How we work
Co-production and equality
In the NCCMH, all our work is underpinned by our commitment to co-production (working collaboratively with people, without hierarchy) and reducing inequalities in mental health care.
We work with people with lived experience as equal partners when designing and delivering our work, often as early as the bidding process for commissioned work, to ensure the work we propose is co-produced and advances mental health equality. In addition to our own work being co-produced and ensuring there is a focus on equality, we support others to involve people with lived experience and identify disparities around equality in their own work and how to address this, whether that’s in a resource, standards, or through quality improvement support.
To ensure we have a wide range of experiences and views, we have an NCCMH Equality Advisory Group (EAG), a standing committee of people from a diverse range of backgrounds with lived and learned experiences of mental health services in the UK. The EAG supports the NCCMH to adhere to its commitment to actively advance co-production and equality. The group meets regularly to discuss NCCMH projects from a co-production and equalities perspective, often as a critical friend, to advance our work and ensure it results in improvement for as many people as possible in accessing mental healthcare, their experience of the support they receive and their outcomes.
