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Veterans of the user‐survivor movement, Peter Campbell and Andrew Roberts, profile the Survivors' History Group, a network of approximately 100 members across the UK and Ireland, who believe that the history of individual and collective action by service users/survivors is both interesting and important, and worthy of preservation.

This commentary aims to explore the frequent omission of service users and their critiques from the modern history of health and social care integration.

The article is based on evidence, particularly the evidence emerging from service users' “experiential knowledge”.

The frequent contradiction that while user involvement has become an article of policy and practice, it is frequently ignored or overlooked.

The findings have major implications for research and evaluation.

It is possible to reduce bias by including service user perspectives.

The article denotes recognition of service user rights and the contribution they can make to research and policy and practice development.

The article is a reminder of the importance of including service user viewpoints in modern public policy.

This paper details the emergence of a user‐led movement focused on self‐management that is beginning to transcend the usual categories of patient, carer and user. It argues that this coalition will begin to drive integrated care, by putting citizens at the centre of a working partnership with providers and practitioners, and by providing the leadership that will enable an integrated service system through co‐creation and collaborative learning.

Drawing partly on her own experience, Joanna Fox seeks to unpack the expertise that service users bring to the design and delivery of mental health services. Service user involvement cannot be imposed by policy diktat from above, she argues. Rather, it must be nurtured at the grass roots, by allowing service users to take control over their own lives, and their care and treatment.

Drawing partly on personal experience, the author of this article seeks to unpack the expertise that service users bring to the design and delivery of mental health services. Service user involvement cannot be imposed by policy diktat from above, she argues. Rather, it must be nurtured at the grass roots, by allowing service users to take control over their own lives, and their care and treatment.

This paper outlines the concept of service user leadership and both describes and reflects on an accredited training programme that enables mental health service users to take a leadership role.

The authors argue for a service user leadership approach and the training programme is reviewed by previous participants

Service users can take on a leadership role if they are given suitable and relevant training and development opportunities. Service user led training can be transformational.

Commissioners of mental health services should consider how to support service user leadership programmes, which can reach places and achieve outcomes that traditional mental health services are unable to attain.

The concept of service user leadership is relatively new and the training programme described in this paper is both original and highly valued by participants with many significant outcomes.

The notion of mental health service user involvement in curriculum design and delivery has become commonplace over recent years. However, concern has been expressed that the rhetoric has not matched the reality. In particular, service user involvement has tended towards either tokenism or over‐sensitivity to the point of near inertia. By contrast, this paper describes a project that took a pragmatic approach and was designed to make involvement in curriculum planning, design and delivery meaningful and worthwhile for service users, students and educators alike. The paper has two principal objectives. In the first instance, it outlines the strategy for involvement that was used to inform curriculum design and delivery at the University of Abertay Dundee. This was grounded in the academic literature. Second, it provides an evaluation of this strategy based on practical experience and identifies some of the difficulties that must be overcome to work in a collaborative manner. In so doing, it examines some of the common concerns of educational staff, service users and students in relation to service user involvement. In conclusion, we provide recommendations for educators seeking to involve mental health service users in a meaningful manner in both the design of training programmes for mental health workers, and in their delivery.

The emphasis on outcomes rather than process is an area that is receiving significant attention across the delivery of public sector services, and the question ‘so what?’ is increasingly being asked of service providers. With service user self‐direction being the focus of both provision and commissioning over the coming years, there will be an increasing need to justify the delivery and development of social care in terms of the end result. Strong leadership and vision is required across the public sector if this change, in both organisational culture and service user expectation, is to be achieved.Leadership as both a competency and an organisational function has been well researched within health and social care. The literature largely points towards the need for clarity and strength within the strategic vision, especially when considering the management of change and multifaceted partnerships, both of which are crucial to the delivery of social care outcomes. The actual detail of the outcome framework, and the means by which it can be measured and quantified, is still an area of debate, and as such the aim here is to highlight some of the benefits and barriers that may be faced as the reform of the social care system evolves, with a specific focus on the impact that leadership can have on the delivery of an outcome‐focused mental health social care serviceThe analysis of outcome‐focused organisations is a relatively new concept in health and social care, and as such this paper seeks to debate the evidence in terms of whether leadership contributes to better service user outcomes in mental health social care. Dynamics within organisations, professions and with service users are all key considerations in the achievement of positive outcomes, and the role of the leader is to empower the staff group to power share and move towards co‐production in order to embed choice, control and service user contribution in the overall philosophy and culture of mental health service provision and developments.The overall conclusions of this paper are that leadership is important in terms of shaping services, ensuring governance and promoting innovation, and as a result it is possible to suggest that leadership and positive outcomes do have a direct correlation.

This paper looks at current developments in the provision of community mental health services in the context of the history of the psychiatric system in Slovenia, based on ten years of experience working with non‐governmental organisations and the School of Social Work in Slovenia. It looks at what can be learned from both the strengths and weaknesses of what is happening in Slovenia and the implications for broader debates about the future of public mental health and the treatment of people with mental health problems.

This article considers the key role that service users' perspectives and knowledges now play in the development of community care. It explores their differences from the political and professional discourses which they challenge, and argues that their equal treatment is overdue.