Co-production, consultation and engagement: what is the difference?

Co-production, consultation and engagement are often grouped together, but they do not give people the same role or level of influence.

None of them is automatically the right answer. A focused consultation can be more honest and useful than calling a project co-production when the main decisions have already been made. The important thing is to choose the approach that fits the work and explain it clearly to everyone taking part.

A short comparison

These descriptions are practical guides rather than regulated definitions. Organisations sometimes use the terms differently, so the actual role and decision process should always be explained.

What is consultation?

Consultation asks people for their views on something defined. That might be a draft policy, a proposed service change, a set of options or a patient information resource. The organisation usually sets the subject and the questions. People then identify what works, what is missing, where there may be a problem and what they think should change.

Consultation is useful when:

• there is a genuine opportunity to amend the proposal
• the questions are specific enough for people to answer
• the organisation is clear about any fixed constraints
• there is a plan to explain how feedback was considered

Good consultation does not need to be apologetic about its limits. Clear boundaries help people decide whether and how to contribute.

What is engagement?

Engagement is a broad term for creating contact, dialogue or participation between an organisation and the people affected by its work. It may include events, workshops, listening sessions, panels, surveys, outreach or ongoing conversations.

Engagement can be used to hear a range of experiences, explain a programme, understand concerns or build relationships before more detailed work. It should still be clear why the activity is taking place and where the contribution will go.

What is co-design?

Co-design brings people who use, deliver or are affected by something into the process of designing it. The output might be a service pathway, training resource, physical environment, digital process or piece of information. Participants help define needs, develop ideas, review options and test drafts or prototypes.

For co-design to be credible, the organisation should explain which decisions the group can make, what technical or legal constraints apply and who will approve the result.

What is co-production?

Co-production describes a deeper partnership in which people with lived and learnt experience work together from an early stage and share influence over the work. In practice, it may include jointly shaping the purpose, governance, methods, decisions, delivery and review.

That does not mean every person must make every decision. Formal duties, budgets, clinical responsibilities and legal accountability may remain with the organisation. Those boundaries should be discussed openly so that equal partnership is not used to hide where final authority sits.

Is one approach better than the others?

No. They answer different needs. If an organisation needs feedback on a nearly complete leaflet, consultation may be enough. If it wants to understand a range of experiences before setting priorities, engagement or research may fit. If it is developing a specific pathway, co-design may be appropriate. If people with lived experience will share influence throughout a programme, co-production may be the right model.

How to choose the right approach

1. 1.What stage is the work at? If the work has not yet been defined, there may be room for co-production. If a developed proposal needs checking, consultation is more likely.
2. 2.What is genuinely open to influence? List the decisions people can affect and the constraints that are already fixed.
3. 3.How long will people be involved? A single activity can support consultation or engagement. Co-production usually needs an ongoing relationship across several stages.
4. 4.What responsibility will contributors hold? Will they comment, generate ideas, help design an output, sit within governance or share decisions?
5. 5.How will the organisation respond? Decide who will receive the contribution, what response is possible and how people will hear what happened.

A simple example

Imagine an organisation reviewing its discharge information. In a consultation, patients and carers comment on a draft leaflet. Through engagement, the organisation holds discussions about people's wider experience of leaving the service. In co-design, patients, carers and staff work together to create and test a new information process. Through co-production, people with lived experience are partners in setting the project's aims, designing the approach, making decisions, testing the work and reviewing what happens after launch.