Sheffield Health and Social Care (SHSC) has made significant advances in putting service users’ experiences and views at the heart of service change and staff development.

The Porterbrook Gender Identity Clinic within SHSC aims to continuously improve how we work with service users and learn from their experiences of our care. Hearing your experiences can contribute to service changes, improve the quality of care we provide and strengthen a culture of trust and mutual respect between staff, service users and carers, and staff.

Opportunities for service user engagement include:

  • Feedback received from you at appointments, either directly with professionals or via admin staff or through the Friends and Family Test
  • Stating an interest in being actively involved in the clinic - such as applying to join the Porterbrook steering group here at the clinic

What you can expect when joining the service user involvement team at our clinic

If you express interest in joining the clinic's steering group, one of our peer support workers will arrange an informal chat with you to discuss how you would like to be involved, and to begin to understand your particular strengths and preferences.

This first chat can be in-person at the clinic or online via Microsoft Teams.

 

How we've worked with service users in the past

Our clinic has worked with service users on a number of different co-production and engagement projects to date. 

Here's a few examples.

'Art on the bridge'

Our peer support workers led on work with service users on a co-production project called 'art on the bridge.' The bridge leading up to the Porterbrook clinic has often been described - by service users and staff - as 'intimidating and bleak'. Staff were keen to involve service users on how to improve the bridge and the emotions it can evoke.

Helen Goodson, peer support worker writes:

"So we set off on a project to reinvigorate and transform the entrance with beautiful art to make it a welcoming and inspiring approach to our clinic.

The one thing we wanted to make sure with this piece of work was including service users in designing their own art, making their own art and seeing it as a final product. So, plans started with a focus group where ideas could be shared. The overwhelming desire was to include the cherry blossom tree at Michael Carlisle Centre as the beginning of the art."

Soo Boswell who works for SHSC as an arts in health co-ordinator facilitated the project.

The bridge to the Porterbrook clinic with the 'art on the bridge' hanging up - these are paintings of different coloured birds taking flight in a blue sky.

 

Types of involvement

There are many ways in which you can be involved, including:

  • Attendance at the Porterbrook steering group – a hybrid meeting (you can attend in-person at the clinic or online) - every three months to share information and assist with developing clinic resources and service developments.
  • Resource development – looking at the information leaflets, standard letters and displayed information within the clinic for any improvements or suggestions.
  • Interview panels – when the clinic recruits new staff to the service we like to involve service users in the recruitment process.
  • Delivering training – the clinic regularly provides training sessions both internally and externally. Members of the group could be asked to participate in these training sessions.
  • Service developments – the service is continually developing to provide the best service for all service users, as a group member your thoughts and suggestions will be sought to help improve the services we can offer.
  • Workshops – as a group member you may want to get involved with the workshops we run in clinic as an Expert by Experience (E by E) - most participants value the insight that E by Es bring to the workshops.
  • Other – as the focus group develops there may be other ways in which your involvement may be sought.

Consent to contact you - and how

During your initial chat, we will ask you for your consent to hold your phone number and/or email address. 

It is your choice which contact details to give. 

We may contact you through either method and will register your preference.

Core standards of conduct and behaviour

SHSC has five core values.

These are:

  • Working together (for service users)
  • Respect and kindness
  • Everyone counts
  • Commitment to quality
  • Improving lives

We are committed to these values and expect that members of the service user Involvement Team work within them. Read more about our values and vision.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality applies to:

  • The information you may read, and
  • The content of the discussions with others that take place

Service users taking part in our steering group and any other type of engagement or co-production work within our clinic, need to treat all interactions with staff and service users as confidential.

Service users who share their experiences can then be assured there is a level of privacy with their ideas and experiences.

The content or discussions are not to be shared on any social media sites.

There is an also expectation that the information you view will be in a draft format. It is to be discussed and held confidentially. It is not appropriate for such information is to be shared outside of the clinic until final versions of documents are produced.

Whilst we encourage you to use your experiences to shape the clinic, please be mindful that the focus group is not the best place to discuss personal issues related to your care. Instead we encourage personal issues to be discussed with your named or lead professional within the service.

Finally, contact details for steering group members must be kept confidentially and not shared with anyone outside of the group. 

It is up to every individual service user who takes part in this work, to decide what they are willing to share about themselves and life with others. 

Expenses

Service users who take part in engagement or co-production work can claim back expenses from SHSC for doing so.

Reimbursement is available to service users who contribute their time as ‘Experts by Experience’ (EbyE). A member of staff will take you through claiming expenses. 

Travel expenses can be paid for attendance at the steering group - if service users attend in-person at the clinic - for those who qualify.

Training

Occasionally there may be training courses available to you that you may be asked to undertake for the benefit of your involvement work. You may also find this learning is of use in your own personal development too.

Realistic commitment

As a member of the service user involvement team we ask for a certain level of commitment. Please consider how much time and what your realistic availability could be.

The commitment would involve the following:

  • Attending the group meetings
  • Participating in any email group discussions and,
  • Undertaking any tasks you have agreed to be part of.

We hope that the involvement is manageable for everyone. However, should any of members feel that the involvement is becoming too much of a commitment then we encourage you to raise this with staff members.

There is no set time limit on how long you can be a member. You do not need to be at a certain point in your transition journey to join the group.

We welcome people at all stages of their journey. All we ask is for a willingness to make a difference.

Choosing to leave

As a service user involvement team member we do ask for a level of commitment to this.

However, if you can no longer contribute or commit to this, it is no problem to leave the group at any time. We would ask that you speak to a member of staff about leaving - we can remove your contact details.

You can continue to provide feedback as you wish at anytime - at appointments, either directly with professionals or via admin staff or through our feedback routes here.