Cheshire and Wirral Partnership’s (CWP) flagship Big Book of Best Practice publication is back for 2023 with its 9th edition - packed full of innovative and inspiring best practice from across the Trust.

EmpowerED Adult Eating Disorders is delighted to announce the Experts by Experience programme case study was selected for inclusion. 

With 46 case studies from CWP’s four clinical care groups, this year the book features more case studies than ever before, evidencing the volume and quality of projects and initiatives developed and implemented during 2022/23.

The book not only demonstrates innovative work from within CWP, but it is also an example of collaborative working with partners across the wider healthcare system, including NHS, local authority, police and third sector, as well as programmes spanning the entire Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System footprint.For the first time this year, in addition to the PDF of the book, the entire book content is also available to view in a web-based format on CWP’s website. 

To view the book content online or download the PDF in booklet format, visit: www.cwp.nhs.uk/big-book-22-23

To read the EmpowerED case study click the drop down menu below. 

Team: Provider collaboratives – EmpowerED and Level Up 
Contact: fiona.jenkins3@nhs.net 

What did we want to achieve?

EmpowerED Adult Eating Disorders North West and Level Up Cheshire and Merseyside Young People and Families provider collaboratives (PCs) are committed to driving improvements across patient pathways for eating disorders services and tier 4 children and young people’s specialist mental health services. To meet this aim, the PCs have been working with third sector providers to support the establishment of the Experts by Experience (EBE) Programme. The programme has been designed to ensure people with lived experience can play a full and active role in the development and delivery of these services and help the PCs focus on commissioning for quality, clinical outcomes and most importantly, patient experience.

What we did

The PCs brought in third sector partner expertise – commissioning support from Beat, YoungMinds and Inspire Motivate Overcome to begin recruitment, training, and community connections. Following the recruitment, the forums have been supporting a culture of transparency, honesty and community engagement, with EBEs involved in all areas of planning and development, including playing an active role in PC groups and decision making. 

Results

The EBE forums have been playing a full and active role in the development and delivery of both LPCs. Key results include:

  • Influencing at the highest level - giving a voice to EBEs.
  • Unique perspective – people with lived experience share how services feel in reality.
  • Evidence based discussions – best practice evidence alongside the views of EBEs. 
  • Directly involved in the development and design of the PC names, logos and websites. 
  • The EBE Programme was recognised nationally at the PENNA Awards and has been asked to present and share best practice in a separate event in 2023.   

Feedback from forum members has included: 

“It’s a very powerful forum to give a voice back to people who had it taken away from them.”

“EmpowerED has taught me that our stories and experiences have the ability to influence real change.”

Next steps

Over the next 12 months the EBE Forums will:

  • Review referral processes for both PCs.
  • Support with the training of professionals across all partners across the North West. 
  • Continue to engage with communities and influence at a regional and national level.
  • Continue to review what good inpatient and community treatment looks like.
  • Begin the recruitment of community champions to volunteer their time to promote services across the North West. The champions will play a vital role in engaging with the wider community to feed into the Expert by Experience Forums.