What’s in a word? Patients, clients, service users…
“There seems to be a view out there in mental health that “service user” and “client” are good and “patient” is bad. I don’t buy it.” Phil Dore looks at the meaning of language used to describe people who use mental health services.
What do you call a person who receives mental health services?
There are people who have had bad experiences of mental health services – you only have to look in the comments sections of my posts on this blog to find people who have nothing good to say about mental health services - who would answer “victim”. (I just thought I’d get that in first). But this […]
Service users? I couldn’t eat a whole one
The organiser of the Patient Service User Forum licked her lips when she saw me. A Service User! Me. She had captured one, a strange and precious creature for her consultation exercise. What will it say?! Will it kick off? Will it have a hot drink? Or would it prefer something cooler? Will it jump […]
In the shoes of… Alison Cameron, Patient leader & active citizen – Part 2
The first part of Alison’s story can be found on the Whose Shoes? site here. Alison Cameron - Half Life - Part 2 Alison on a ‘Sailaway’ holiday that played a significant part in her road to recovery… I started in small ways after having the seed of hope planted by hearing the inspirational Doctor Rachel Perkins speak. I […]
Guerilla Voice: Frontline voices are increasingly lost in the ‘black box’ of public service reform
In his letter to NHS trusts warning them against gagging orders, Jeremy Hunt said it was vital to “recognise and celebrate staff” who speak out about patient safety. The same goes for staff who stand up against ‘reforms’ which threaten the care of anyone using public services.
Guerilla Voice: Outsiders are crucial to avoiding another Mid-Staffordshire
In the wake of the recommendations made by the Francis Report into the scandal in Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, it’s clear that we need stronger patient representation inside the system. But as the Government itself is beginning to recognise, we also need stronger grassroots movements on the outside to keep the system honest.
Are we human…?
“It is difficult, especially in these cash strapped times, for health services to be seen to spend their budgets on anything other than pure clinical care. We’ve all seen the headlines. Where they do, however, the results can be great.” Zoe Porter considers the emotional impact of personal health budgets, and why they represent what really matters in public services - compassion and connectedness.
Guerilla Voice: Charities need to find ways to speak out
This week, the report of an independent inquiry suggested that charities are increasingly afraid to challenge public policy because of fears of retribution from government, especially if they are reliant on public contracts. At the same time, the Government proclaims its commitment to ‘open policymaking.’ If we are to have better policy, it’s vital that […]
The ‘Red Tape Challenge’ does Health and Social Care
Ermintrude2 considers the arrival of the Government’s Red Tape Challenge in health and social care - and is horrified to discover that the Government seems to consider ‘red tape’ to include protections for people who might be least able to protect their own rights.
Best of the frontline bloggers (week ending 5th October 2012)
Here’s our selection of the best frontline blogs we’ve read this week – from local government finances, to payment by results. Do send us your suggestions for great posts we’ve missed – and those frontline bloggers we should follow in the future. Local government Graph of doom - fact or fantasy - an alternative perspective […]
Winterbourne View shows that some policies are ‘out of sight, out of mind’
In a previous post we suggested that outsourcing can be a way to protect unpopular policies. In the case of vulnerable adults with learning disabilities, outsourcing has become a way to abandon them in poorly run institutions far away from their families – until scandals like Winterbourne View force us to confront the abuse that […]
Making open policy a reality (part 2)
A couple of weeks ago the Government announced its plans for ‘open policy’. In this post and the previous post we suggest how it can make open policy a reality. As part of its recently published civil service reform plan, the Government has committed itself to ‘open policymaking’. It has announced a new “presumption in […]
How could commissioners make greater use of social media?
How could commissioners make greater use of social media? Chris Sherwood, Co-Founder of Guerilla Policy and Director of Innovation and Development at Scope argues that commissioners should use social media as a way to collaborate with citizens to open up commissioning. In the previous two blogs I have argued that an open, iterative approach to […]
Do we need a manifesto for public and practitioner involvement in social policy?
This project - Guerilla Policy - is about developing a movement of people and organisations who use and provide public services, working together to create better social policy. Do we need to write a manifesto? Our project is based on the critique that much social policy is made by people who have little or no direct experience […]
Why we need a new approach to developing social policy - 10. It’s the right thing to do
This is the tenth in a series of posts on why social policy should be developed by and with the people who use and provide public and voluntary services. We welcome your comments on the whole series. In this series we’ve suggested that we need a new approach to developing social policy, one that involves the […]
Ten reasons why we need a new approach to developing social policy - 8. Policy would be more innovative
This is the eighth in a series of posts on why social policy should be developed by and with the people who use and provide public and voluntary services. We’re publishing the rest of the series over the next week, and we welcome your comments. With less money and, in the case of ‘rising tide’ issues […]
Ten reasons why we need a new approach to developing social policy - 7. Policy would be more diverse and inclusive, and so better
This is the seventh in a series of posts on why social policy should be developed by and with the people who use and provide public and voluntary services. We’re publishing the rest of the series over the next week, and we welcome your comments. With more voices able to participate in policy research and development, […]
Ten reasons why we need a new approach to developing social policy - 4. Public services would be better
This is the fourth in a series of posts on why social policy should be developed by and with the people who use and provide public and voluntary services. We’re publishing the whole series over the next two weeks, and we welcome your comments. Public and voluntary services on the ground would be better if […]
Ten reasons why we need a new approach to developing social policy - 2. Policy would stand a better chance of achieving its objectives
This is the second in a series of posts on why social policy should be developed by and with the people who use and provide public and voluntary services. We’ll publish the whole series over the next two weeks, and we welcome your comments. In the policy world we sometimes appear to forget that ‘policy’ doesn’t […]
Ten reasons why we need a new approach to developing social policy - 1. Policy would be better
This is the first in a series of posts on why social policy should be developed by and with the people who use and provide public and voluntary services. We’ll publish the whole series over the next two weeks, and we welcome your comments. Social policy would be better researched, more credible, more reliable, and […]