Issue - meetings

The Chair introduced a report from the Council’s Commissioning Manager for Adults’ Care and Support which provided the first annual update on the delivery and ongoing development of the Action Plan linked to the Carers Charter 2022-2025.

The Charter had been co-produced with unpaid carers from the Borough and was adopted by the HWB at its meeting on 12 January 2022 (Minute 40 refers).  The Charter set out the Council’s and its partners’ commitment to carers in Barking and Dagenham and how they would be supported in their caring role.  The Charter was accompanied by an Action Plan that acted as the framework for the delivery and development of services, working practices, and the identification and support of unpaid or informal carers in the Borough.

The Chair drew attention to the 2021 Census which showed that 1 in 14 of the Borough’s residents, which represented approximately 14,000 individuals, were recorded as performing a caring role.  However, the Council was only aware of approximately 4,000 of those individuals and whilst GP surgeries also recorded carer information, it was apparent that the majority of carers in the local community were unknown and unrecognised.

The Action Plan had been designed to represent an achievable, staggered programme of improvements and the Chair referred to several aspects, which included the greater involvement of carers in the hospital discharge pathway and signing-off of care plans, carers’ assessments, training for front-line staff to raise awareness of carers and the support available to them, and support for young carers, such as respite. 

Arising from the discussions, reference was also made to:

·  The critical role of carers during the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to reflect their role in winter planning arrangements;

·  The development of a Carers Strategy by the North East London Foundation Trust (NELFT) and the need to triangulate activities across the partnership to ensure consistent messaging and avoid duplication;

·  The importance of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans being in place for young carers and the role of Schools in identifying young carers to ensure they received the right support;

·  The improvements being made in the sharing of relevant data across partner organisations; and

·  The need to develop a partner-wide communications strategy that would help to identify carers and make them aware of the support available, with a particularly focus on those ethnic groups who were less likely to identify themselves as carers.

The Health and Wellbeing Board and ICS Sub-Committee:

(i)  Noted the update on the delivery of the Carers Charter Action Plan, as detailed in Appendix 2 to the report; and

(ii)  Endorsed the sharing of relevant data by partners to support the delivery of the Action Plan.