Agenda and minutes

Items
No. Item

15.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Sean Gibbons and Tracey Moran.

 

16.

Declarations of Interest, if any

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made.

 

17.

Minutes of the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Panel held on 22nd November 2021 pdf icon PDF 454 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED: The minutes of the meetings held on the held on the 22nd November 2021 were agreed as a true record.

 

18.

Public Statements

[A period not exceeding 20 minutes for

Statements from up to 5 members of the public on

matters within the Panel’s remit, proposing action(s)

which may be considered or contribute towards the

future development of the Panel’s work programme].

 

Minutes:

There were no public statements made.

19.

The All Age Carer's Strategy for Doncaster (2022 - 2025) pdf icon PDF 550 KB

Minutes:

The Panel received a report setting out the draft priorities of the All Age Carers’ Strategy for Doncaster 2022-25 and planned activity to finalise the strategy to be launched in April 2022.

 

There was a discussion held and the following areas were highlighted;

 

Priorities and Challenges - Members heard that the early identification, recognition and support to carers were areas of challenge whilst the numbers of carers had progressively increased over time. It was recognised that people might struggle for a long time without realising that they were a carer and therefore the continuity of carers support was very important.   It was acknowledged that carers should be everyone’s business and that it was important that those people had sufficient information and support so they did not feel alone.

 

Support, Information and Advice - A Member spoke about their own experiences of caring for their parent and how they felt isolated at times.  It was continued that during that period they needed support and advice, which hadn’t always been easy to access.  Members were made aware of Making Space, a carers support organisation in Doncaster, which provided an initial point of contact and was often staffed by carers themselves.  It was commented that the strategy should itself provide a role in improving communication across carers within the Borough and raise the profile of what was available.  It was felt that carers were often provided with information too late and that everything felt more like a challenge.  The importance of good support, availability of advice and knowledge at an early stage was recognised and it was acknowledged that DMBC and its partners needed to work collectively pulling together all the different sources of information in order for it to be quickly accessed.  Finally, the value of partnership working and greater involvement of GP practices was also viewed as important.

 

Eligibility Criteria - Clarification was sought on what the eligibility criteria included (as referred to in Paragraph 62 Legal Implications). Members were advised that this related to specific arrangements within Adult Social Care for carers services but that there was a lot the Council could do to support carers before reaching this point.

 

The Director of Adults, Health and Wellbeing explained how through a new contract commencing April 2022, carers who required support would be able to approach a single carers organisation about their situation and for that organisation to then connect them with the support and services that they required. 

 

Invisible Carers – A Member who was not able to attend the meeting provided a statement which was read out by the Chair around identifying invisible carers and ensuring the system could coordinate the right support for them.

 

It was acknowledged that there were many carers who had not been identified in parts of the system and this was potentially an area that could be picked up by the strategy.  It was also recognised how restrictions around information sharing also created barriers for carers.

 

Members were pleased to hear that carers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

20.

Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan and the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions pdf icon PDF 700 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Senior Governance Officer presented the latest Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan for the 2021/2022 municipal year and forward plan.

 

RESOLVED that:-

 

1.     The updated Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan for 2021/2022 be noted;  and

2.     That the Council’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions be noted.

3.         The Panel be provided with a briefing on the decision of ‘Refresh of the Get Doncaster Moving physical activity and Sport Strategy’.