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Working with you to make our services better

What we mean by working together

Working with you to make our services better

We believe people should be involved in decisions about support that they, or someone they know might use.

This means we want to work with people, involving them at the heart of our decisions about social care.

We call this coproduction, but what it really means is working together as equals.

By doing this, we will support people to live independently and achieve what they want to.

Who we work with

When we plan and improve our social care services, we work with:

  • people who use adult social care

  • carers, families and local communities

  • staff and professionals

Everyone’s views matter.

How this is different from asking for opinions

Sometimes organisations ask people for feedback after decisions are already made.

Working together goes further than this.

It means:

  • listening from the start

  • sharing decisions

  • learning from each other

We make choices together, not on our own.

What working together looks like

When we do this well, people are involved from the beginning to the end of a piece of work.

This includes people who:

  • use care and support

  • care for someone else

  • have personal experience of adult social care

They know what works well and what does not, because they have lived it.

Their knowledge helps us:

  • plan better services

  • make improvements

  • understand if something is working properly

This helps us make adult social care better for everyone.

Our promise to work together

We have a clear promise about how we will work with people.

This is set out in the Lancashire Adult Social Care Coproduction Charter.

The charter explains:

  • how we will involve people

  • what people can expect when they take part

Working together when services are planned

Planning and buying adult social care services is called commissioning.

This is how we decide:

  • what support is needed

  • what services are provided

  • how services are checked and improved

We believe services work better when people are involved in these decisions.

We are improving how people help shape:

  • what is most important

  • how services are designed and delivered

  • how services are reviewed

Learn more

We follow national guidance on working together in adult social care.

This guidance is widely used across the country and helps us involve people in a fair and meaningful way.

Contact us

If you have questions about working together in adult social care, you can email us at: coproduction@lancashire.gov.uk

Please do not include personal or sensitive information in your email.