Agenda item

In 2018, the HASC Select Committee undertook an inquiry looking at the current support available for carers (both young and adult).  The inquiry report contained recommendations which spanned across a number of council service areas.  The progress in implementing the recommendations was monitored at a Committee meeting in 2019.

This item builds on the findings from the HASC inquiry and focusses on four key areas – Social Care, Carers Bucks, Education and the Council’s Carers Staff Network.

Presenters:

Cllr A Macpherson, Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing

Ms E Quesada, Adult Social Care, Service Director

Papers:

Report with appendices

The Chairman welcomed Cllr Angela Macpherson, Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing, Ms Jenny McAteer, Service Director, Quality, Performance and Standards and Ms Natalie Donhou-Morley, Senior Policy Officer (HR & OD).

The Chairman explained that the HASC Select Committee had undertaken an inquiry into what support was available for carers (both young and adult) in 2018 so this item was an opportunity to hear about the progress that had been made and to build on what the Committee had already heard.

During their presentation and in their written report, the following main points were made.

·       The Care Act required that all adult carers were entitled to receive an assessment of their care needs which could either be undertaken by the local authority or a commissioned delegated assessor.

·       The Local Authority were also required to make sure that carers had access to information, advice and guidance to support them in their role and ensure carers maintain their health and wellbeing.  Carers Bucks had been commissioned to deliver this to young and adult carers (funded by the Better Care Fund).

·       In order to plan future services, a transformation programme had been approved by the Adults Health and Wellbeing Board to review and improve carers support in Buckinghamshire.

·       There were currently around 15,000 registered carers in Buckinghamshire.

·       The pandemic had delayed the progress with this transformation programme and it was described as being at the beginning of the journey.

·       A number of events were planned across Buckinghamshire to help shape services for carers (Buckingham, Aylesbury, Amersham and Wycombe).

·       The aim was to co-design a sustainable, whole system approach for carers which focussed on better quality assessments and a review of short breaks.

·       There were currently around 15,000 registered carers.

·       A quality assurance framework was now in place which had let to improvements in some areas, for example, carers assessments had been simplified.  It was recognised that more needed to be done around access to carer information with the overall aim of creating a “One Stop Shop”.

·       A new online self-assessment process had been introduced.

·       There had been progress with carers contingency plans – this was now part of the social worker management process.

·       It was acknowledged that whilst there had been some progress, there was much more work to do around support for carers.

During discussion, Members asked the following questions.

·       A Member commented that adult carers could find themselves widowed which meant that they needed other support services, for example, making connections back into the community.  Ms McAteer responded that the current offer was not clear and that direct payments were not always the answer.  The forthcoming engagement events would explore these issues in more detail so that the future offer could be broadened and provide a more co-ordinated service for carers.  The events would also focus on addressing inequalities and exploring tailor-made, local services.

·       The Chairman asked whether the service had made links with the primary care social prescribers - a relatively new role which helps people make links with their local community.  The Cabinet Member said she would ensure this was included as part of the transformation programme.

·       In response to a question about the community cafes, the Cabinet Member explained that these were in the pilot stage and the day opportunity centres were currently being used to have conversations with carers.  A Member suggested that a “mobile café” would be a good idea as some people were unable to travel too far due to their caring responsibilities.

·       A Member referred to the Better Care Fund and asked what the funding formula was in terms of allocating the fund between young and adult carers.  Ms McAteer said that she would need to take this back and provide more details around funding after the meeting.

Action: Ms McAteer

·       A Member asked whether there was additional funding to help support the increased numbers of people with dementia and their carers (eg. housing adaptations).  The Cabinet Member responded that she would come back with more detail about funding and explained that there was cross-over between some of the projects within the transformation projects.

·       A Member asked for clarification in terms of the charts showing the sex and gender of carers contained within the written report.  Ms McAteer said that she would come back with clarification on this.

Action: Ms McAteer

·       A Member referred to page 50 in the written report which stated that the young carers service had sent out requests to all schools in Buckinghamshire offering renewed support and trying to reach new contacts - 10 new schools responded.  The Member asked how many schools there were in total as it was difficult to know whether this amounted to good engagement with schools.  The Cabinet Member explained that this was a question for the education service area and would need to be directed to them.

·       A Member expressed concern about what felt like a fragmented service and the difficulties in moving between the children’s service and the adult’s service and cited the waiting times for autism assessments as an example.  The Cabinet Member explained that there was a programme of work around “Preparing for Adulthood” which would pick-up on some of these issues and the aim was to create a more integrated, joined-up service.  The Chairman suggested that this was added to the HASC Select Committee work programme.

Action: Scrutiny Officer to add transitions to the work programme

·       The Cabinet Member confirmed that the Council would be looking to appoint a Member Carer Champion.

·       A Member expressed concern about the current waiting times for carer assessments and asked whether there was a plan to reduce the waiting times.  Ms McAteer explained that she did not have the figures with her but would come back on the current waiting times.  The Cabinet Member acknowledged that there had not been as many assessment conversations over the last few months and more work was needed to improve this and to ensure these conversations were of a good quality.

Action: Ms McAteer

·       A Member asked for more detail around what activities had been commissioned to support both young and adult carers in each local community.  The Cabinet Member said that it was early days but more information could be provided at a future meeting.

·       A Member said that they were pleased to hear that there was a dementia transformation programme.  A Member offered to send details of specific groups in their local area who were supporting people with dementia and their carers to the Cabinet Member.

Action: Cllr Carol Heap

·       A Member asked about the progress with support for staff who were carers.  Ms Donhou-Morley explained that a staff toolkit would be launched in June which included details on a new “passport” which could be shared with new managers so staff did not have to repeat discussions about their individual circumstances when they moved jobs.  The toolkit would be reviewed annually.

·       In response to a question about how many managers had attended the virtual training, Ms Donhou-Morley said that only 3 or 4 Managers attended but this would be run again in conjunction with the launch of the toolkit.

·       A Member commented that the needs of veterans should be included in the work around carers.  The Cabinet Member agreed to speak to the Members on the Armed Forces Champion Board.

Action: Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing

The Chairman thanked the presenters for attending the meeting and suggested that an update on the carers transformation project be added to the work programme.

Action: Scrutiny Officer to add item to work programme