Agenda item

To hear from Cllr Catherine Harris, Chair of the Carers Partnership Board.

Councillor Catherine Harris – Chair of the Carers Partnership Board

The National Carers Strategy was published in June 2008.   Haringey’s Adult Carers Strategy fed down from this.

The Carers Partnership Board has 19 members who helped to develop the Haringey Carers Strategy.

A Providers Forum is due to be set up which will involve the four carers provider organisations in Haringey.

According to the last census there are approximately 16,000 unpaid carers in Haringey who provide approximately £240 million of care per year.

Carers want planned short breaks.  Not just respite for the cared for person.

When configuring services providers need to ensure that they are authentically reflecting what the carers want.

Emergency breaks/planning is a concern in Haringey for carers.  This is the care provided when a carer breaks down and can no longer care for the cared for person.  Cost implications where carers are not properly supported as emergency breaks have to then be put in place.

This point/concern was reiterated by carers organisations.

Feeling that if care plans are done properly then this would limit the number of emergency situations due to carers breaking down.

Emergency planning is a particular concern for older carers who worry what will happen to the person they are caring for if they are to fall ill or die.

There is a need to ensure that there are transition arrangements in place for when a person that is caring dies.

Personalisation

There is a need to ensure that carers are fully trained in the implications of the personalisation agenda for example being prepared to make their own choices and support the cared for person in making their choices.

Carers support organisations need to be supported in the changed to enable them to fully support the carers that come through their doors.

Gaps

·        There are gaps in Mental Health service provision for carers, for example around risk assessments.

o       Feels that it would be useful to have a consistent/named representative from the MHT to attend the Carers Partnership Board.

·        Coordination and availability of Emergency breaks.

·        Information – not just leaflets but also having someone that they can call for information and advice.  Some boroughs have a carers helpline which is a focal point of knowledge for carers, this also prevents carers having to call around for hours trying to speak to the right person.

·        Data – there are gaps in data on lesbian and gay carers.  There are also gaps on the religion of carers, for example how many Jewish carers do we have?

o       Ethnic monitoring information – need to know exactly who we are providing services to.  The monitoring forms across the organisations should be consistent.

There is a need to focus on the gaps identified and work at filling them.

It is important to remember the huge impact that caring 24hrs a day has on a person’s life.  This often continues even when a cared for person is in hospital, for example:

·        When a person with learning disabilities is in hospitals the carer often has to stay with them to translate what they are saying to the medical staff.

·        What happens in a crisis situation?  In a crisis situation there is an impact on the carer’s routine and life, for example when a carer is in employment and they have to take time off at the last minute in order to deal with the crisis.

Health and well-being is carers highest priority above other aspects e.g. opportunities for employment.

Carers feels that there is a lack of availability of physiotherapy and rehabilitation services.  General feeling that you have to fight to get access to physiotherapy and that there are issues around maintenance e.g. if someone relapses.

Melanie Ponomarenko to add this to the information which will be presented by NHS Haringey.

Carers should be treated as experts and should have an input into the services which are provided to them.

Discussion around what other boroughs are providing e.g. size of centres, hotlines, service provision.  Barbara Nicholls will look into this and feed back into the review.

Discussion around the need for organisations (carers and otherwise) to share information on what is available in the borough.  If the organisations don’t know then what hope is there for the carers to be able to find out?

Need to look at whether there is duplication on what is being provided across the organisations.

Discussion around the potential benefits of there being a centralised number for carers to call when needing support.

BME Carers organisation:

• Feels that the response to the Carers Partnership Board by NHS Haringey has been disappointing thus far.
• Feels that there is a continuity issue with attendance by the Mental Health Trust e.g. the same person should be attending each meeting.
• Concerned about the availability of aids and adaptations e.g. examples of carers having to carry people upstairs which is a serious concern and has health and safety implications.

Discussion around an example of the Duty Team being called by a Mental Health carer in crisis who was told to either call the police or to take the person straight to St Ann’s.  This may prevent the carer from getting help as would not necessarily want to take either of these options for their loved one.