Devon County Council

Experts Panel

The adult social care Putting People First  Service User and Carer Reference Group has been replaced by an Experts Panel facilitated by the Fusion Consortium.This enables DCC and NHS Devon managers to discuss the effects of change projects with a cross-section of service users and carers

Fusion, who are a Devon User-Led Organisation (ULO), are a consortium between:

• Living Options Devon
• Westbank League of Friends
• Devon Parliament Project

User Led Organisations are seen as fundamental to supporting people in exercising choice and control to support them to live independently.

The involvement of Fusion in the delivery of the local personalisation agenda, and longer term planning and strategy to achieve local transformation in social care requires representation on Putting People First programme & project boards and other groups requiring user involvement, thereby ensuring:-

• Co-production in the development of the personalisation agenda.
• Feedback and input on each stage of Putting People First implementation.
• The needs of service users are taken into account in the design, commissioning and delivery of services necessary to achieve personalisation.
• The combined knowledge and expertise of each partner organisation enables the Consortium to uphold the ULO values and design criteria as determined by the Department of Health. They are uniquely the only organisation in Devon that does so and is now being used to mentor and support other groups through running workshops and giving presentations to other Local Authorities.  

The Experts Panel requires that the person draws on their own expertise - i.e. that developed by experience – through being disabled and/or being a carer in order to scrutinise, develop and share ideas. Such individuals are experts through experience rather than experts by job title if you like.

Members of the user and carer reference group have been chosen as a mix of individuals representing all the divisions and who can speak with personal experience of receiving social care services rather than representing the groups from which they have been drawn.

• See the original Service User & Carer Reference Group's Terms of Reference (15KB - pdf help) and Roles and Responsibilities (22KB - pdf help)
• Documents and reports presented to the group
• The user and carer reference group are able to bring their own perspective to proposals for change and ensure that changes we make are grounded in reality and that the best interests of Devon people are paramount.