Co-Production in Governance and Quality Assurance
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📘 Blog 4 of 7 in our Co-Production & Engagement Series
Co-Production in Governance and Quality Assurance
Links to all 7 blogs in this series are at the bottom of this post.
🏛️ Why Governance Matters
Governance is the system of accountability and oversight that ensures services are safe, effective, and improving. Too often, governance is limited to board papers and audits. By embedding co-production into governance and quality assurance (QA), providers move beyond compliance to shared ownership of service direction.
For commissioners and the CQC, governance that includes lived experience is a sign of a well-led service. It shows that decision-making is transparent, inclusive, and grounded in reality — not just spreadsheets.
🔑 What Co-Production in Governance Looks Like
Providers can embed co-production at multiple levels of governance and QA:
- Board-level representation — carers or people supported as full members or advisory attendees.
- Quality forums — lived experience shaping audits, KPIs, and improvement plans.
- Feedback loops — real-time family/service user input into quarterly governance reviews.
- Transparency — publishing “you said, we did” updates alongside QA reports.
Including these structures in strategies or method statements strengthens bids and inspections.
👁️ What Inspectors Look For
The CQC assesses governance under the Well-Led domain. They want to see co-production that is:
- Meaningful — not symbolic roles, but influence over decisions.
- Evidence-based — audit findings linked to lived experience feedback.
- Impact-driven — governance changes that lead to real improvements in quality.
- Inclusive — ensuring diverse voices, not just those with confidence to speak up.
💡 Practical Example (Home Care Services)
Scenario: A home care provider struggles with late call complaints.
- ❌ Weak governance: “The board reviews complaints data quarterly.”
- ✅ Stronger governance: “Our QA group includes two family carers and a service user representative. Together they reviewed complaints trends, suggested pilot use of digital call monitoring, and shaped the family communication plan. Missed calls fell by 60% in 6 months.”
Embedding co-production at governance level transforms paper-based oversight into shared problem-solving.
🧰 Getting Tender-Ready
- Show commissioners how lived experience influences governance, not just service design.
- Evidence outcomes from co-produced QA (e.g., reduction in incidents, improved satisfaction).
- Describe how governance reports integrate “you said, we did” from families/service users.
- Polish narrative through proofreading to ensure clarity and impact.
🛠️ Practical Tips for Providers
- Make every answer scorable: mirror the question’s headings, signpost clearly, and prove each claim with a concise data point or example.
- Standardise your toolkit: keep one live set of method statements, annexes and KPIs so teams aren’t reinventing content each time.
- Protect word counts: prioritise impact lines, cut duplication, and move low-value detail into annexes or tables.
- Evidence cadence: publish a quarterly mini “commissioner pack” (KPI trends, governance actions, case studies) so renewals are never a scramble.
- Triaging discipline: only pursue tenders where you can evidence fit, safe mobilisation and measurable outcomes at the proposed price.
🤝 Need a hand putting this into practice?
Start with a quick quality lift via:
Protect your pipeline using:
Build re-usable foundations with:
Keep performance “renewal-ready” through:
If you need a bigger reset to map your needs:
📚 Catch up on the full Co-Production & Engagement Series:
- 📘 Why Co-Production Matters in Social Care
- 🧭 Principles of Co-Production: From Tokenism to True Partnership
- 👥 Involving Families and Carers in Service Design
- 🏛️ Co-Production in Governance and Quality Assurance
- 🌍 Building Engagement Pathways for Under-Represented Voices
- 💡 Case Studies: Co-Production That Changed Services
- 📄 Evidencing Co-Production in Tenders and Inspections