News for carers and health & social care professionals in Bristol & South Gloucestershire
Do you live in Bristol and care for someone with a learning disability? The next Learning Disabilities Lunch and Discussion Group will be taking place on Tuesday 6th February, 10.30am-12.30pm, at Carers Support Centre in Fishponds.
Continue reading “Bristol LD Carers Discussion Group 6th February”
Do you have comments about mental health services? Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust is launching a five year strategy and are asking for comments on this. One of the key areas that they are consulting on around this strategy is how they can better support service users and carers. The deadline to comment on this is Friday 22 December.
View the draft strategy here and fill out the online survey here.
The Internet Safety Strategy looks at how the government can ensure vulnerable people are safe online.
The national consultation about this strategy covers various aspects of online safety including:
View the consultation here.
The deadline for responding to this is midday on the 7th December 2017.
The aim of the Ageing Better Plan is to set out the guiding principles for all organisations working with older people in South Gloucestershire. The plan will set out South Gloucestershire Council’s priorities for the next 5 years and they would like everyone to contribute to it.
South Gloucestershire Council say about the plan, “The Ageing Better Plan brings together the outcomes and priorities that will guide our work to support older people (age 65+), the way we will measure our progress and how we will work to realise our ambitions. It is based on data, evidence and consultation with older people and wider partners across the area.”
There will be an event on Wednesday 22 November 2017, Yate Outdoor Sports Complex between 9.30am – 12.30pm.
You don’t have to book on to this – you can just turn up.
The consultation documents are available online here from your local South Gloucestershire library or One Stop Shop.
Healthwatch Bristol and Healthwatch South Gloucestershire would like to know about your experiences of GP services in your area. You can do this by accessing the survey here.
For more information about Healthwatch in your local area, please contact: 0117 965 4444.
The Department for Transport is running an event in Bristol at the Novotel Bristol Centre Hotel, Victoria Street, BS1 6HY from 11am – 3pm on Monday 13 November for interested parties to come and discuss the draft plan. The event is open to carers and disabled people. This is similar to the event that was held at The Vassall Centre in October, which a couple of our carer representatives attended.
A place can be booked via the Eventbrite site here.
The consultation document can be viewed here.
For more information please email: AAPConsultation@dft.gsi.gov.uk
Shared Reading are events happening regularly at libraries across Bristol, with some newly started in South Gloucestershire (keep an eye out for future groups in South Glos). A trained volunteer will read aloud a story and poem – participants can relax, listen and chat as they wish. All reading material is provided, no booking is required and the sessions are free. They are a great way to open a conversation and make new friends.
Discover how to do more with your handheld tablet and mobile phone. Deafblind UK are holding a technology workshop at The Vassall Centre on Wednesday 22nd November. Continue reading “Technology workshop 22nd November”
The Royal Surgical Aid Society is looking for family carers of people with dementia to take part in a new three-day residential support programme.
Continue reading “Residential Dementia Carer Support Programme”
Are you currently or have you used local Physiotherapy, Rheumatology, Podiatry, Orthopaedics, Pain Clinic Services in the last 2 years?
If the answer is ’Yes’, you might be interested in attending a workshop to help re-design the way patients access these services?
Please email: sgccg.getinvolved@nhs.net or call: 0117 947 4441 to find out more or book your place.
We are currently looking for more carers, or those that have recent experience of caring, who would like to be trustees or carer representatives.
Carers Support Centre – Bristol and South Gloucestershire (CSC) is a local independent charity that supports unpaid adult and young (children) carers and we are committed to being carer-led. This means that we want carers to be an integral part of our staff team, management and board of trustees.
In an increasingly challenging environment for carers, with social care and healthcare services facing difficult times, it is more important than ever that unpaid carers have an independent organisation to champion and support their needs.
Carer representatives have the opportunity to ensure that carer’s voices are heard by key decision makers both locally and nationally to make services work better for all carers. As a carer representative, you would be trained and supported to ‘get involved’ in a way that works best for you and your caring situation. For example; attending meetings, focus groups, providing feedback on consultations (either over the telephone or online). We work flexibly with carer representatives to find the best way of being involved that works for the individual, to ensure that the views of carers are heard by service providers.
We need your help to identify where we can make the most difference to carers’ lives and ensure that carer’s voices are heard.
Trustees are responsible for the governance of CSC and play a pivotal role in working alongside the Chief Executive and Senior Management team to ensure that that the organisation achieves its aims and objectives.
Trustees come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and you do not need to have been a trustee before in order to apply.
We would like to invite you to our ‘Get Involved’ event to meet some of our current trustees and carer representatives, find out what’s involved and how you can apply.
What level of commitment does being a Trustee or Carer Representative require?
There are a minimum of six trustee meetings a year with the possibility of some additional meetings. This commitment is likely to be a maximum of one day per month on average, dependent on the role.
Carer representatives normally attend around eight meetings a year which will need some preparation time too (with our support) before meetings. The time commitment is about half a day a month, dependent on the role.
We can also offer support and development opportunities in a range of skills for both Trustees and carer representatives.
Next steps
Please contact Keith Sinclair (Chief Executive Officer) email: KeithSinclair@carerssupportcentre.org.uk if you’d like to discuss the trustee role and/or receive an information pack, or Caroline McAleese (Carer Engagement and Involvement Lead) e-mail: CarolineM@carerssupportcentre.org.uk if you are interested in the carer representative role.
South Gloucestershire has recently produced a guide to direct payments and personalisation. View the document here!
The guide includes information on what carers should be able to use their direct payments for:
Direct Payments for carers
A Carer’s Direct Payment is a sum of money provided from the council directly to a carer to enable them to have a fulfilling life outside of caring. This can be provided as a one off or ongoing payments.
The amount will depend on the carer’s assessed needs and the outcomes they wish to achieve. It must support you in your caring role and help to keep you well and healthy. For example:
Alongside other topics, direct payments will be discussed at our Carers Rights Day event on 24th November.
Integrated Urgent Care includes provision of NHS 111, out-of-hours and urgent care services.
Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) plan to commission an Integrated Urgent Care (IUC) service for the residents of Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. As a key part of this process, they are looking for two or three people to join in the procurement decision making processes. This could be a great way to make sure that carers views are heard at this important stage of the process.
What you will receive
If you become a member of the procurement evaluation panel, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire CCGs will provide:
Who can get involved
BNSSG CCGs promote and support diversity and are committed to equality of opportunity for all. They particularly want to hear from people from black and minority ethnic communities and younger adults.
How to get involved
For further details, please go to the BNSSG website by early November.
This will take you to a page where you can express your interest in this role. If you have any further queries, please email contactus.bnssg@nhs.net with the heading Integrated Urgent Care Service Involvement.
If you are an older person or caring for an older person in South Gloucestershire, make sure you have your input on the draft South Gloucestershire Council Ageing Better Plan. This sets out the outcomes and priorities that will guide South Gloucestershire Council’s work to support older people aged 65 and over. The draft plan also includes a section on carers. You can view the draft plan and respond to the consultation here.
The deadline is 12th January 2018.
The ‘Your Neighbourhood’ consultations were open between 13th June and 5th September, 2017 and comprised consultations on proposals for:
All of the above are relevant to carers, but in particular, the proposed changes to Bristol Community Links are likely to impact carers whose cared for attends Bristol Community Links Day Centres. There were 1607 responses to the Bristol Community Links consultation and of these, 84% agreed that the drop-in service should be maintained. 73% agreed that independent living should be a priority for the Bristol Community Links service and people responded to where they most thought additional drop-in services would be valuable. The highest number of requests for local drop-in services was in Avonmouth and Lawrence Weston, followed by Hartcliffe and Withywood. The survey asked respondents, “If we extend the opening hours, do you think that we should no longer provide transport automatically, but that it should be decided on an individual case by case basis”. 61% of those who responded, agreed that the transport to Bristol Community Links centres should be decided on an individual case by case basis. 15% disagreed and 24% weren’t sure.
The full report can be accessed here.
The consultation results, along with Bristol City Council’s Equalities Impact Assessments, will be taken into consideration in developing a set of final proposals.
The council’s decisions on these services will be made at public meetings of Cabinet later in 2017 or early 2018. These dates will be published as part of the Council’s forward plan here.
The next meeting takes place:
Wednesday, 1 November 2017, 10.30 — 12.30
Barton Hill Settlement
43 Ducie Road, Barton Hill Bristol BS5 0AX
If you are 55 or older you can have your say on what happens locally at this next open forum meeting. Speakers will include Disabled Go and senior trading standards officer from Bristol City Council — talking about consumer rights and how to avoid common scams.
For further details, see the BOPF website
19 October 9.30 am — 1pm
Rose Green Centre, 65 Gordon Road, Whitehall BS5 7DR
Bristol BME Voice, Avon Fire and rescue service and partners have joined together to hold an event to help make safety a priority to BME communities.
This event will highlight how people can better protect their homes and the steps that the fire service can take to support them. This includes fitting or updating new smoke alarms, advice to reduce hoarding, cooking advice, and the support available for vulnerable residents.
To book your place piece contact Voscur: (0117) 909 9949
Do you live in South Gloucestershire and care for someone with dementia? Come along to South Glos Council roadshows to find out about how you and the person you care for can live well with their diagnosis.
Bristol Royal Hospital for Children is holding an event called Young Minds Matter on October 10, 6pm – 8.30pm. Young Minds Matter is a new concept generated by young people, for young people to aid awareness, share experiences and promote positive mental health.
The event will take place during World Mental Health Day at the Bristol Royal Infirmary.
For more information on how to attend click here.
The Sustainable Transformation Partnership (STP) in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire are redesigning the musculoskeletal pathway and need your help to do this. The musculoskeletal pathway includes physiotherapy, rheumatology, orthopaedics, pain clinic, podiatry, plus the musculoskeletal assessment and treatment service. In partnership with South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group, the STP are looking for the views of patients, public and interested parties to offer your views on what the high level design of the service will look like.
A workshop is being held on Tuesday 31 October, 10am – 1pm at the Vassall Centre, Bristol, BS16 2QQ. They are particularly looking for people that have experienced these services within the last two years. If you are interested in attending please contact
E-mail: samantha.benney@nhs.net or
Telephone: 0117 947 4441
Subscribe to receive updates about supporting our work in Bristol and South Gloucestershire.
