Involvement at Brandon

'Involvement at Brandon – how we work and what you can expect' is a new plan to ensure that the people we support and their families know how we work and what they can expect from us.

In this update I want to share the background to Involvement at Brandon, and what it means day-to-day for the people we support.

We think the best way to make sure we get it right is to listen to the people we support and to keep people at the heart of all the decisions we make. If we do this, Brandon will deliver excellent support and stay relevant.

Involvement at Brandon has been created to involve the people we support and where appropriate, their families, in how we communicate, plan, and develop as an organisation. The document explains how the people we support can be involved in everything from their Plan for Life, Members’ Boards, and recruitment of support workers, as well as be part of our annual Brandon Voices events. We want to involve people we support in how our service impacts them personally, the day-to-day services we offer, and how they can influence us as an organisation. You can find more information in our Involvement at Brandon strategy (PDF, 873KB).

Using accessible language, the strategy sets out the four main ways of involving people we support, by giving information, asking for opinions, or letting them decide for themselves:

• Give information - this is typically when a decision has been made such as changes to the law, when people who buy our services have made changes, or when staff leave Brandon. This will typically be communicated by video, easy-read letter, and in conversation with people we support.
• Ask for feedback (consult) – we will ask for feedback wherever we can, but sometimes other people's opinions also have to be included in decisions. These could be Brandon managers and trustees, or people who commission our services. We’ll consult Members’ Boards, ask people to vote, share surveys, and speak to people in person.
• Co-produce (work in partnership) – just like this plan, there are decisions that can be made in partnership with people we support. The Relationships, Sex, and Sexuality policy and guidance (pdf, 800KB), and Members' Boards were developed in this way.
• People we support will make the decision - Sometimes, Brandon will give the control and decision making to customers. Brandon will support customers to have the money and power to make decisions and changes themselves. The Members' Boards now have their own budgets, for example, so they have more power to make their own decisions.

The Brandon Pledge describes what people can expect from their service if they are supported by us.

There's a section in the strategy about the Family Charter which sets out how Brandon will work in partnership with the families of people we support.

Finally, 'Our Vision' contains the things that Brandon Members' Boards told us that we need to improve. We need to:

• Work in line with the values and ambition set out in this document
• Find better ways to pay people or recognise their time and contribution
• Work to support a customer to become a Brandon trustee
• Support active and empowered Brandon Members' Boards that are technologically connected
• Support Brandon customers and Members' Boards to have an increasingly active role in developing policy and strategy

We'll be checking in with the Members' Boards at our next joint Voices event on 24 February, 2018, to make sure we're living out this strategy. We need to make sure that we're doing the right things at the right times to get people as involved as they choose to be.

Janet Shmulevitch
Project Manager - Product Development