Sharing power - in the planning and reviewing of services

Just before Christmas 2019 I attended this training event in Llandrindod run by my two Participation Officer colleagues – Owen Griffkin (Mental Health - above) and Andrew Davies (Health & Wellbeing - below).

The aim of the day was to build the confidence, knowledge and skills of participants, some of whom were already volunteering as citizen or individual reps, so that they could effectively participate in the planning and reviewing of services with public bodies. Citizen reps volunteer their time, energy and passion to make a difference for others and to the services we receive, and are helping influence change at local, regional and national levels.

Some of the participants are citizen reps on the Powys Mental Health Planning & Development Board, whilst others regularly sit on the Powys Regional Partnership Board.

Setting ground rules for the day

The key learning of the day was around: 

• Communicating confidently and effectively in meetings.
• Knowing where to access relevant information.
• Better understanding the process and procedures involved.
• Better understanding the public bodies involved.

As people introduced themselves at the start of the day it was really interesting to hear the views of those in contact with services, and others who had been citizen reps for some time already:

“Although organisations are individually very good, together they shall never meet.”

“I like to become a thorn in people’s sides. I enjoy arguing the point although I can accept both ways. A 360 degree view of services is so much better.”

It’s not possible to cover the full extent of the training in a short blog post, so I shall just highlight some of the particularly interesting discussions which took place on the day.

Representing other people

As a citizen rep you are an equal partner with other professionals in the room - you are an expert by experience. But how do you gain the experience of other people and take their stories to a partnership board?

One of the reps spoke about how he represents his own experience as a carer, but also takes stories with him from local carers’ groups that he attends. “You need to be mindful for it not to be just about yourself but to cast the net and make the representation whole. You are in effect a Citizen Rep (representing a group of people with a common interest) but also a Representative Citizen (giving your own opinions)." 

Another participant said: “It’s really hard to put yourself to one side. Sometimes you might be putting a viewpoint forward that you don’t believe in. It’s about delivering it in way that doesn’t put people off, or bore people, or become too personal.” There are some very polarizing issues about the medicalisation of mental health, for example, but it is important for a rep to balance any views s/he may have and give the other side as well.

Understanding other people’s context

Another experienced citizen rep pointed out that certain things cannot change. 

“There is no point banging your head against a brick wall that can only be changed from the top down.”

When things don’t go well – and when they do

Sometimes it can be easy to ask – “why are we here if we don’t have any influence?” It was felt that some meetings were a waste of time, and only “tick box” exercises. “Sometimes the public body will just move on to the next item on the agenda as if we have not spoken. We have been invited to speak, but it sometimes feels just so that they can tick that box.”

Someone representing a local charity described how it took her three years to be heard within one public body. But eventually her persistence paid off, and the organisation was finally able to achieve some funding for a much needed project.

It was, though, also agreed that sometimes staff within an organisation may also be struggling with the slow rate of change – but sometimes the decision making process, and the accountability attached to it, require that change to go through and be agreed by many different committees.

New reps often have very high expectations in the early days, but these need to be managed from the start.

“Don’t promise the earth. It’s the small steps that are important. And publicising the success stories.”

You said, we did

Everyone agreed on the value of prompt feedback from the boards about progress. “Even if that is – we’re still driving this forward but we haven’t got anywhere yet.” Otherwise there is an understandable tendency for people to think – “what’s the point?”

The mock meeting

In the afternoon we were pleased to welcome our former colleague Freda Lacey, now Partnership Manager Mental Health at Powys Teaching Health Board, to chair a mock meeting designed to put into practice all the learning from earlier in the day. It turned out to be an extremely interesting and valuable exercise.

All those attending agreed that they had benefitted hugely from the day, both from the learning and the opportunity also to network with others who had a similar role.

And finally…

Would you be interested in joining these citizen reps to take grass-root views and opinions to local board meetings where service providers can find out what is working and what needs to change? For further information about becoming a citizen rep, in the field of mental health or health and social care, just get in touch with us by emailing mentalhealth@pavo.org.uk or ringing 01597 822191.