Our Experts by Experience programme involves the public in inspections and activities.
What do Experts by Experience do?
It is important that we involve the public in our work.
One of the ways we do this is by working with people we call experts by experience. These people have recent experience using - or caring for someone who uses - the services we regulate.
Experts by experience help us gather the evidence that we use to make judgements about the quality of care.
People often find it easier to speak to someone who has a similar lived experience to themselves. Our experts by experience have meaningful conversations with people using services, as well as friends and families. For community-based services experts by experience will also speak to people by phone or video chat. They will also make other observations while taking part in our assessments of services.
Experts by experience give unique perspectives to assessments, gathering evidence that might otherwise be missed.
They also help us in other ways, such as:
- helping design the way we work
- taking part in recruitment of senior staff
- reviewing documents
- speaking at events across England
Who could be an Expert by Experience?
Experts by experience are people who have recent personal experience (within the last eight years) of using or caring for someone who uses health, mental health and/or social care services that we regulate.
- Person with experience of detention under the Mental Health Act
- Family carer of adult relative who has a learning disability and high support/complex needs
- Family carer of child or young person (CYP) who uses health services
- Family carer of older person
- Family carer of person living with dementia and/or an older person
- Person who has used maternity services in the past 4 years
- Person with a learning disability
- An autistic person
- Person with a physical impairment
- Person with a sensory impairment
- Person living with Dementia
- Person with experience of mental health services
- Person with experience of substance misuse services
- Young Person with experience of using health services
- Person with a learning disability and/or autism who has experience of detention under the Mental Health Act
- Person who has an acquired brain injury
- Family carer of a person who has an acquired brain injury
- Person who has an eating disorder
- Person with experience of mental health services, within a forensic setting
- Family carer who has supported a person through end of life care
Choice Support
Following a formal procurement process, we are pleased to announce that Choice Support has been awarded the new contract to deliver our Experts by Experience (ExE) programme, and the Voices for Health Equality Partnership, led by National Voices and supported by Innovation Unit and Collaborate CIC, will manage our Public Engagement Network (PEN).
Contracts began in April 2026 and will run for 3 years. This will ensure we continue to place people’s experiences at the center of our regulatory activities, fulfil our statutory duty to involve people with lived experience in our work, and support our ongoing improvement.