Carers Partnership Board

4 April 2017

Papworth Everard Village Hall

Ermine St South, Papworth Everard CB23 2EZ
Minutes

Present
MB Mandy Brine Centre 33
SC Sally Cleghorn Administration Officer, CAIL
TC Teresa Cockette Quality Governance and Practice Development
Team Manager, CCC
RC Richard Cross Carer Representative
SP Stuart de Prochnow Carer Representative
EF Elain Fleet Service Development Manager, Carers
LG Laura Green Carers Support Manager, Carers Trust (CTC)
SH Sue Honour Chair, Carer Representative
TH Tony Honour Observer
JK Jackie King Partnership and Participation Officer, Pinpoint
GL Graham Lewis Development Officer, CAIL
PM Pauline Mansfield Service Manager, Making Space
EM Ella McKenzie Young Adult Carer, Carers Trust Cambridgeshire
SM Sarah Morgan Engagement Officer, Cambridge & Peterborough
Police and Crime Commissioner’s office,
ZN Zoë Nicholas Carer Representative
LO Lynne O’Brien Service Development Manager, Older People
JS Joseph Simon Carer Representative
MS Mike Smith Carer Representative
Fen House, Fen Road, Cambridge, CB4 1UN
Tel: 0300 111 2301 Email:admin@cambridgeshirealliance.org.uk
Registered Charity No. 1132290 Company limited by guarantee No 06861653
1. Welcome, introductions, apologies
Apologies: Kadie Chapman, Siobhan MacBean, Richard Holland.
JS suggested that RC should remain on the Board due to his extensive
knowledge and that he a carer for his son.
SH/ GL said they would be exploring all avenues.

2. Minutes of last meeting (Feb 4 2017) and Action Log

2.1 Minutes RC said he had spoken about carer awareness training and that he
was disappointed not to see it in the Minutes.
Action: SC to follow up
Item 6 – The action on inviting Christine Richardson will be removed. It is not
clear who this refers to.
Apart from these remarks the Minutes were agreed.
2.2 Action Log
Action 3 – GL is still trying to find a speaker. ZN asked if it was a carer or
professional. LG thought it was more a professional who could explain how
carers are built into the pathway for end of life care. GL added it would be
good to have both angles.
Action 18 – SH raised this at the ASCF. The feedback from the Council was
that is happy to split the budget.
Action 19 – the CPFT presented to the ASCF on equipment and its plan to
retrieve and recycle items.
GL said he would be meeting SH and KC soon to look at planning future
agendas.

3. Feedback from carer representatives

3.1 ZN informed the Board that there is a Bill going forward on Vulnerable Adults and
Disablist Crime. There is an opportunity to provide feedback to Tiff Lane Hate Crime
Coordinator at Cambridgeshire Police.

Action: ZN to give GL the details for circulation to the Board.

ZN recommended the Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Newsletter for lay

people. Christine Jones delivers safeguarding training.

Action: ZN to give GL the details for circulation to the Board.

3.2 LG Carers Week is 12 – 18 June. Carers Trust Cambridgeshire is running the

second Pride in our Carers Award jointly with CPFT to acknowledge great carers and
good practice. There will be seven categories, judging by an impartial panel,
submission date is 17 April.

3.3 RC - Dementia Awareness Week 14 – 20 May.

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3.4 SdP

 Applying for a Blue Badge

This has become more difficult. The assumption is a person can renew
on line. This isn’t the case for everyone. The phone number given
didn’t allow him to speak to anyone. With the help of staff at CAIL and
then Carol Williams of Adult Social Care he finally spoke to someone
but still had to go to the Post Office for a postal order. The new system
is thoroughly unsatisfactory.
 Repeat prescriptions
Surgeries have adopted a new system for repeat prescriptions. For
people who aren’t mobile or rely on a neighbour it has become more
difficult and unsatisfactory. He finally got the CCG to agree that his
prescription could remain under the old system. Is there any way of
reversing the changes?

JS – have you signed up for electronic service? Most of Cambridgeshire has it.

MS – His surgery has just changed. Told he could not do otherwise and has to put
his prescription in at the surgery.

ZN – if pharmacies have signed up to this service, do they have to inform patients?

MS – my surgery informed everyone.

RC had the same experience as SdP and MS. He’s had to accept help from family
members to use the online system. This is not an ideal solution.

TP – until recently prescriptions were delivered to the home.

ZN – suggested the Board should send a letter to Adult Social Care to ask if the Blue
Badge process could be simplified.

GL – wasn’t present at the last ASCF but will make sure this is raised at the next.

Action: GL will write to ASCF about Blue Badge process.

SH – the dropped curb issue is almost settled.

4. Feedback from other meetings

Graham I have nothing under this heading.

5. Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner

 The Commissioner Jason Ablewhite is doing more outreach himself.
SM investigates how he can best do this.
 JA has met Police officers individually and on patrol

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  He is particularly concentrating on vulnerable groups and young
people. He is currently working with Carers Trust Cambridgeshire to
create a leaflet for young people. The Commissioner will attend one of
their drop-ins.
 The Police and Crime Plan is available online.

Action: SM to email the Easy Read version to GL.

SM said VoiceAbility is no longer offering the Easy Read service. She asked for
suggestions of organisations that do this.

She circulated the leaflet about the Police and Crime Commissioner.

LG – the Commissioners visit is mentioned in the CTC update. It will be on April 21,
6:30pm at Tesco’s Community Room, St Ives.

RC – many people don’t know about the Bobby Scheme. It needs promoting. SM
accepted the point

- Cold calling persists. SM said she had liaised with six different policing areas
that have Crime Prevention officers. This is ongoing work.
- Parking on pavements
- Cyclists without lights, bells and on the pavement. Investigations into child
domestic abuse and child sexual exploitation are using resources.

SM said that Peterborough Police has delegated powers to the Peterborough City
Council for ticketing offenders. This is working extremely well, the fine goes to the
Council and the scheme is self-funding. The District Councillor is the person to
approach.

ZN – a salesman promoting lottery tickets for the East Anglia Ambulance called. He
asked for her bank details. She felt the charity needs guidance on running this.

Break

6. Carer Self-assessments
 TC explained that Cambridgeshire County Council is changing its IT
system. It is therefore a good time to review all Adult Social Care
documentation.
 Frontline workers have worked on this to examine the whole pathway
for individuals and carers.
 They are aiming to streamline forms, to be compliant with the Care Act
2014. They have incorporated feedback from Carers Trusts and
Alzheimer’s Society.
 She is talking about supported Self-Assessment. She apologised for not
sending it sooner. It has been suggested that they provide a guidance
sheet.

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Q&A

SH – if you care for more than one person are there two forms?

No. LG added that Carers Trust Cambridgeshire tried not to let the form lead them
but follows a ‘whole family’ approach.

SH – my last assessment focussed on one cared-for and not at all on the second.

MS – my Carer’s Assessment ran out nine months ago. He was told he would have
to wait until his wife had her assessment. It wasn’t much help. There is no Carer’s
Grant.

TC – when you have an assessment there is a Personal Budget, Direct Budget or a

mixture.

MS – from my experience at the MS Therapy Centre there seems to be no common

standard e.g. some received allowance for hair care and others not.

TC – every case is individual.

EF – there should be one over-arching assessment contained in the Carer’s

Assessment. With reference to the form would it be possible to have an additional
box to allow for extra, secondary caring roles?

PM – the old form allowed for this situation.

JS – offered a word of caution about self-assessment. The carer might not fully
appreciate how serious their situation is, they might not be able to complete the form,
they might not see the point of doing so.

TC – agreed this might not be for everyone.

PM – a lot of people don’t understand what a ‘social care assessment’ is.

LG – the CTC contract is for those whose cared-for does not receive Adult Social
Care assessment.

RC – with reference to section on impact of being a carer, what is ‘relationships’

referring to?

EF – it is ambiguous

MS – would it be worth saying you can add something to the form?

TC – yes, the boxes will be bigger

LG – visits usually take place in the daytime when children are at school. A question
on children would avoid missing them from the assessment. However CTC doesn’t
expect everyone to answer every question as some may not be applicable

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LOB – it would be helpful to say that at the beginning on the form.

TC – it would go in the guidance

ZN – this form is more detailed than the one I filled in for my mother in Wales. I have
one cared-for in Wales and one in Guildford but they spend three months with her.
Should she complete three assessments?

TC – the assessment is done for where the cared-for resides

TH – In his situation the answer to the question “Do you live in the same household”
is yes and no.

SH – you could attach an extra form within the same pack

TC agreed it needed more thought

EF agreed with GL that caring is becoming more complex. The Care Act talks about
a holistic assessment but no one has fully solved this. She suggested adding the
question “Do you have an additional caring role?” and then the related form could be
attached. That would give a better picture.

LG – Carers Trust has done supported people in completing the form. If it’s for self-
assessment then it must be clearer.

EF – The phrase ‘contingency planning’ isn’t always understood. She prefers “What
If Plan”.

SH – could both terms be used?

LG – Carers Trust’s annual survey found that people used the “What If Plan” even if
they didn’t need to alert CTC. This shows there is a value in having the conversation.

SH – it would be helpful to put on page 1 that only the first five pages have to be
completed. It would be so off-putting.

EF – likes ‘Actions’ and ‘Personal Responsibilities’. A copy goes back to the carers
so that they can hold the assessor to account.

ZN – page 7, Stage 1 wanted to add a question about ‘has the carer’s needs
changed?’

TC said this section is part of the national standard framework and cannot be
changed.

EF suggested this could be dealt with by adding a phrase like ‘in the past year…’

TC will visit other groups. The consultation closes mid-May.

Action: GL will send the form to all Carers Partnership Board members.

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 7. Finance Report
 These are not the final at term figures. It might go up.
 In subsequent years there will be an increase for Carers Trust
Cambridgeshire as more carers are indentified.
 Had to increase staff capacity by £20,000 to cover statutory assessments of
Young Carers. These numbers have increased from work done with primary
schools.
 £408,000 to carers on Direct Payments. Cambridgeshire has one of the
highest budgets in the East. This will rise to £458,000.
 The all-age Carers Strategy has been agreed by the CPB. Now talking to
CPFT and CCG for co-commissioning with Peterborough to get the most for
the money.
 1213 Carers Assessments. This may rise when all the figures are in.
 The What If scheme is highly valued and gives peace of mind

PM – there are no CPFT figures included.

EF - no I can’t pull out this data.

MS – asked about the Direct Payment and its use for respite care.

EF – we can’t give money for respite to a carer. If the cared-for gets respite it is
respite for the carer.

MS – was told the cared-for and carer can’t take respite together.

EF – I appreciate that.

Action: GL to send the Financial Spend, Performance and Activity Briefing to all
Carers Partnership Board members.

8. Adult Social Care Forum – items for and items to

 GL and TC sit on the Home Care Services Board. Issues have been taken
to the Adult Social Care Forum. The County Council has arranged a series
of meetings to hear people’s views.

9. Any other business

GL has arranged a transport meeting at Cambridge station about this station
and Cambridge North. They will meet the newly appointed Community
Engagement Officer.

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

Refreshments will be available from 9:45am

Carers’ pre meeting will start at 10am. Main meeting will begin at 10:30 prompt.

2017 meeting dates

July 25, 1:30pm-3:30pm, Main Hall, 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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