Experts by Experience

Remploy has been chosen by the Care Quality Commission to run an Experts by Experience programme which recruits people who have experience of using health and care services to support the commission’s inspections of those services. Remploy won the contract, following a competitive tender process, to recruit, support and manage the involvement of Experts by Experience in the CQC’s North, South and London regions.

Experts by Experience take part in inspections of health and social care services and visits to monitor the use of the Mental Health Act. Because they have first-hand experience of receiving care or caring for someone who uses health and/or social care services, they know which questions to ask during inspections to get as much information as possible.

Remploy, the leading provider of specialist employment services to disabled people and those with health conditions, will deliver 30% of the service directly, focusing on learning disability, physical and sensory impairment and mental health services. 70% of the service will be delivered through the company’s supply chain partners, based on their areas of specialism.

Remploy’s involvement will support and expand the existing valuable programme and it is keen to work with existing Experts by Experience and delivery partners to ensure continuity of the programme. CQC currently works with around 500 Experts by Experience and the new contract will support this continued growth and will see an increase of up to 50% more inspections and activities involving them. Their findings are used to support the inspectors’ judgments on services and can also be included in inspection reports. The number of inspections, Mental Health Act visits and activities involving Experts by Experience increased by 61% in the last year.

Beth Carruthers, Remploy Chief Executive said: “This contract enables us to develop many more employment opportunities for disabled people and it brings disabled people into the heart of improving health and social care “This is a great opportunity for the disabled jobseekers we are supporting to engage in part time casual work as they progress to full time employment. It is also a great opportunity for disabled colleagues in Remploy to volunteer as Experts. “The contract directly supports our mission to provide life changing employment opportunities to many more thousands of disabled people. This is a new route into employment for disabled candidates and for some of those most excluded from the labour market.”

Chris Day, Director of Engagement at the Care Quality Commission, commented: “This is a very important moment for quality regulation as it means that we can make sure that the work of CQC continues to be structured around what matters most to people who receive health and adult social care in England.” “The voice of the people who use services is and will continue to be a vital tool in making sure that health and adult social care is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led”

Anyone interested in becoming an Expert by Experience should visit remploy.co.uk/exe or contact experts [at] remploy [dot] co [dot] uk.