Carers Partnership Board

11 October 2016

Orchard Park Community Centre, Cambridge

Minutes

Present
EA Eva Acs
AB Ashling Bannon
LB Lenja Bell
KC Kadie Chapman
SC Sally Cleghorn
RC Richard Cross
HD Heather Davison
SP Stuart de Prochnow
EF Elaine Fleet
SH Sue Honour
GL Graham Lewis
SM Siobhan MacBean
LM Lisa Murphy
LMy Linda Mynott
DR Deborah Rostant
JS Joseph Simon
Director of Operations, Centre 33
Carers Trust Cambridgeshire
Chief Officer, Pinpoint
Vice-Chair, Carer Representative
Administration Officer, Cambridgeshire Alliance
Carer Representative
Coordinator, Healthwatch
Carer Representative
Service Development Manager Carers, CCC
Chair, Carer Representative
Development Officer, Cambridgeshire Alliance
Service Development Manager, Disabled
Childrens Service, CCC
Primary Adviser, Schools Intervention Service
Head of Disability Services PD and SI and
Carers Support, CCC
Practice & Standards Quality Manager, CCC
Carer Representative

1. Welcome, introductions, apologies

Apologies: Lynne OBrien, Pauline Mansfield, Laura Green

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2. Minutes of last meeting (26/07/16) and Action Log
2.1 The minutes of 26 July were agreed.
2.2 Matters arising
GL polled members who agreed Tuesdays remain the most suitable day for
meetings
KC has been elected as Vice Chair
Ken Fairbairn attended the Older Peoples Partnership Board but was
unable to attend today.
2.3 Action Log
Item 3 End of life care GL continues to look for a speaker. RC queried why
this subject has come up now.
Item 4/ 5 Identification of carers
LM reported on her work in primary schools using Keep In Touch
(KIT) forms. Additional question ask if any young carers have been
identified and/ or where an older sibling may have passed on their
caring responsibilities to a younger sibling.
KIT forms should be completed by Christmas so that they have the
numbers of children in the County. The aim is to use the data to help
children or their families to identify themselves and get support.
She is working with a school that has won a bronze Young Carer
Award to produce a video on caring suitable for primary children.
RC has been in touch with young carers groups. He was disappointed to
note that they still seem to feel a stigma at being identified as a carer.
LM it is a requirement to see caring as a job. The aim is that the team and
friends should celebrate the role but this needs careful handling.
KC asked if she has access to out of county schools.
HD - and independent schools.

3. Feedback from Carer Representatives

3.1 SdP- there is a long wait for an Occupational Therapist (OT).
Healthwatch is aware of OT delays.
Board agreed GL should take delays in the OT service to the Adult Social
Care Forum (ASCF).
3.2 Personal Independence Payments (PIP) claims which are rejected and
subsequently reinstated through a tribunal lead to a great deal of stress. This
has come up at other partnership boards.
Action: GL and Leisha OBrien to set up a cross board meeting with an
invited benefits expert.

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3.3 JS raised the price rise of services at Saxongate, Huntingdon. Commissioned
services are charged less than private arrangements. He suggested a split
payment.
Action: GL will take this to ASCF to highlight that people are allowed to take
split payments.
SM added that LDPB has also brought this up. It is not just at Saxongate.
Action: LM will take this back to the commissioners.

4. Feedback from other meetings

4.1Cambridge City Housing consultation

There has been a consultation with sitting tenants on housing adaptations.

Last year Cambridge City spent 900,000 on adaptations. They are
considering what they can do earlier and this fits with Transforming Lives
programme. CAIL will publish the report once it has been accepted.

4.2 Direct Payment Support Service consultation

This is currently with Penderels Trust. The tender process is on hold whilst
the Council reviews feedback.

5. CCC Quality Assurance of Social Work feedback consultation

Service users feed into continuing process of improvement. DR would
like the opportunity to report to the Carers Partnership Board annually.
Each social worker is being audited about their practice, what they
actually do and how it is evidenced to improve practice.
The Practice Governance Group (PGG) wants feedback. They currently
take complaints and compliments and improve issues but DR aims to
be more pro-active and reach out to people they dont normally contact.
Q&A
KC said that she is on the PGG but majority are professional social workers,
heads of services and the head of workforce development.
DR responded by saying that is why she wants to involve service users.
She wants to audit the individuals experience and therefore will be writing to
individuals with a questionnaire. This will also be in Easy Read format. There
will be a phone number to call. It might be possible to use student social
workers to make home visits to collect feedback.
EA would carers be involved?
DR it could be both.
SH what if someone should be supported but isnt.

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 DR this is about those already in the system but she hopes this would
improve lots of different areas with knock on effects.
SH - there are people who used to be supported but are no longer.
JS some high-functioning autistic people might need support but dont fit the
criteria.
KC what impact is there on social workers who are being audited? Does it
affect the time they have and is there any back-up support for them?
DR said she has been mindful of the emotional impact, is careful to say its
about corporate development and no names are given. It is seen as part of
supervision practice.
SH do social workers have to maintain their registration?
RD they do.
SdP are you duplicating the responsibility of line managers?
RD by not having an external audit they are saying it is their responsibility
but line managers are provided with a tool kit for managing teams.

6. Finance Report
Service for carers is now all ages. Carers Trust Cambridgeshire has
the main funding which includes Young Adult Carers. Centre 33 has
been commissioned to provide appropriate support to Young Carers.
There is a legal duty for local authorities to support all carers,
approximately 67,000 in Cambridgeshire. There have been enquiries
from about 11,000 for information and advice.
Emergency respite cover has had to be reduce to 24 hours because of
the requirement to cover all carers
Carers Assessment carers needs as a whole are looked at. Any
personal budget has to be aligned with identified need. The personal
support plan is put together based on that identified need. The amount
can be up to 575 annually. This is working well because carers who
have a heavy carer role can be supported more effectively.
Young Carers Statutory Assessment. EF has agreed 25% increase in
staffing. Assessors are the interface between services and are Lead
professionals. They can commission a more robust service across
different providers.
There is a projected underspend of 300k because of the success of
the preventative agenda
Traditionally most reviews take place between January and March but
they are aiming to align the process so that carers and service users
are assessed at the same time. A separate assessment is always

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 available to a carer. They are aiming to manage the budget better
because more carers are expected to come forward.

Q&A

SdP queried the underspend.

EF expects the underspend to reduce once assessments are aligned. Any
underspend this year may be used centrally to reduce any overspend in Children,
Families and Adult Social Care.
KC - if there is an underspend are you guaranteed to have access to it?
EF - Whilst the budget for Carers had not been reduced in previous years year on year, there
had been a reduction in the Carers budget of some 300K for year 15/16. Currently for the next
financial year there are no firm indications/intentions that the budget will see further reductions,
but this will be a matter for consideration and is subject to decisions by senior managers as to
what monies will be available at the time of budget preparation (Feb/Mar 2017 time) when
budgets are set in the Council and are agreed by Council Members that senior managers put
forward. No budget for any department or service is guaranteed year on year.

On an earlier point we confirmed that we are currently forecasting an underspend of 300K in

this years budget outturn due to the number and level of personal budgets that have been
awarded but that is was anticipated that as more carers are supported and identified, this
budget underspend(if the budget remains stable) will also grow smaller. However, in previous
years the relationship between the budget underspend in current year and the budget set out for
the following year has never had a direct correlation at the point that the budget was
set. However, in future years this again cannot be guaranteed due to the severe financial
constraints that the local authority is now currently experiencing and again acting upon such a
principal in an operational sense will be a decision for senior managers and members at the
time the budget is set.

JS - it was 2.2m before the County Council outsourced.

LM - they expect demand will grow.
EF - senior managers are very aware that carers are a great resource.
HD asked about Huntingdon but EF said it was not locality driven.

Break

7. Wheelchair Service report from Healthwatch Cambridgeshire

The report is entitled Sitting Comfortably

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 Healthwatch worked with CAIL, Pinpoint and Voiceability. Over 60
people replied to the survey or attended drop ins.
Levels of dissatisfaction were high at 40%. In particular feedback
showed that the service needs to recognise how important a persons
wheelchair is to their quality of life.
The report has been sent to Commissioners and providers to allow time
for them to respond. Provide sent a five page response. They
apologised and want to speak more widely to service users. Provide
has stressed that it has made some improvements. At the time of the
meeting Bartrams had not yet replied.
Healthwatch met the Clinical Commissioning Group last week. There
will be a new member of staff in place by the end of October who should
be in touch soon.
Healthwatch wants to continue to hear about peoples experiences.

Q&A
SdP when are the contracts due for renewal?
HD the contract has been rolled forward but probably by the end of the year.
SM asked if Childrens Disability Service should be encouraging feedback.
HD yes.
8. Adult Social Care Forum items for and items from
8.1 Items for: - Concerns about OTs.
- Charges for day services

8.2 Items from: - Handy Person Service with Age UK.

Action: GL to invites someone to speak on the Handy Person Service
- CCC will be preparing Easy Read information leaflets for
carers.
- Delivery and quality of domestic care: CCC has had some
meetings to gather feedback from service users. It also has
regular meetings with Healthwatch, CAIL, Age UK with Ken
Fairbairn and Teresa Cockette. The domiciliary contract is
due to be re-commissioned next year. Will be looking at how
to do things differently to improve domiciliary care.

9. Any other business

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 Healthwatch are now collecting stories about the experience of health care. Its
next newsletter will be on this theme.
RC gave his apologies in advance for 6 Dec meeting.
Action: GL will send out the meeting dates for 2017.

Next meeting: December 6 2016, 10.30am 12.30pm, Papworth Village Hall,

Ermine St South, Papworth Everard CB23 2RD
Refreshments will be available from 9.45pm.

Carers pre meeting will start at 10am. Main meeting will begin at 10.30pm prompt

2017 meeting dates

February 4 Saturday meeting to allow Young Carers to attend, 10.30-12.30
Meadows Community Centre (Garden Room), St Catharines Rd, Cambridge
CB4 3XJ

April 4, 1:30pm-3:30pm, Papworth Village Hall, Ermine St South, Papworth

Everard CB23 2RD

June 6, 10:30-12:30, Orchard Park Community Centre, Cambridge CB4 2EZ

July 25, 1:30pm-3:30pm, Papworth Village Hall, Ermine St South, Papworth

Everard CB23 2RD

October 3, 10:30-12:30, Orchard Park Community Centre, Cambridge CB4 2EZ

November 28, 1:30-3:30, Papworth Village Hall, Ermine St South, Papworth

Everard CB23 2RD

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