Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual Meeting

Contact: Mark Pirnie - Scrutiny Manager 023 8083 3886 

Link: link to meeting

Items
No. Item

4.

Carer Friendly Southampton - Carers Health, Wellbeing and Safety pdf icon PDF 298 KB

Report of the Director of Legal and Business Operations requesting that the Panel consider the comments made by the invited guests and use the information provided as evidence in the review

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Legal and Business Operations requesting that the Panel consider the comments made by the invited guests and use the information provided as evidence in the review.

 

Summary of information provided:

 

A carers perspective – Rebecca Kinge, Alex, Leah, Jasmine and Zunayrah

·  Following a vox pop produced by Carers in Southampton that provided view points from a number of adult carers on the impact of caring on their health and wellbeing, Linda Lawless, Service Manager at Carers in Southampton, interviewed Rebecca Kinge, a carer and parent to 3 children, 2 of whom have additional needs.

·  Rebecca discussed her serious health condition caused by the stress of her caring  responsibilities; the limited free time she has; the impact caring has had on her ability to work; the essential support she receives from friends and family; bouts of depression before working hard on her mental wellbeing; her wish that services had been available to prevent the crisis caused by her neurological disorder; the impact of caring on her job security, pension, financial independence.  Rebecca praised the support offered by Re:Minds, a parent led support group for parents with children with mental health issues.

·  Emma Jones and Emma Bowley from No Limits supported young carers Alex, Leah, Jasmine and Zunayrah to inform the Panel of the impact of caring on their health and wellbeing.  The young carers discussed the impact on their social life; the impact on their emotional, physical and emotional wellbeing; the sense of loss because of their caring role, and; the support they had received.

 

Carer Wellbeing – Clare Rachwal, Team Manager, Portsmouth Carers Service, Adult Social Care

A presentation was delivered by Clare Rachwal providing an overview of the support for carers provided by the Portsmouth Carers Service. Key points raised in the presentation included the following:

·  The NHS GP Patient Survey 2019 showed that carers’ health and wellbeing was worse than the general population, 61% of carers reported a long-term condition, disability, or illness compared with 50% of non-carers.

·  Research by Carers UK into carers’ health and wellbeing found that most of those providing substantial care had faced mental ill-health and physical ill-health as a result of caring. Specifically, 6 out of 10 people (61%) say their physical health had worsened as a result of caring, while 7 out of 10 (72%) said they had experienced mental ill health.

·  The national policy context in support of carers was strong and, pandemic permitting, getting stronger.  This included the NICE Guideline Supporting Adult Carers published in Jan 2020: and the NHS England – GP Quality Markers & NHS England – Commitment to Carers.

·  Portsmouth Carers Service is based within Adult Social Care, it was previously based in a joint public health and prevention service.

·  It has been responsible for Carers Assessments since 2009. The Carers Centre is a community hub for a range of carer activity including groups, training, cooking activities, events.

·  Early intervention and prevention ethos seeking to reduce social isolation, promote  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.