Hello. My name is Emily Galton and I am the Community Health and Engagement Officer (CHEO) for the West Hampshire, Southampton and Isle of Wight Wheelchair and Repair Service.

I was a young carer to my mum growing up. I was just 8 when I started caring for her, and continued to do so for 23 years. My mum was a wheelchair user for 20 years and this lived experience has given me an understanding of the challenges wheelchair users and their families face. 

I’m a parent carer too! I’m a mum to one son, who is Autistic & has ADHD. Alongside working for Ross Care, I’m an active steering group member of the Southampton Parent Carer Forum. I’ve also worked alongside Physio’s and OTs as a rehab assistant within the NHS. With a wealth of lived experience in caring for and working with people with a disability.

If you see me around the service centres, please do say hello. I look forward to meeting many of you! 

CHEO ‘What’s that about?’

Ross Care’s commitment to service user engagement is exemplified by the creation of the Community Health & Engagement Officer (CHEO) role. This position is integral to ensuring that service user feedback is not only heard but actively incorporated at every stage of service delivery. Emily Galton is your local CHEO in Hampshire & Isle of Wight (pictured above).

From the initial design and implementation through to operational management, the CHEO serves as a bridge between the service users and the organisation, guaranteeing that the services provided are continually shaped and improved by the experiences and insights of those they serve. This approach reflects a modern, user-centred model of service delivery that values and prioritises the voice of the disability community.

Some of the activities the CHEO supports include:

• A far-reaching community communication strategy, detailing how the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wheelchair Service contract will work with all stakeholders, especially service users.
• Helping service users and carers understand what other disability and health support they can access.
• Maintain a service user feedback strategy, with an open and transparent complaints process, learning from issues raised and utilising positive and negative feedback to promote ‘Best practice’.
• Attend a wide variety of service user and health professional engagement events locally and nationally.
• Facilitate development and liaison with general/social media including service newsletter.
• Connecting with and working alongside other health & social care providers to tackle issues with multiple facets.
• Keep abreast of changes within the sector and ensure that activities are relevant and engaging, this includes keeping up to date with relevant legislative changes, as well as establishing useful links with statutory and voluntary sector agencies.
• Facilitate a ‘Service User Engagement Group’ and coordinate the forums. The board will have the opportunity to scrutinise operational data in conjunction with contract key performance indicators. This board will also give service users an opportunity to inform wheelchair service staff of their lived experience in relation to how they were dealt with by Ross Care.
• Highlighting and promoting Personal Wheelchair Budgets (PWB) and working with the management team to promote its use with all stakeholders, including service users, MPs, health professionals and schools.
• Monitoring themes and trends from service user feedback to help facilitate service improvements.
• Engaging with user-led groups and forums within the community to promote the wheelchair service.
• Support care progress when needed, helping to resolve issues when they occur.

Ross Care is committed to integrating lived experience into its workforce, recognising it as a valuable asset for service development and delivery. The organisation aims to recruit individuals with lived experience for various roles, provided they align with the job specifications. This approach not only enriches the team but also ensures a more empathetic and informed service.

We recognize that incorporating service user insight is vital for continually improving patient experience; the CHEO role is responsible for driving improvement by involving users in a coproductive process and gathering users’ views of how the service can better meet the needs of users, their families, and carers.