National Care Service Forum 2022: summary report

Next Steps

The views shared by participants at the Forum sessions will be fed into the relevant policy and co-design teams to inform future policy development of the National Care Service.

To ensure that the NCS Forum 2023 is as well received as the NCS Forum 2022, we have already started to consider planning for next year's event, taking on board the valuable feedback received from both online and in person attendees.

Delivering Collaborative Working

The Forum followed the introduction of two separate but related panels – the Lived Experience Experts Panel and the Stakeholder Register - which will become instrumental in our continued co-design work. These were both referenced by Ministers during the day and there was an information desk set up in the foyer at the Forum for those looking to sign up.

The Lived Experience Expert Panel (LEEP) now has more than 350 individuals with lived experience registered on it and the Stakeholder Register has more than 150 representative organisations, with more signing up every day. These panels will remain open for those wishing to register in the future.

A series of online Welcome Sessions are being provided in late 2022 to start to build relationships and create the conditions for successful partnership, with participants from both of these panels, to help people learn about what co-design means and what to expect when taking part in different co-design activities, for example research or workshops. These will be short facilitated sessions with break-outs for group work.

These sessions connect to a broader agenda around developing the "NCS Design School", which aims to support and prepare people to work together in a co-design approach. The NCS Design School will offer wrap around support and training sessions, including design awareness and principles, and a range of other training and workshops that responds to people's needs. We also hope that people with lived experience and stakeholders will take the lead on delivering some sessions. Everyone who takes part will also have access to counselling support.

The Social Covenant Steering Group (SCSG) has a key role in advising on accessible engagement across the NCS Programme. Because it is so important that the Design School is led and guided by people with lived experience, we have an agreement in place to work with them as we develop and quality assure this work.

As part of the registration process, participants were asked to register an interest in one or more of five initial design themes. These were:

• Information sharing to improve care support
• Keeping care support local
• Realising rights and responsibilities
• Making sure your voice is heard (complaints and redress)
• Valuing the workforce

Following the welcome sessions, participants will have the opportunity to engage with Scottish Government policy teams in relation to co-design activities linked to each of the design themes. Over time, more themes will be added and the breadth of the panels will allow us to ensure there is a broad range of participation across all co-design work.