt they did not have a say

Do you feel involved in designing, reviewing, and monitoring services?

• Half the people and carers were happy all or most of time
• The remaining people and carers felt they did not have a say

Would I like to use services that are designed by people who use services, carers and professionals?

• Most people said they would like to use services designed by people who use the services, carers and professionals 

How would you like to be involved?

• Around 10% of people said they would like to be involved 
• Third of people would like to receive a Newsletter