Briefing on the Carers Hub Service

1BACKGROUND

Carers in Kensington and Chelsea

According to the 2001 Census, there are approximately 11, 000Carers

resident in the Royal Borough. Currently around 1,500 of these are known to

Adult Social Care. Every day more people take on new unpaid caring

responsibilities and some Carers have to juggle caring and work. With an

ageing population, medical improvements and increasing numbers of people

diagnosed with dementia, caring will become part of everyday life for more

people. This requires that widely accessible, good quality information, advice

and signposting are essential throughout the borough, to provide the

necessary gateways into relevant support services.

The National Carers Strategy - Carers at the heart of 21st century families

and communities was published by the Department of Health in 2008 and

emphasises a number of key themes including:

  • Carers will be supported to stay mentally and physically well
  • Carers are recognised as experts and supported as partners
  • The financial disadvantages that Carers often face will be reduced
  • Carers enjoy life outside caring
  • Young Carers are supported to achieve across the five Every Child Matters (DFES 2004)outcome areas and protected against detrimental and inappropriate caring roles

The Royal Borough Carers Joint Strategy 2009 – 2013 and the Young

Carers Strategy

In response to the growing needs of Carers, the Royal Borough and NHS

Kensington and Chelsea launched a five year joint strategy in June 2009,

covering Carers of all ages.

The strategy aims to:

  • raise the profile and status of Carers
  • ensure Carers get the recognition they deserve
  • provide services tailored to individual needs and circumstances
  • enable Carers of all ages to have more choice and control over decisions that affect them.

The Royal Borough and NHS Kensington and Chelsea also published a

Young Carers Strategy – Supporting Children and Young People that care for parents. Key themes includemaking a positive contribution,being healthy, having fun and enjoying life, identifying young Carers early, awhole family approach, preventing detrimental caring, supporting parents,accessing flexible services and support and working beyond professional

service boundaries.

Coordination of information, advice and support

A key element of implementing this strategy is to establish a Carers Hub. The

Hub will coordinate and provide a comprehensive range of information and

advice as a single point of access for unpaid Carers to access the support

they need, and to develop a Carers Forum. This is in line with the outcome of

our consultation with Carers who specifically requested a non-building based

service, and which emphasised the need for improved access to the support

services available to Carers in the borough. The Carers Hub will provide a

reference point for all the voluntary sector organisations providing support

services to Carers of all client groups in the borough. The Hub will also be

expected to inform the development of the Carers Joint Strategy’s in the

future, including influencing the commissioning and development of services

to meet the needs of local Carers.

The HUB will be expected to become affiliated to the Princess Royal Trust for

Carers.

The main outcomes expected from the Carers Hub are that:

  • Carers will enjoy better health and a better quality of life through flexibility, choice and control of services and support
  • Carers have a voice in the local community

2Who is the service for?

Unpaid Carers who look after someone who is a resident of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

3Key elements of the Carers Hub Service

Information and advice

This service aims to be the first point of contact for Carers seeking information and advice about available support in the Royal Borough. The Provision includes disseminating information using various methods, venues and facilities.

Production and distribution of a Carers Newsletter for the local

community of Carers

The News for Carers newsletter is a vital information resource for Carers. It is mailed directly to Carers known to the Royal Borough (in response to consultation feedback), voluntary organisations working with Carers in the borough, libraries and other community venues. It was launched in February 2009 and is published 4 times per year with approximately 2000 copies per mail out. The Provider will manage the development, design and production of the newsletter in the future.

Supporting personalisation, personal budgets and more flexible NHS

support for Carers

The Provider will support the development of personalisation and the use of personal budgets for Carers in the local community. This will include the development of more access to flexible funding for Carers provided by NHS Kensington and Chelsea and the Royal Borough.

Carers Helpline

The Provider will develop and deliver a Carers Helpline (telephone) to provide information, advice and support to Carers, and an email and/or a local Carersblog support facility.

Carers Forum

A borough wide forum for Carers across all client groups needs to be

established. This will encourage more Carers to get involved in service

development activities, recruitment and working groups. The Provider will develop and co-ordinate a forum.

Facilitating a co-ordinated approach to services and training

The HUB will facilitate a more co-ordinated approach to services across the

Royal Borough.

Young Carers

The service will provide a point of information on support to young Carers and will signpost as appropriate to the Young Carers’ Project.

Events

The Provider will organise events giving the Carers agenda a higher profile in the borough eg. CarersWeek

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