The Edinburgh Co-Production Roadshow

[Julia]

We had a great day out north of the border in Edinburgh for the Scottish co-production roadshow event. There was a big crowd (even with people from the reserve list queuing at the door!), which has got to be a first for co-production, and a great sign for its future in Scotland.

David Boyle, a nef fellow did a brilliant keynote introducing the idea of co-production, and talked about its emergence as a concept in the United States, and the more recent work nef has done with NESTA to define the term, and apply it to the British context – developing six key principles which underpin the concept.

Gerry Marr, the CEO of NHS Tayside then made a compelling argument for co-production as a response – an imperative even – to the challenge the health system faces, with an aging population, and decreased budgets. NHS Tayside have dome some great work co-producing their health strategy, and hopefully it encouraged at least a few people in the room to start thinking about how they might adopt the principles of co-production to their own work.

The workshop I attended, run by In Control, was a great example of co-production. Keith, the Scottish co-ordinator and Angela, who receives support from In Control, talked through their understanding of co-production in the context of self directed support. They showed a brilliant video which helped to show us all the co-production done with local area co-ordinator, with clips of people talking about the impact the approach had had on their experience of the service, and its broader impact on their life. ~You can find the videos and powerpoint presentations here.

The Scottish network – which is facilitated by Catriona Ness – has been developing really quickly and has already had one network meeting, with more planned. If you’re interested in getting involved in further co-production activities contact Catriona on [e-mail].