THE CHALLENGE
Rochdale Borough Council wanted to ensure that the voices of local residents, carers and service users were not just heard but embedded in how care is delivered
They set out to embed a culture of co-production starting with four key strategic plans — the Adult Social Care Strategy, Adult Carers Strategy, Co-Production ways of work, and Adult Social Care People Plan — ensuring they reflected real experiences, priorities and aspirations of people across the borough.
OUR APPROACH
Following a process of co-production, we:
- Engaged hundreds of people across Heywood, Middleton, Rochdale and the Pennines.
- Created inclusive, local spaces for conversation — community centres, familiar venues and welcoming environments that made it easier for people to engage.
- Used behavioural insight and design methods to help people express what mattered most to them, from the values that should guide social care to the changes they most wanted to see.
- Hackathons to enable human centered design events to build clarity, ambition and energy for change.,
THE IMPACT
Together, people helped shape the strategic priorities that will guide how Rochdale Borough Council delivers care and support.
Resulting in:
- Four co-produced strategies and plans that truly reflect local voices and realities.
- Increased confidence and ownership among residents, carers and staff that these plans ‘belong’ to them.
- A shared commitment to keep listening, learning and adapting – making co-production an ongoing way of working, not a one-off exercise.
“From listening to people, and the carers and families of those who use Adult Social Care services, we know they are the experts because they have lived and breathed what the care and support is like in the whole of Rochdale Borough”
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People engaged, ideas surfaced, evoking energy for change
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Living, owned strategy plans
Increased engagement
Workforce, communities and providers connected in new and deeper ways
“By keeping people at the heart from the start, you’re more likely to develop and deliver high quality support and care, which caters to the needs of the community”
Resident and carer in Heywood, Middleton, Rochdale and Pennines
