Carers Forums in Cornwall. Minutes of the meeting held at Penzance on 30 th May 2013 in The Board Room at the One Stop Shop, St Clare, Penzance

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1 Carers Forums in Cornwall Minutes of the meeting held at Penzance on 30 th May 2013 in The Board Room at the One Stop Shop, St Clare, Penzance In Attendance: 6 Carers (hereafter referred to as members) Amanda Boase, Primary Care Dementia Nurse Charles Curtis, Student Nurse (CC&D CFT) Lynda Phillips, Carer Support Worker Jeanette Toy, Forum & Events Coordinator, Carers Rights Chris Watkin, Administrator (West) Carers Rights 1. Welcome/Apologies/Introductions The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made round the table. 2. Amanda Boase Primary Care Dementia Practitioner Amanda gave an overview of her role which includes: Working with 4 surgeries in Penwith to support individuals with a diagnosis of dementia and their carers Carrying out cognitive enhancer reviews Home visits, following concerns raised by a Doctor, to carry out assessments If suitable, a referral will be made to the Memory Service If not suitable cognitive stimulation can be done on a one to one basis in the individual s own home Case finding by working through surgeries lists Amanda is also looking at setting up a Group for dementia sufferers and their carers to get together for socialisation and a break. Jeanette also highlighted this as something that had already been requested by members and Linda Phillips gave an update of progress that has been made so far. Liaison has taken place with Memory Matters who will identify a venue to run a group if there are sufficient numbers. Jeanette is keen that a Group is set up for members and asked Amanda to let her know if funding is a problem. The Forum would also be able to assist with finding volunteers to help with running a Group. Actions: 1. Amanda to liaise with Memory Matters for available dates for a meeting and let Jeanette know 1

2 2. Once Amanda has come back to her Jeanette will arrange a meeting with invites to Lynda Phillips, Amanda, Sue Trembath & Memory Matters. A member said that it can be confusing to know who to contact as there seem to be a lot of organisations doing similar things. Amanda agreed that there is a cross over and said that she can act as a link, signposting and tying things together through her work. The need for respite for dementia carers was also highlighted and discussed. Amanda can visit on a regular basis to provide short periods of respite and will discuss ideas for activities with the cared for. Arrangements were made for Amanda to visit a carer s wife, who has alzheimers, to explore what she would would like to do and also to consider a colleague s help as well, with a view to providing a regular short respite break. Contact numbers were given for Amanda and also for her colleague Martin, who with Amanda, covers a number of surgeries in Penwith: Amanda Martin Minutes of the Last Meeting, Matters Arising and Approval to Publish There were no matters arising and the minutes of the last meeting were agreed for publication. Action: CW 4. Information from the Cornwall Carers Service The Big Event. The event was well attended by over 500 carers and their cared for. The general feedback has been very good and everyone enjoyed it. Jeanette is looking at ways of holding a similar event every year, but on a smaller scale. Ideas are being explored to hold events at 2 locations, one in the East and one in the West of the County, with input from Carers Groups to access funding for lunch and transport. Members said that the information available on the day had been particularly helpful. One member had spoken to someone about help available for Carers who were trying to re-build their life following bereavement. Action: Chair to get details and forward to members Carers Week 10 th -16 th June. Jeanette gave an overview of awareness raising information sessions which will be held by the Cornwall Carers Service at various locations during the week. Royal Cornwall Show. The Cornwall Carers Service will have a stand at the show. Parent Carer Council. Cornwall Carers Service do not have a Parent Carer lead at present but do support and signpost. Action: Parent Carer member to Lynda Phillips with details of information which she will take to her next team meeting. Grants Available from the Cornwall Carers Service. Lynda advised members of the grants available for carers which can be access via Carer Support Workers (CSWs). There is a short form to complete which CSWs will help with. The grant can be used for something that will improve the life of the carer e.g. a break, a hobby, to improve physical or mental wellbeing, investment in technology etc. Receipt for purchases will need to be kept and there is a short evaluation form to be completed aswell. Anyone wishing to apply for one of these grant should phone the Helpline on and request a referral. By September the Cornwall Carers Service will provide information to County regarding Key Performance Indicators. If County are happy with the service it will continue for a further 1 or 2 years. If not it will go out to tender. Lynda drew attention to the need to evidence value for money by working successfully with other Groups. 2

3 The Forum s Chair will write to the Commissioners to say that the Forum would like Cornwall Carers Service to continue the current support given to carers by Carer Support Workers and Forums. Action: Chair to write to Naomi Wakeley 5. Issues Raised at the Carers Partnership Board (CPB) Pension Benefits. Issues raised at the last Penzance Forum were raised. Ann Forsyth was to take forward and raise with Mike Dann. No feedback has been received to date. Closure of Poltair. This issue was raised at a previous CPB meeting. The Forum CPB rep has not received any feedback so will raise again. Action: CPB member to raise again at next CPB meeting Action: Forum Chair will write to Zoe Howard to get details of the person to contact about Poltair and pass to the Forum s CPB member. 6. Any Other Business A member raised her concerns about the provision of breaks for parent carers. She now has short break respite care in place but highlighted the difficulties for some parent carers who have been unable to access this due to the conflict between agencies where money allocated for carers breaks can t be used to purchase children s services. Some carers also find arrangements difficult when they don t want carers coming into their home. Outside break centres are under funded and unable to fulfil the commitment to parents for short breaks. The issues fall into two categories: o Roston, which is the only facility available for children with high needs, has a funding shortage which means it s closed for 2 nights a week and one weekend a month. There is a lack of communication between Health and Social Services where people are still being allocated short breaks but unable to get them because of the lack of funding. o Domicilliary Short Breaks. A number of children s services have now been decommissioned as they weren t fulfilling their contract. Tenders have now been invited but Social Services are not re-tendering. There is a lot of uncertainty about this service at the moment. The Parent Carer Council are looking into short breaks and funding and would like this to be raised at the Carers Partnership Board. Action: Member to provide written information, including specific examples to support the issues raised, to the Chair who will write a letter to Andrew George and copy in the Forum s CPB member to raise at the next meeting. Penzance Carers Group will be holding an afternoon tea celebration at the Yacht Inn, Penzance on 21 st June from 2-4pm. Andrew George is expected to attend for part of the time. Actions: The member who raised concerns about Parent Carer breaks will prepare a list of questions for Andrew George which can be raised in her absence if she is unable to attend. The chair will try to attend to speak to Andrew George A member shared concerns about an incident that had occurred at Treliske recently, when a friend who was a patient had been transferred between wards during the night. On ringing the hospital she was informed of this and told which ward her friend was now on. Considerable confusion followed when the new ward said the patient was not there. After several phone calls between the old ward and the new ward, her friend was eventually found in a bay in the new ward, more than 2 hours after the original enquiry. The member was very concerned and upset as her friend, who had been moved at 3.30am had obviously not been looked at again until 10.30am when 3

4 she was eventually found. The member has taken this issue up with the hospital and awaits a response. Bed Blocking at Treliske/Closure of Poltair. No answer has been received to a previous question raised at the CPB. The CPB member will raise the issue again. Action: CPB member There are still instances of hospitals discharging patients in the middle of the night. This issue has been raised by the CPB member and a response is awaited from Helen Lessey, which Kim O Keefe was chasing. NHS Kernow/KCCGS. Communication difficulties were highlighted. A question was raised regarding whether KCCGS includes Carers representation or whether carers are represented at surgeries. Linda Phillips said that any issues should be referred to Healthwatch. The Chair has applied to HealthWatch to be part of the Steering Group. 7. Review of Actions Raised at this Meeting Amanda to liaise with Memory Matters for available dates for a meeting and let Jeanette know Jeanette to arrange a meeting with invites to Lynda Phillips, Amanda, Sue Trembath & Memory Matters. Minutes of last meeting approved for publication CW Chair to obtain details of help available to carers following bereavement and forward as appropriate Parent Carer member to Lynda Phillips with details of information which she will take to her next team meeting. Chair to write to Naomi Wakeley requesting that the Cornwall Carers Service be commissioned to continue with their service and support to carers. Forum Chair will write to Zoe Howard to get details of the person to contact about Poltair and pass to the Forum s CPB member. Parent Carer Member to provide written information, including specific examples to support the issues raised, to the Chair who will write a letter to Andrew George and copy in the Forum s CPB member to raise at the next meeting. Parent Carer Member will prepare a list of questions regarding breaks to be raised with Andrew George at the Penzance Carers Group Afternoon Tea Celebration on 21 st June, which can be raised in her absence if she is unable to attend. The chair will also try to attend to speak to Andrew George. 8. Issues to Raise at the Carers Partnership Board (CPB) Short Breaks/respite for Parent Carers funding issues have led to lack of availability with Roston & domiciliary care with some unable to access respite care. CPB member to raise issue at the next CPB meeting with detailed information to be supplied Parent Carer member Closure of Poltair/Bed Blocking at Treliske. Forum s CPB member has not received a response to the issue raised at the last CPB meeting and will raise again. The meeting ended at 4pm. Dates of Next Meetings: Dates for Forum meetings in 2013 have been booked as follows. All meetings will be held at the One Stop Shop,Cornwall Council, St Clare, Penzance TR18 3QW and reasonable expenses to attend meetings will be paid: Thursday 29 th August Boardroom Thursday 21 st November Committee Room 1 4

5 Footnote for Members: Forum representatives are needed to attend Carers Partnership Board meetings and also the Learning Disability Partnership Board meetings. If Forum Members are able to attend any of these meetings would they please contact Naomi Wakely at Old County Hall, Station Road, Truro TR1 3AY, tel: , All expenses incurred may be claimed. Dates of Future Carers Partnership Board Meetings: Date Meeting type Time Thursday 26th September 2013 Carer meeting 10.30am 12.30pm Thursday 26th September 2013 Full meeting 1.30pm pm Thursday 5th December 2013 Carer meeting 10.30am 12.30pm Thursday 5th December 2013 Full meeting 1.30pm pm Carers Rights can be contacted on