Agenda item

To provide an overview of the Adult Carers’ Strategy for 2020-2023 which is for all unpaid adult (aged 18+) carers who live in Haringey, or who live outside of Haringey and care for somebody who lives in Haringey.

Charlotte Pomery, Assistant Director for Commissioning, introduced this item noting that the Council had recently been working with carers across the borough to co-develop the Adult Carers’ Strategy which had been launched earlier in the year.  The aim of the strategy was to identify better ways of identifying and supporting carers in the borough. While this may sound straightforward, there were many carers who did not identify themselves as carers. The launch of the strategy was described as Phase 1 while the creation of a Carers’ Action Plan to deliver this was Phase 2. The Carers’ Action Plan had been co-designed and work on delivering it had already started. This included five workstreams:

• Having a life of your own.
• Looking after your health and wellbeing.
• Managing your finances, benefits and debt.
• Your caring role.
• Your housing and managing at home.

An Equalities Review on support for carers in Haringey had been commissioned and carried out by Carers First. This had highlighted the importance of involving carers as experts, supporting them to maximise their income and to be able to take breaks from caring.

A carer from the working group then spoke to the Panel about her experience. She had recently been appointed as a co-chair of the Carers’ Strategy Working Group and had done so because she wanted carers to have a voice and be effectively supported, including young adult carers and carers for those with mental health needs who were underrepresented. She told the Panel that she had been a young adult carer for the past 15 years looking after a family member in the borough with mental health and physical health needs and learning difficulties but had only been identified as a carer in the past year or so. Her caring responsibilities were wide ranging including first aid, practical, emotional and financial support and volunteering work. She explained that caring was difficult and takes a toll physically and emotionally and so it was essential that carers were supported. Because carers are experts by experience it was important that the Carers Strategy was co-produced and co-delivered in an integrated approach at every level with carers. As co-chair she aimed to help lead towards substantial and effective change to improve carers’ services and support carers that had previously slipped through the net. The Carers’ Strategy Working Group, (formed of carers, the Council, the NHS and the voluntary and community sector) was presently engaging with stakeholders to ensure that the seventy actions were measurable and that the right people were working on them. Cllr Connor thanked her for the clear presentation and the huge caring responsibilities that she undertook on a daily basis, noting the significance of her only recently having been identified as a carer.

Cllr Bull welcomed the work in this area and emphasised the importance of supporting young people who were caring for their parents or other family members and of understanding that carers do not always understand what support they are entitled to. Charlotte Pomery noted that an event would be held at the Winkfield Centre on 23rd November about carers’ rights working with Carers First to look at how to engage with carers who may not recognise that they are carers or may not be willing to come forward. Carers First had recently carried out a big piece of engagement work nationally with people in caring roles on how they see themselves so it would be useful to understand these findings and how it could affect the Council’s outreach work. The Council had also been working with young carers to co-design a Young Carers Strategy which was nearly complete.

Ali Amasyali commented that the forms for carers could be very complicated and suggested that these could be simplified or supplemented with face-to-face or phone assessments. Cllr Demir agreed with this observation. Charlotte Pomery said that this was helpful feedback and that she would take back as it was important that this was not a barrier to people coming forward for help. (ACTION)

Ali Amasyali noted that he had been unaware of the consultation work on carers and asked how this had been communicated to carers in the borough. He also said that he was from the Turkish community and that many in this community and other communities saw caring for family members as their responsibility and would be unlikely to reach out for help. Charlotte Pomery responded that a piece of research had been conducted during the lockdown period through the Turkish and Kurdish network. It had also been agreed that a Somali network would be set up and others could follow to provide more insight into various local communities. Cllr das Neves added that the formal and informal networks that had been established were important in exchanging information, views and support. She said that the points made about identifying carers should also be shared with health partners, particularly at primary care level.

Helena Kania asked about co-production with carers and noted that there were a lot of different groups that represent people caring for a range of different needs. Charlotte Pomery responded that the carers’ working group aimed to do this and agreed that there was no one individual place to contact carers which was why a network-based approach was required. There were also other initiatives, such as the sending out of text messages from through GPs to the 6,000 people who had identified themselves as carers, but other suggestions on reaching people were always welcome. Cllr Demir observed that his experience of the Turkish-Kurdish community was that not everyone was connected to networks, but many did visit their GPs with their carers quite often and so this was a great opportunity to identify and register people as carers. Cllr Connor proposed that a recommendation be made from the Panel on better coordination with GP colleagues, including clarification on who would be championing this issue within GP practices. (ACTION) Charlotte Pomery noted that the Council had good relationships with the GP networks and progress was being made. She added that community champion models would be worth exploring in this area.

Asked by Cllr Connor about delays to housing adaptations and how carers could get help and support, Charlotte Pomery said that this was a complex area and that they worked with colleagues across the Council to make them aware of the challenges faced by carers. Beverley Tarka added that there were significant constraints in the pathway for adaptations including shortages of occupational therapists and surveyors and the supply of particular pieces of equipment. It was also important to improve the communications to make sure that people were aware at every stage when there were circumstances out of the Council’s control. Cllr Connor proposed that the Panel recommend that a strategy be put in place for this communication to be improved. (ACTION) Cllr Blake added that quick and efficient adaptations should be a high priority as failure to do so led to worse health outcomes for residents and higher costs for the Council in the long term.

Cllr Peacock requested that the senior officers attend one of her monthly meetings with residents at Tottenham Green Leisure Centre, which included a number of carers, and asked for copies of strategy to be provided. It was agreed that this request would be followed up by email.