"At The PSC, we take an "involvement-first" approach, meaning we're committed to bringing lived experience into shaping public services. It isn't simple but done right, this can be transformational, unlocking new ideas, improvements and real benefit for everyone involved."
- Rachel Lewis, Senior Manager
THE CHALLENGE
Making Lived Experience Involvement meaningful
The case for involving people with lived experience is now widely accepted. Doing it meaningfully, equitably and safely is harder. The voluntary and community sector has worked with communities for years and holds deep trust and reach. The public sector is often under pressure to "involve" communities without the relationships or methods to do so meaningfully. This risks involvement that's tokenistic, extractive or quietly dropped.
The PSC connects lived experience voices and the VCSE organisations that know them with public sector teams that need to design better services, and we help those teams build the capability to keep doing it after we've gone. We support engagement, co-design and co-production to become part of how public services operate, facilitating real transformation.
Related Case Studies
National Mental Health Act Quality Improvement Programme
Commissioned by NHS England and co-delivered with Virginia Mason Institute, we supported…
National Culture of Care: Staff Care and Development Programme
As part of NHS England's Culture of Care programme, The PSC worked with partners IGA, VMI,…
Co-designing Better Learning Disability and Autism Services Across an Integrated Care System
Supporting an Integrated Care System serving 1 million people to embed lived experience…
WHAT WE DO
An involvement-first approach
We take an involvement-first approach: we look for the opportunity to involve people in every piece of work. Involvement can range from informing and consulting through to co-design and co-production, and the scale is set by what's meaningful and achievable in the context, not by a fixed template. Whichever route we take, we deliver to a consistent set of principles in line with our organisational values, with safe, accessible and fairly remunerated involvement at the core.
Designing involvement into transformation and improvement
We help you decide where and how to involve people, and shape a realistic plan that fits your project's aims, budget and readiness.
Building capability
We work so public sector teams can own and lead involvement themselves, not depend on us, embedding the skills and confidence to sustain it.
Delivering involvement safely and well
We bring tested methods for recruitment, consent, remuneration, trauma-informed practice and accessibility, so involvement is safe for participants and teams alike.
Lived experience networks
Through our partners and associates, we reach communities and expertise that public sector teams often can't access alone.
Our Lived Experience Involvement Experts
OUR PARTNERS
Working with trusted experts
We collaborate with expert partners whose reach and expertise complement ours.
OUR IMPACT
Ensuring voices are heard
100% of patients felt heard in ward rounds
Through the Mental Health Act QI Programme, Winsford Ward introduced a new pre-ward round process, ensuring every patient felt their voice was captured and discussed.
93% staff confidence in involving lived experience
Through the national Culture of Care programme (Staff Care & Development Strand) staff confidence in meaningfully involving people with lived experience increased from 69% to 93%, supporting more co-produced care.
92% greater familiarity with care plans
On Shelley Ward in the Mental Health Act QI programme, co-designed care planning improvements helped 92% of patients feel more familiar with their care plans and more involved in their care.
Lived experience embedded in system governance
For a learning disability and autism transformation programme serving one million people, we helped establish formal lived experience roles in governance, delivery and future service design.
Related Insights
Celebrating the value of lived experience involvement in public services: reflections from The PSC team
The PSC team share their thoughts on where they have seen the value and impact of Lived…
Public Voice and The PSC’s Webinar: Celebrating the value and impact of lived experience involvement in health and care
Reflections from our webinar on the importance of lived experience involvement in…
Neurodiversity celebration week: from awareness to action – making organisational change happen
Reflecting on The PSC’s work with public services to improve equitable support and…
Let's work together
Contact Rachel Lewis for an initial discussion about how we could support you to involve people with lived experience in your work.
Contact us.