Founders of the Leeds Providers Forum, Aqila Choudhry MBE, Managing Director of Love In Care and Helen Cook, Managing Director of Personal Care Specialists, reflect on how voices of lived experience reshaped home care in 2025 — and set out their priorities for embedding co‑production more deeply in the year ahead.
The Leeds Providers Forum’s collaborative, inclusive, and community‑rooted approach is driving real change in home care across the city. By empowering small providers, fostering training and leadership, and championing client choice and dignity, the Forum offers a model for others to follow. Its experience shows that when lived experience shapes decisions, sharing power strengthens outcomes for all.
Since its launch, lived experience has guided the Forum’s vision and priorities. Its mission is to support long‑term sustainability and improve the quality of home care in Leeds. By building closer relationships between care professionals, service users, and families, the Forum delivers support that is both personalised and effective. This focus on real‑world needs ensures services reflect what people actually want.
Securing a unified provider voice in Council‑level decision‑making has been another milestone. For small providers, gaining a seat at the table has meant stronger influence over commissioning and funding. It has also fostered collaboration with larger providers and enabled the Forum to negotiate practical deals, such as Council uplifts and PPE agreements, ensuring quality and affordability for all members. These outcomes were shaped by providers and service users working together to highlight what mattered most.
Training and leadership support have been equally important. The Forum has delivered sessions for senior managers, guidance for CQC inspection readiness, and leadership from figures such as Aqila Choudhry MBE and Helen Cook. Their work has raised the sector’s profile, built new partnerships, and tackled skills gaps by working with regional businesses. Crucially, these initiatives were informed by feedback from providers and carers, ensuring training was grounded in lived realities rather than abstract policy.
The Forum’s collaborative environment has created a safe space where providers share experiences, tackle challenges together, and focus on enhancing services. Negotiated deals and leadership support are practical outcomes of this cooperation, but the deeper impact lies in listening to and acting on the voices of those drawing on care. By championing small, local providers with deep community roots, the Forum ensures clients retain freedom of choice and dignity in care decisions.
Reflecting on 2025, the Forum’s experience highlights the importance of collaboration, mutual support, and shared learning. These lessons should guide the sector toward more integrated, person‑centred care models. The voices of people with lived experience have shown that co‑production is not just a principle but a practical necessity for sustainable, high‑quality care.
Looking ahead to 2026, the Forum’s priority is to embed co‑production more deeply and strengthen community‑based care. It is working to bring together all 250 small providers in Leeds, further building collaboration and innovation. By uniting providers, service users, and families, the Forum aims to ensure that care services are shaped by those who rely on them every day.
The wider care sector can learn a great deal from this model. The Forum has shown that collaboration builds mutual respect, trust, and a stronger sense of shared responsibility. Practical results such as improved funding deals, affordable resources, and enhanced training are only possible when all stakeholders are genuinely involved in decision‑making.
The resolution for the year ahead is simple: embedding co‑production is not a loss of control, but a pathway to stronger, community‑rooted, and more resilient care. By embracing openness and partnership, providers and commissioners can unlock innovation, improve quality, and ensure care truly reflects the needs and aspirations of the people it serves.
