Experts by experience
We involve people who use services and family carers to help us improve the way we inspect and write our inspection reports. Because of their unique knowledge and experience of using social care services, we have called them Experts by experience.
Our experts by experience are people of all ages, with different impairments, from diverse cultural backgrounds who have used a range of social care services.
An expert by experience will take part in an inspection and talk to the people who use the care service. Sometimes, they will do telephone interviews for people who use home care agencies, one to one meetings with people in supported living and groups sessions over lunch for people in care homes. If they are visiting a service, they will also look at what happens around the place; see how everyone gets on together and what the home feels like.
They will take some notes and write a report about what they have found. The inspector will put all these details in the inspection report about the service.
Experts by experience also go on council adult service inspections where they meet with people in the community, run focus groups, visit local voluntary and council services, meet with social services staff, and provide feedback to the council with the inspection team about their overall findings of the inspection.
Download our leaflet about the Experts by experience project (DOC, 79KB, opens in new window)
How to become an expert by experience?
We are working with some national and local organisations who recruit, train and support our expert by experience on our behalf to take part in our inspection work. As we do not employ or pay experts by experience in our inspection work directly, talk to one of the organisations who are inspecting the care services which you feel you have experience of.
Download a list of organisations and their contact details (DOC, 57KB, opens in new window)
To find out more about Experts by experience read Victoria's story:
