Principles of Co-Production: From Tokenism to True Partnership
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📘 Blog 2 of 7 in our Co-Production & Engagement Series
Principles of Co-Production: From Tokenism to True Partnership
Links to all 7 blogs in this series are at the bottom of this post.
🧩 What Do We Mean by Co-Production?
Co-production means working in equal partnership with people who use services, their families, and communities to design, deliver, and evaluate care. It is not consultation, focus groups, or feedback forms — it is about sharing power and decision-making so that people influence outcomes directly.
Commissioners increasingly see co-production as a test of culture: do providers value lived experience as much as professional expertise? For the learning disability sector, for example, this often means enabling people with lived experience to co-design care pathways, training, and governance structures.
🔑 Core Principles of Genuine Co-Production
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) highlights four pillars of authentic co-production:
- Equality — lived experience has equal weight to professional expertise.
- Diversity — involving a wide range of voices, including those often excluded.
- Accessibility — information, meetings, and decision-making are inclusive and understandable.
- Reciprocity — people are valued and rewarded for their contributions, not treated as unpaid advisors.
Embedding these principles shows commissioners and the CQC that co-production is more than a buzzword — it is a working practice.
⚠️ Avoiding Tokenism
Tokenism occurs when providers involve people superficially without sharing real influence. Examples include:
- Inviting one “service user representative” onto a board but not listening to them.
- Running a survey and calling it co-production without follow-up action.
- Only involving families after key decisions have already been made.
Commissioners see through this quickly. Stronger bids show how engagement shapes real change — whether that’s redesigning rotas, co-authoring policies, or contributing to recruitment panels.
💡 Practical Example (Domiciliary Care)
Scenario: A domiciliary care provider wants to improve scheduling.
- ❌ Weak response: “We asked service users for feedback on call times.”
- ✅ Stronger response: “We co-designed a new scheduling system with service users and families, piloted it with 12 households, and adopted their recommendations. Satisfaction scores rose from 65% ➜ 91%.”
The second approach demonstrates influence and measurable outcomes — what commissioners and inspectors value most.
🧰 Getting Tender-Ready
- Show how you apply SCIE’s four principles in daily practice.
- Include examples of service changes directly shaped by co-production.
- Record outcomes (e.g., satisfaction, reduced complaints, improved continuity).
- Integrate co-production evidence into method statements and strategies.
- Test your narratives through bid strategy training and polish with proofreading.
📚 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