Agenda and minutes

Councillor Alexander, Councillor Dodds, Councillor C. Harris, Freda Wilson, Robert Edmonds

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business.  (late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear.  New items will be dealt with at item below).

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A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is being considered must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest at the commencement of that consideration, or when the interest becomes apparent.

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter if the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the member’s judgement of the public interest and if this interest affects their financial position or the financial position of a person or body as described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct and/or it it related to the determining of any approval, consent, license, permission or registration in relation to them or any person or body described in paragraph 8 of the code of Conduct.

Cllr Adamou declared an interest as her daughter is a social worker.

To receive a presentation from Adult, Culture and Community Services on carers services.

The panel received a presentation from Lisa Redfern, Assistant Director Adults, Adult, Culture and Community Services.

Adult Carers Strategy

• Feeds down from the National Carers Strategy
• Involved the Carers Partnership board in drafting the strategy and its consultation
• Has four outcomes:

1.      Carers will be respected as expert care partners and will have access to the integrated and personalised services they need to support them in their caring role

2.      Carers will be able to have a life of their own alongside their caring role

3.      Carers will be supported so that they are not forced into financial hardship by their caring role

4.      Carers will be supported to stay mentally and physically well and treated with dignity

• Includes a target to increase the number of carers receiving an assessment and a review by 25% by 2011.

There is a high proportion of young carers (those aged 18-34 yrs of age) in Haringey.

According to the 2001 census there are 15,967 people who identified themselves as Carers in Haringey.

There are 1201 carers on Haringey’s Carers register, with a higher proportion in the East of the Borough.  Discussion as to why this is the case:

• Those in the West could be accessing support/services by other means
• Older population in the West and older people are less likely to identify themselves as carers

Haringey’s Carers Partnership Board has 19 Carers on with over ½ from BME communities.

Recognised that we need to make it easier for people to access the support that they need.  Also quickly and at the point that they need it.

Consultation for the Carers Strategy involved over 90 participants.  The top three area of importance that they came up with:

1. Recognition
2. Respect
3. Flexible support (includes respite, financial and emotional support).

Priorities from the carers consultation include:

Personalisation

• A briefing has gone to the Carers Partnership Board
• Carers have been involved in the Physical Disability and Learning Disability Pilots
• A work-stream is being developed which will report to the Carers Partnership Board and to the Transforming Social Care group (which is being set up).
• Currently looking at involving more carers organisations in this area.

Access to services

• Adult Services Teams
• Central Access points e.g. Physio, GPs, nurses
• Voluntary sector e.g. designated assessments which then go to Adult services for review.

The Central Access Team will be starting in November and should improve responsiveness where needed.

Discussion around Mental Health carers, some of which find it very difficult to access assessments even through Community Mental Health Teams.

• Issues identified around inter-agency working
• Discussions around how the Mental Health Trust works with the Local Authority around carers.
  • Felt that improved strategic planning and delivery may be needed.

Performance on carers assessments is currently very good.

The Carers Centre has 4 staff, this includes a Welfare Benefits worker.  The Centre also runs support groups and co-ordinates respite arrangements.

·        Issues raised around the Community Alert Card service and the calls  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To receive a presentation from Eve Featherstone, Equalities Manager, on equalities and carers.

Adult Carers Strategy Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA).

The EIAs are done along the lines of the six equalities strands and consider what we know, what we don’t know and what we therefore need to do.

The Adult Commissioning Manager is currently going through the draft EIA with the Carers Partnership Board.  The EIA should be completed and signed off within the next month.

Discussion around support given to younger carers and the need for a short, sharp scrutiny review when resources are available.

Discussion around the age profile or ethnic groups and whether this has an impact.

Further information on the draft EIA can be found in the attached papers.

To discuss the scope of the review and approve the objective and terms of reference.

Need to ensure that equalities are considered throughout the report as it is an integral part of the piece of work.

Discussion around the need to gain an understanding of the assessment process and the route map from assessment to service including how long this takes and who does what at which point.

·        Not just from the LA but from Mental Health Trust and NHS Haringey perspective also.

Discussion around the issue of communication between the different groups and organisations which people felt can make it very difficult to navigate and go through the carers pathway to actually get a service.

·        Could the process be streamlined and made clearer?

Agreed to add under the objectives of the review:

• ‘To consider the extent in which carers are engaged and involved in shaping support services’, and
• ‘Assess how the partners are working together to support carers’.

Scope agreed

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