CNWL CARERS COUNCIL

Friday 22nd July 2016, 12.30pm – 2.30pm

Alexander Fleming, 1st Floor, Trust HQ – Stephenson House NW1 2PL

Attendees / Title/Area Represented
Ann SMITH - Chair / Carer, Hillingdon
Prof. Dorothy GRIFFITHS / Chair, CNWL NHS Foundation Trust
Karen DOHERTY / Head of Patient and Carer Involvement, CNWL
Mr Chandu SHAH / Carer, Harrow, CNWL Carer Governor
Veronica KAMERLING / Carer, Eating Disorders
Janet SEALE / Carer Westminster
Neena GARNAVOS / Carers Health &Wellbeing Lead, Harrow Carers
Krishna JAMES / Hillingdon Mental Health Carers, Rethink
Gabriela SOLTYSIK / Carers UK, K&C
Ela PATHAK-SEN / CNWL Associate Director of Quality
Jarka HINKSMAN / Carer, Carers Action Westminster
Apologies
Robyn DORAN / Chief Operating Officer, CNWL, Executive Lead Carers
Allegra LYNCH / Chief Executive Officer, Camden Carers Service
Lydia HODGES / Carers Network (Westminster, H&F)
Kath FRAZER / Brent Carers Action
Myrna HAYTER / CNWL Carer Governor
Mr U Hla HTAY / Carer, Carers UK Ambassador
  1. Introductions and Welcome:

Ann Smithwarmly welcomed Professor Dorothy Griffiths, Chair of CNWL, to the meeting, introductions were made and apologies noted.

  1. Minutes and Matters Arising from previous minutes

The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and agreed to be an accurate record. All actions had been completed.Carers Council members had just attended a Co-production training session delivered by Veronica Kamerling, Carer, and Valerie Morrow, CNWL, before the meeting and all fed back positively.

  1. Carers leaflet

Our co-produced Carers Information leaflet was launchedon 10th June by Prof Dot Griffiths as the culmination of our Carers Week events. The launch was reported in the Ham & High local newspaper with an article and photo.

Ann Smith noted that she was very pleased with the new leaflet but stressed that we must ensure that all CNWL staff are aware of it and sharing it with carers as standard practice. Annchallenged the Trust to work to make this happen. Jarka suggested we look at sharing the leaflet with pharmacists and GPs. Neena added that Dr Alex Thomson, Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist at Northwick Park is proposing a Carers Pack at Northwick Park so we could look at piloting the leaflet there.

Action: Karen to bring a copy of the newspaper to the next meeting.

Action: The next Council meeting will agree an approach to roll out the leaflets across CNWL.

4. Carers Week – reflections

Ann Smith summarised our first Carers Week at CNWL and thanked the Trust for running the events. Over 100 staff attended the events at HQ over the week; meeting our Carer Governors and Carers Council members over cakes and afternoon tea, hearing Carers stories, seeing our Carers Film, and learning about the resources for carers across the whole Trust.

Claire Murdoch and Robyn Doran launched the week by signing a pledge to make CNWL a Carer Friendly Community and over the weekalmost 100CNWL staff signed their own personal pledges too. Dorothy Griffiths closed the week with the launch of the Carers Leaflet.

Ann and Veronica felt it was important for staff to recognise the challenges and unpredictability of caring and Krishna noted the additional challenges faced by carers and families in BME communities in terms of stigma and the ripple effect across the whole family. Ela agreed with this.Chandu concluded that it was really important to celebrate Carers Week in this way and said ‘‘Well done, CNWL’’.
5. Carers Conference Planning:

Date and Venue: It was confirmed that the Conference will take place onFriday, 21st October, 10am -4.30pm at Friends Meeting house on Euston Road, London NW1.

Programme: The members reviewed the conference programme and made comments. There was a lot of discussion about the programme content and many suggestions made so it was agreed to schedule a planning meeting to refine and finalise the programme.

Speakers:Prof. Dorothy Griffiths will open the conference. Karen noted that Sir Alistair Burt was not available to speak following the Cabinet reshuffle. Others names suggested for a key note speaker were Nick Clegg (Veronica), Sir Norman Lamb (Dorothy Griffiths) and Muir Grey (Neena).

Icebreaker: Janet and Ann suggested ‘The Brick wall’ as our ice breaker exercise and Ela supported this, this was agreed.

Workshops: To highlight good practice, the members asked thatwe showcase some good examples of partnership working. Ann suggested the very successful SHINE project. Jarka suggested the Recovery College.

Attendees: It was agreed that, as well as CNWL staff and Carers, we need good representation from local Carer Organisations, the CCGs and Healthwatch.

Action: Karen to arrange a conference planning meeting to review and finalise the programme – Neena, Janet, Ann, Chandu, Jarka and Krishna are interested in attending.

Action: Karen to contact Nick Clegg and Sir Norman Lamb and Neena to contact Muir Grey re: speaking at the conference

Action: Karen to ensure all attendees noted above invited to the conference, toinvite Employers for Carers and the CNWL Staff Network and the SHINE project.

  1. Updates from Carers and from CNWL

Ela Pathak-Sen informed the meeting that our North West London Commissioners and CNWL will be leading a Thematic Review of Carers’ Assessments early in the New Year. All members felt this was timely and were interested in supporting the review.

Ela highlighted Quality Improvement work being led by CLAHRC and Neena Garvanos noted her work as a CLAHRC fellow working with the wards in Northwick Park to improve quality. And looking at how the service works with Carers. We agreed to pick this up in a future meeting.

ChanduShah reported that he was having a number of health issues but would continue his work with Mencap, and gathering feedback from carers in Harrow and supporting CNWL in his roles on the Carers Council and as a Carer Governor. Ann Smith thanked Chandu for his work and commitment and noted that his health was the most important thing to look after.

Krishna James noted that her role was transitioningfrom Rethink to Hillingdon Carers from the 8th August.

Jarka Hinksman told the meeting about a newly opened Co-Production Centre at Middlesex University. Jarka also highlighted the Health Education England Award won by the CNWL Arts Therapy Group.

Ann thanked everyone for attending and concluded the meeting.

Next meeting:

Friday,23rd September 1.00pm-3.00pm at CNWL HQ, Stephenson House.

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