1 December 2008 Good Evening

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User Voice Gateshead

Summary

A project to ensure a framework for users and carers to gain a voice through meaningful involvement opportunities, so that they are enabled to shape priority setting, policy development and business planning processes.

Description of the Service

The New Type of Worker was a Service Development Officer, accountable to Gateshead’s Physical Disability and Sensory Impairment Group. (PDSI) The disparate members of the partnership were helped by the officer to come together and share their experiences, and to gain a voice so that their needs could be better met by the council, health, and housing services. Awareness training was given to front line employees in these services.

Outcomes

The following outcomes were reported regarding benefits of the project:

• The officer succeeded in facilitating a forum in which the disparate groups came together and shared experiences, during her period in office.
• A disabled persons housing forum was formed and sight service users in particular reported how they had been consulted and improvements in services had been made.
• Gateshead deaf forum was reformed after a 6 year period.
• The officer succeeded in raising the awareness and skills of frontline staff about the needs of service users.
• Several improvements to services were reported from users of the sight service.
• New approach to the commissioning of Local Authority provision for visually impaired people through partnership working with the voluntary sector.
• The sight service reported that there is now a commitment from Gateshead council to fund aspects of their training and that there will eventually be a apprenticeship scheme within the service.
• Work is moving towards the development of a new post - that of rehabilitation assistant
• A boost was felt to have been given to the confidence and moral of the sight service users.

Themes and issues the project has raised

There was a consensus of praise for the excellent work the officer had done whilst in her post, and how well the PDSI partnership was felt to be serving its members during this period.

The project officer left prior to the end of the project date. Concerns were raised by some of the users of the physical disability services about whether the work would be continued. This raises the issue of what happens to innovative projects when a key figure is removed?

The sight service appears to have gained most voice. There could be various reasons for this, and work could be done to find out why it is harder for some groups to be heard, or to have their needs met.