Having a voice at the table; not just a seat. Recruitment alongside people with a learning disability for clinical roles

This article is co-produced and explores a co-production approach to staff recruitment within a supported living organisation in South Wales, describing the processes of adults with learning disabilities becoming a part of the process of staff recruitment. This article aims to centralise the experience of people with Learning disability to the discussion of the recruitment process. In order to explore this for the article interviews with professionals and people with a Learning disability who participated in recruitment panels were undertaken. The themes of these are presented and show overarching themes of empowerment, overcoming barriers, evolving processes, and improved outcomes. The findings highlight that co-production, when applied meaningfully and authentically, fosters mutual respect, enhances organisational culture, and aligns hiring practices with person-centred values. Easy to read summary ■ People with Learning Disabilities helped us pick new staff. They interviewed people who want to work for our company and helped us choose who gets the job ■ We asked people how they found doing these interviews and four ideas came out of this: People felt like they were listened to and they liked this There are lots of challenges but we are changing things and making them easier to understand We keep learning and changing things for the better There have already been good results with good staff picked and everyone in the process being happy ■ Next, we want to work together to choose support workers too.