Giving a voice to Service Users in Swindon
Intuitive Thinking Skills have been contracted to partner with the local drug and alcohol service Change, Grow, Live in Swindon to deliver the Service User Involvement element of the service.
My name is Naomi Moore and I am the Service User Involvement Lead my role is to empower service users to speak up and be a part of the changes they need to see in the service. This could be anything from simple improvements to the building, activities or larger changes to the service they are receiving or help that they can access while they are here. I then work closely with Change Grow Live (CGL) and the third partner in the contract – Emerging Futures who provide the Psychosocial Intervention (PSI) Groups within the service – to action the feedback I receive.
I gather feedback from my daily interactions with service users and bi-monthly feedback events. At these events, I take the opportunity to present “You Said, We Did” updates based on the feedback they gave at the previous event. We do this to show that the feedback from service users is taken seriously, valued and actioned accordingly.
I also carry the voice of the service user to several different stakeholder and commissioner meetings to ensure that their needs are being heard at these higher-level meetings across the relevant sectors.
Together ITS, Emerging Futures and Change Grow Live have been able to achieve some positive outcomes for our service users. Some of these include:
- Developing PSI Group Pathways and creating easy-to-understand timetables and group content information packs.
- Rolling out a consultation process to include service users in the creation of Swindon’s Super Outreach Service, bringing together multiple agencies to wrap around some of our most vulnerable rough sleepers.
- Working together to create Service User Spaces outside of the service, ran by volunteers – a project we hope to roll out in the new year.
- Bringing outside agencies into the service to provide drop-in services to the CGL hub where our service users already feel comfortable.
- Creating an ITS Wellbeing Notepad to inspire service users to capture something positive each day.
- Working together on Alcohol Awareness and Recovery Month events in the community.
- Providing a safe-space coffee afternoon for men in recovery who experience mental health problems to get to know one another.
This contract has been running for just over 6 months and so much has already been achieved. We are excited to see what the future holds with our combined efforts.
Naomi has been fantastic in the way she has supported clients at CGL making sure the clients voice is being heard and that their treatment needs are being met to the best of their services abilities.
I must say that I have worked alongside other service user reps in my past experience and have found that Naomi stands out from the rest with regards to her professional approaches and inclusion to our service users and stakeholders alike to ensure best care and support is given to our service users.
I have observed Naomi going above and beyond to gain feedback from our service users and also follow up with feedback given to her, making changes or suggestions to enhance the experience of the service our client are being provided.
On a personal level Naomi has been very approachable, keeping her door open to all those including myself who may need to pass on concerns or positive Feedback as and when they arise.
