iSupport is proud to be working on a major regional programme delivered in partnership with Beyond to strengthen how children’s voices and rights are embedded across health and social care services. ISupport is an international collaboration who have develop rights-based standards for children to help them have positive experiences when they interact with health and social care services.
The project emerged after young people told Beyond that, although many services were supportive, their views were not always actively sought or acted on. Recognising this challenge, iSupport and Beyond came together to develop a youth-led programme to understand what children’s health and social care practice looks like across the region and how services can strengthen it. Guided directly by young people, this action-oriented project with Beyond is working with professionals across West Mersey and Lancashire Teaching Hospital, Warrington & Halton Teaching Hospitals, Arrowe Park Hospital, and Mersey Care community services to audit current practice and drive meaningful improvements.
Mel Pilling, Project Manager from the Beyond CYP Transformation Programme stated that:
“It’s been a privilege to work with Lucy and the iSupport team at Edge Hill on rolling out the standards across Cheshire and Merseyside. The collaboration has been productive, and it’s been great to see the commitment from everyone involved. The settings that have been audited are now focused on making improvements that will directly impact how their services are experienced by children and young people. It’s clear that these changes are creating a service that feels more supportive, accessible, and responsive to the needs of young people. It’s rewarding to see the ongoing progress, and I’m confident that these efforts will lead to lasting, positive outcomes for the young people these settings serve.”
The project and ISupport team are:
- Mapping and auditing current approaches to children’s voice and rights across a range of health and social care settings by the ISupport teams spending time within each clinical area and gathering the views and opinions of children, young people, parents and professionals.
- Co-producing quality improvement recommendations with young people, parents and professionals.
- Supporting teams to implement improvements and monitor impacts.
This step-by-step process helps clinical teams build momentum while ensuring improvements are practical, achievable and focussed on improving the experiences and outcomes for children and young people.
Highlights so far include working with young people to decide the direction of the programme and leading discussions with senior leaders and hearing from staff how the audits have helped highlight parts of practice we do not always see.
Izzy Gavin is one of the young people who has been such an important part of the project:
“Working alongside Lucy with the iSupport team has been an immense honour. At just 19, I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with people and services that are making huge, positive differences to the way children and young people are treated and it’s been so rewarding to hear people’s responses to the work that’s being done as well as see these changes and their effects in action. It seems to me that as long as the iSupport team continues to be as dedicated and committed to the children and young people of Cheshire and Merseyside as they are currently, we are all in safe hands from now on.”
Professor Lucy Bray who is leading the ISupport team states that:
“It is such a privilege to work with Beyond and services across the region to foreground children and young peoples’ opinions and experiences. The insights gained through the audits are shaping bespoke co-developed recommendations which are leading to direct improvements. It is great to work with teams who are embracing the opportunity to examine practice and listening to those who are using their services every day.”
Lucy and the team are keen to work with more organisations who want to strengthen children’s voice, rights-based practice, and meaningful quality improvement and asks teams interested in learning more about how ISupport can support their service to get in touch.
