National Care Service Charter of Rights: Co-design Agreeing Phase Report

Co-design process

This final phase of co-design focused on working with people with experience of accessing social care, social work and community health services. It was completed in 2 stages. Which were:

Co-design final phase (stage 1)

The first stage took place between April and June 2025. We used an online survey and in-person co-design sessions.

The aims of these activities were to:

• test new content with small groups of people
• hear from groups of people who had not been involved in earlier co-design work

We held 5 co-design sessions to gather feedback from people best placed to review the new content. This included:

• members of the Lived Experience Expert Panel (LEEP)
• key stakeholder organisations
• people with specialist knowledge

This helped us make sure the Charter meets the needs of different groups and that the content is accurate and easy to understand.

We tested the following sections of the Charter in stage 1:

1. Independent Advocacy and Supported-Decision Making We held a session with 4 people with learning disabilities recruited through LEEP with 1 person supporting

2. International Human Rights We held a session with 9 staff and members of stakeholder organisations, including the ALLIANCE, Glasgow Disability Alliance, CEMVO, and Inclusion Scotland

3. Feedback and Complaints We held a session with 4 members of the complaints co-design group

4. Mutual respect We ran a survey with 7 members of the social care workforce recruited through LEEP

5. Children’s rights Action for Children facilitated a co-design session with children

The findings from stage 1 helped us to update content. We then used this to create two professionally designed prototypes for testing in stage 2.

Co-design final phase (stage 2)

Stage 2 took place between September and November 2025. We tested two Charter prototypes with people who may use the Charter. We ran sessions online and in person, using 4 activities.

The aims of these sessions were to:

• finalise the Charter to ensure it is clear, accurate and easy to understand
• test the design for visual appeal, accessibility and readability
• gather feedback on how to promote, use, monitor and review the Charter so that more people know about it and understand their rights.

The prototypes used different colours, images and layouts. This helped us understand what people preferred and informed our decisions for the final design.

We also tested alternative versions of the Charter, including:

• a summary version
• an Easy Read summary
• a webpage version

Activity 1 – Hands on usability testing

This activity focused on people who may face barriers to accessing information. We recruited participants through LEEP and partner organisations.

Participants took part in online one-to-one sessions. They reviewed a version of the Charter and gave feedback on navigation, design and accessibility.

We also enabled organisations to run their own group sessions. This let them adapt the activity to suit the people they support, while still collecting feedback for us.

Organisations involved in Activity 1 were:

• LEEP
• Glasgow Disability Alliance
• People First
• Next Chapter
• CEMVO
• British Deaf Association
• Aberdeen Health and Social Care Partnership
• Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living

Activity 2 – Charter trial

This activity focused on organisations that support people who use social care, social work and community health services.

We asked participants to use the Charter for one month in their day-to-day work. They shared feedback on how they used it and what would help them use it in the future.

After the trial, we held an online feedback session so participants could share their experiences and learn from others.

Organisations involved in Activity 2 were:

• Carer’s of West Lothian
• VOCAL
• Disabled Persons Housing and SDS Fife
• Aberdeen City Council
• LEEP members

Activity 3 – Charter online testing tool

This activity let people who receive and deliver care share feedback online.

Participants answered survey-style questions on:

• the prototype designs
• language and accessibility
• how to use the Charter
• how to promote it
• ideas for successful implementation

We received 34 responses.

Activity 4 – Reflections and feedback session

We held an open online session to share updates to the Charter. We explained how we used earlier feedback to make changes and showed the prototype designs.

Participants shared their views during the session or through the online testing tool.

Six external participants attended this session.

Other activities included in this round of co-design

We also attended events to raise awareness of the Charter and gather more feedback. This included:

• Inspiring Scotland’s Step in the Right Direction (SiRD) event
• a People Lead Partnership Programme (PLPP) session

More than 200 people contributed across both stages of this final phase of co-design.