What is the Oldham Standing Conference?
The Oldham Standing Conference is a three-tiered consultation mechanism, hosted and supported by Oldham LINk, which aims to identify issues of priority, and conduct focused consultation that links directly to commissioning.
This is certainly a very well established part of Oldham LINk’s portfolio and has been recognised regionally as a good practice example of a “direct route” from service user to commissioner by the Mental Health Improvement Partnership (MHIP). Up to six other Primary Care Trusts in the North West have been supported to replicate this work.
Whilst the model can be applied to any area of consultation, in Oldham we have used it to look at the wide ranging issues concerning mental health. The main aim of the Standing Conference is to capture the views of those people affected by mental health issues and service provision within Oldham, including both service users, carers and professionals. It promotes constructive scrutiny of services and the identification of gaps, as well as good practice.
This has been a developmental piece of work, which over the past couple of years has evolved in response to the feedback of attendees and attracts approximately 60 people each time. Oldham LINk has tailored the Conference to suit the needs of service users, carers and the public, leading to a series of themed events. The completed reports of these events can be found on the Work Plan page of this website.
