Participation Partnership for Service Users and Carers

Anne Mallon shares her experience of being a Participation Partnership member:

People who access support and their carers are entitled to high quality services from social workers and social care workers. Care should be provided by suitably trained staff, who will treat people with dignity and respect.

The Social Care Council Participation Partnership are a group of service users and carers who support the work of the Council by using their experiences and insights to help us ensure that high standards are maintained in the development and regulation of the social care workforce.

Watch our Participation Partnership video below:

Watch a video with our Participation Partnership member Joanne Sansome below:

Our Role

The Participation Partnership’s responsibilities are to influence, advise and challenge the Social Care Council so that the principles and standards are maintained. This is achieved through promotion of best practice in participation working:

Influencing

The work of the Social Care Council in its role as the regulator of the social care and social work workforce. The group provides comments on issues relevant to the work of the Council that they are aware of from their own networks and that need further exploration. They also have a role in influencing the culture of user/carer engagement within the Social Care Council and in further mainstreaming an ethos of user/carer engagement within the organisation.

Advising

Making suggestions to the Social Care Council about service user and carers to engage with. The Participation Partnership can also provide a ‘sounding board’ on appropriateness of development ideas, content, project design, messages and methods of communication with users and carers.

Challenging

The Participation Partnership seeks to ensure that high standards for service user and carer involvement are maintained by the Social Care Council. Part of the role of the Participation Partnership is to comment on how effective the Council’s user and carer engagement is, in a way that supports a learning environment. An outcome of this challenge will be a reassurance to the Social Care Council that user/carer engagement is optimised and best practice is used to ensure the work of the Council is genuinely informed by the needs and experience of the public.

Some of the recent work our members have been involved in includes (but is not limited to):

• Contributing to the development of the Social Care Council Engagement Strategy.
• Promoting social work and social care through our Campaigns.
• Contributing to the Social Care Council “Care to Chat” podcasts.
• Raising awareness around homelessness.
• Reviewing the Social Care Council Annual Reports and Business Plans.
• Partnering with the Board in an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion workshop.
• Providing strategic direction for social work training.
• Collaborating with universities on research and student training.

Participation Partnership member Gerard McWilliams shares his insight into the importance of having a voice within the social care sector:

Membership

Members are people that use services and carers from a range of backgrounds and experiences. They meet every three months and play a key role in the Council’s business activities.

Membership of the group is voluntary and time commitments can vary according to the projects requiring their input. The Partnership also meets with user/carer groups and networks around Northern Ireland to share information about the Social Care Council and to encourage more users and carers to contribute to our projects and consultations when needed.

The Participation Partnership is Chaired by Sarah Browne (Board Member) and Co-Chaired by two members, Alan Ritchie and Joanne Sansome. The Partnership is supported by the Director of Registration and Corporate Services, together with a small group of other staff.

If you would like to become involved with the Partnership, please refer to the Terms of Reference for this Committee which provide details on the purpose, remit and membership. Contact Mandy Cowden if you would like to find out more: Mandy.Cowden@niscc.hscni.net.

Meeting dates