Supporting Warwickshire’s Carers Claire Hall Carers and Care at Home Commissioner

Objectives Provide and overview of the health and social cares joint strategic aims. Review the results / outcomes of recent carers engagement exercises. Input into the development of Warwickshire's Joint Carers Strategy and Carers Support Services. Drive improvements in terms of carers support across the local health and social care infrastructure.

A carer is someone who provides unpaid support to family or friends who could not manage without this help. This could be caring for a relative, partner, a child or friend who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or substance misuse problems.

11% of Warwickshire's population (59,240 people) provide some level of unpaid care each week Warwickshire carers are young carers. Approximately 7000 people are providing between 20 to 49 hours of care per week. 12,500 are providing 50 or more hours of care per week.

As the population grows and ages an increasing number of people are likely to continue to provide significant levels of care. Between 2001 and 2011 the number of unpaid carers in Warwickshire has risen by 11% overall. However, the number of people providing between 20 to 49 hours and 50+ hours rose by 32%. Informal carers make an important contribution to the overall health and social care system. The value of unpaid care in Warwickshire is between £575m and £1.24bn per year It is critical that we provide the right support to carers in order to minimise the negative impacts of caring upon their health and wellbeing, and enable them to continue in their caring role.

Cares are 68% more likely to report worse health compared to non carers. Prevalence of mental health problems among carers is 20% higher than among non carers. Caring is correlated with lower participation and hours of work. Young carers have significantly lower educational attainment at GCSE level. Young carers aged are twice as likely as their peers to be NEET.

Supporting Warwickshire’s Carers Strategic Direction

National Drivers – The Care Act Aims to improve a persons quality of life by intervening early in order to help prevent, retain or regain their skills and confidence and ….. Wherever possible, preventing needs and/or postponing deterioration The underpinning Principle of the Act is to ensure wellbeing of people and outcomes which matter to them are at the heart of every decision that is made. Concept of wellbeing applies to all aspects of a carer’s life Same status as the person that they care for o provision of information and advice o promoting wellbeing o preventing reducing or delaying needs o assessment, support planning and reviewing

National Drivers – The Care Act Duty on the LA to be able to identify carers in their area whose needs are not being met Duty for LA to undertake a ‘carers assessment’ on the basis of appearance of need, and meet carers need for support There is a duty to consider whether a carer’s inability to achieve certain outcomes has a significant impact on their wellbeing as part of determining eligibility for services Lower threshold for assessment than under current law – many more carers able to access assessments

National Drivers – National Carers Strategy Carer’s Strategy: Second National Action Plan sets out the four key priorities, as in the previous publication Recognised, valued and supported: next steps for the Carer’s Strategy (2010). These are: 1.Identification and recognition - Supporting those with caring responsibilities to identify themselves as carers at an early stage, recognising the value of their contribution and involving them from the outset in designing local care provision and in planning individual care packages. 2.Realising and releasing potential - Enabling those with caring responsibilities to fulfil their education and employment potential. 3.A life alongside caring - Personalised support for carers and those they support, enabling them to have a family and community life. 4.Supporting carers to stay healthy - Supporting carers to stay mentally and physically well.

Local Drivers Warwickshire’s Joint Carers Strategy also sets out the four key priorities, which mirror the national Strategy: 1.Supporting early self-identification and involvement in local care planning and individual care planning 2.Enabling those with caring responsibilities to fulfil their educational and employment potential 3.Personalised support both for carers and those they support, enabling them to have a family and community life 4.Supporting carers to remain mentally and physically well

Local Drivers Warwickshire Cares Better Together We have drawn carers’ services into Warwickshire Cares Better Together (WCBT) plans because we believe that supporting carers should be an integrated provision. We have agreed jointly to put strong mechanisms in place to support informal carers and work across the health and social care economy to minimise the impact of illness and disability on a carer’s life. The existing contract for carers support services expires in early and the Warwickshire Joint Carers Strategy is due to be refreshed.

Through a process of engagement and co-design with key partners and stakeholders we will jointly develop and implement: An outcomes focused carers support offer and re-tender this service. A refreshed Warwickshire’s Joint Carers Strategy. We aim to drive improvements across carers support infrastructure, specifically in terms of: Early identification of carers – effective signposting to right support. Increased numbers of carers accessing commissioned support services. Increased numbers of carers accessing and benefiting from a Carers Assessment. Carers are able to access services/support they need at the right time in the right place.

We are not taking any services away. We are not cutting budgets - We are increasing the budget for carers support services. We may change the way we deliver services (where, when and how) if carers and key stakeholders tell us that there is a better way. We may bring in additional support services if carers and key stakeholders tell us there is something that they really need.

We currently commissions Guideposts Trusts to deliver a countywide Carers Support Service which provides: Personalised information and advice on all aspects of the caring role. 1-to-1 support Peer-led support groups Training sessions In addition, many of the services provided to customers are provided to support both the cared for and the carer including; respite, homecare, day care and direct payments. However we are not able to identify the proportion of this provision that is to primarily to support the carer as it is all recorded as a service for the cared for.

Supporting Warwickshire’s Carers Carers Engagement: Key Messages

Feedback from carers known to Guideposts reveals that the main barriers to engaging with the current Guideposts Carers support service are: o being unable to leave cared-for person. o time of day. o location and transport. This indicates that accessibility of services and replacement care are key issues for many carers. Where carers known to WCC report that they ‘quiet satisfied’ with the support and services received, the key reasons for this are: Having your own time. Control over daily life. Looking after yourself (getting enough sleep and eating well). Social contact.

Is there anyone with whom you have come into contact with, who you feel are well placed to advise about what services and support you are entitled to? – multiple response question.

If you would like more information about services and support, how would you prefer to find out about what is available to you? – multiple response question

Which form of support would help you in your caring role and could give you a better quality of life? – multiple response question.

Where would you prefer to access a face-to-face support service? – multiple response question

Considering the different types of help and support listed below - At what times would you want to be able to access them?

Exercise The service support offer What support is required? Can carers access what they need when they need it? If not why not? What could we do better?