caringnorthants.org.uk
 

Carers Involvement & Consultation
 

 

This page will also keep you updated about any other consultation regarding Carers services.

It contains details of:

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CARERS STRATEGY FOR NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

The “Carers Thematic Partnership Group for Northamptonshire”

The Carers’ Thematic Partnership is an Inter-Agency Group to enable Carers’ issues to be addressed and a countywide strategy to be produced and owned by all partner organisations.  It enables the co-ordination of policies and actions for Carers.  Carers and Carer Organisations are members of the group and ensure that the Carers’ views are well represented. 

Membership of the Group has inevitably changed over the years.  The core membership includes Carers themselves, Carers’ organisations, voluntary organisations, and representatives form Health, Education, Social Services and Mental Health Services.  The Carers’ Thematic Partnership is responsible for producing the Carers’ Strategy.

It sets targets to be achieved, suggests methods to measure performance and includes a reviewing and monitoring role.

In addition, the Carers’ Thematic Partnership ‘prioritises and recommends’ on how the Carers’ Grant should be allocated within Northamptonshire.  The grant is now (2003/04) in its 8th year and will continue for a further year, at least to April 2009.  The Grant primarily provided breaks for Carers, but part can now also provide Carer Services via Carer Assessments by Care Management.

The Carers Thematic Partnership meets every two months.  For further information please contact Mark Major on 01604 232500 or email markm@northamptonshire.carers.org

A new Carers’ Strategy document is to be produced ready for April 2008 (see link) and your thoughts on this would be most welcome. . Press here to view the document.

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CARERS DATABASE PROJECT

The Carers Forum (www.carers-forum.co.uk) was established in 1993, and is a representative group of Carers from across Northamptonshire. They meet regularly to discuss, identify and support ways in which Carers can be involved in the planning and provision of services to enable them to care for relatives and friends who, because of a disability, illness or the effects of old age cannot manage at home without help.

Through the Carers Strategy Implementation Group the Carers Forum provides a direct link to people in Social Services, Health Authority and others from both the Voluntary and Private sectors who provide services within the county.

It is recognised that there are over 68,000 Carers in the County whose views and opinions need to be heard, if the Forum is to be fully representative, it was essential that a way be found to contact and consult with as many Carers as possible.

To do this we have established a Carers Database and to date we have over 800 Carers registered willing to be consulted. One of my roles is to distribute and encourage Carers to complete a registration card. This will give information to enable me to contact them for their comments, views and criticisms on the range and quality of services provided to them and the person they care for.

This response project is based at ‘Ability Northants’ who will ensure that all information is confidential and protected under the Data Protection Act of 1998. I have a desk in their office at 13 Hazelwood Road and can be contacted there on Tel. & Minicom 01604 624088, fax 01604 605124 or e-mail, carers@abilitynorthants.org.uk

We are anxious that the views of all Carers are truly represented through the Forum, so if you would be willing to be registered onto the database, then please contact me on the above numbers and I will send you a registration card.

Jenny Osborne
Senior Liaison Officer

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What is the Carers Forum?

The Carers’ Forum was established in 1993 as a countywide voluntary organisation of informal (family) carers and ex-carers. As the only peer group in the county, we provide a focus for Carers’ issues and represent them on relevant strategy groups convened by the Health Authority and Social Services. A further part of our work is to provide information to as many unpaid carers as possible.

We have produced several leaflets, which are listed below and available free of charge: -

  ●  Carers Countywide Directory of Services
  ●  Carer Support Groups for North and South Northamptonshire
  ●  Signpost to Services for Carers
  ●  Signpost to Services for Carers – Mental Health
  ●  Carers Information Packs (tailored to individual caring situation and the area in which you live)

As a small but committed body, we do our best to represent the wide range of caring situations and to cover the county geographically.

Forum members have featured on the media and have also contributed to care managers’ training on ‘How to conduct the ideal Carer’s Assessment’. We give out-of-county presentations on setting up a Carers’ Forum and Database and we welcome new members from any caring situations, especially stigma groups such as Mental Health or HIV or Aids.

For further details on the Carers Forum or the Consultation Database, their support worker can be contacted at Ability Northants on 01604 624088, carers@abilitynorthants.org.uk or visit the web site www.carers-forum.co.uk

We are always happy to be contacted to help with any projects involving Carers, and we welcome any comments on Carers issues, particularly from Carers themselves.

 

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THE NATIONAL SERVICE FRAMEWORK (NSF)

YOUR IDEAS WELCOMED ….

Northamptonshire Mental Health CARERS Reference Group
Would you like to help improve services for Carers in Northamptonshire? We would welcome your involvement and suggestions.

The Reference Group exists to gather the views of those who have personal experience of caring for people with a mental health problem and wish to see the services provided to carers in Northamptonshire improved. We are independent of the service suppliers but work closely with them at all levels, including the decision makers, to identify gaps in service and ways in which existing services can be improved.

There are legal obligations on the Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Trust and other providers in the county as to the level of support they are meant to provide to Carers. Everyone recognises that these are not always being delivered and together we wish to ensure that they are delivered and in ways that are most acceptable to the carer involved.

Since our creation in 2002 we have:

·        Substantially raised the profile and influence of carers as individuals that should be included in the
      arrangements for support of their loved one, and who also have distinct needs of their own for support

·        Championed the introduction of a new group of professionals dedicated to the support of those caring for people with mental health problems. We have ensured that the management of these new Carer Development and Support Workers strongly involves carers themselves

·        Contributed to a much more appropriate and effective Carer Assessment process

·        Contributed to improvements in the Complaints process and advised on key aspects of the delivery of new services e.g. the Rapid Resolution Home Treatment and Early Intervention teams.

Many more new improvements are now being discussed and we need more carers bringing more of their own experiences to join our group and take part in working parties, discussion forums, staff training and other essential advisory work.  The benefits for you are the satisfaction of having your views and suggestions recognised. Also you may find that, like our existing members, taking time out from caring to chat about your own experiences and contribute to improvements in the service actually helps you to manage your own problems.

 We meet monthly for a morning as a group and, depending upon how much time you can commit, you could take part in 2 or 3 other half day sessions per month.  We pay reasonable travelling expenses, the cost of a sitter if you need someone to be with your loved one whilst you are away, and Ł20 per approved half day session in recognition of the contribution you will make.

Interested? Then please contact Harminder Bassan or Denise Paul at Northamptonshire Carers Centre on 01604 232500 for more information.

You may find any of the following websites of interest:

If you are interested in helping us in this important and influential role please contact –

Andrew Bailey
Chair – Mental Health Carers Reference Group

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The Carers Strategy Group was created in 1993 to enable carer’s issues to be addressed and a countywide strategy to be produced and owned by all partner organisations. It enables the co-ordination of policies and actions for carers. Carers and carer organisations are members of the group and ensure that the carers’ views are well represented.

Membership of the group has inevitably changed over the years. The core membership includes carers themselves, carers’ organisations, voluntary organisations, and representatives from health, education, social services and mental health services.

The Carers Strategy group is responsible for producing the Carers Strategy. Originally the Strategy was produced as a five-year plan. This is now produced on an annual basis. It sets targets to be achieved, suggests methods to measure performance and includes a reviewing and monitoring role. It recognises that not all the targets will be met within the year but the annual process encourages re assessment and re-prioritising where necessary.

In addition the Carers Strategy Group “prioritises and recommends” on how the Carers Grant should be allocated within Northamptonshire. The grant is now (2003/4) in its fifth year and will continue for a further 2 years, until March 2006. The grant primarily provided breaks for carers but part can now also provide carer services via Carer Assessments by Care Management.

The Carers Strategy Group meets every two months with Northamptonshire County Councils, Social Care and Health dept. taking the lead. For further information please contact David Lewis on 01604 237672 or by e-mail on dlewis@northamptonshire.gov.uk

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