The Care Forum
South Gloucestershire Health and
Social Care Voluntary Sector Network
Meeting Notes
Wednesday 11 February 2015
Attendance and Apologies
The meeting was attended by 22 people, plus three The Care Forum staff and nine
people sent their apologies. The full attendance list is in the appendix.
Caroline welcomed everyone to the meeting and invited them to introduce
themselves.
Summary of Key Meeting Points
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The Shared Lives Scheme is moving away from South Gloucestershire
Council to become an independent organisation with a management
committee and the opportunity to apply for funding.
Sirona outlined their services and progress since April 2014.
A South Gloucestershire healthy lifestyles booklet for adults with learning
difficulties has been launched.
Other presentations included an update on personal independence payments,
a report from the learning difficulties partnership board and home share.
Shared Lives Scheme
Caryl Rundle, Shared Lives Scheme Manager, South Gloucestershire Council.
View Caryl’s presentation at www.thecareforum.org/pagesouth-gloucestershireadults-events-archive.html
Caryl talked through her power point presentation and explained that Shared Lives
provides accommodation and support. It receives referrals for volunteers and
matches them to service users. It is intended to be a mutual relationship in a family
setting. It is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The benefits are that
it improves the quality of life for those involved with highly personalised care.
Shared Lives responsibilities include:
 rigorous assessments
 clearly recorded outcomes
 policies and procedures
 regular monitoring
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regular reviews.
It is a high quality and safe service which has been operating for 11 years and has a
top CQC rating. It supports people with mental health needs, dementia, young
people in transition and people with physical disabilities. There are 19 carer
households supporting 24 people.
Caryl then gave case studies of Kay and Alex who were both helped by the scheme.
Questions and Answers:
Q: In whose home does this take place?
A: The service users.
Q: Is there support for the carer if e.g. the service user dies?
A: Yes. Counselling etc. is offered to them.
Q: Is there a waiting list of carers?
A: Yes. Caryl is part time but the service is planning to grow. The matching also has
to be done very carefully.
Q: You will be a not for profit organisation, how is that different to being with the
council?
A: Carers and service users can be on the committee. The organisation cannot make
money by being with the council e.g. Direct Payments, which it will be able to do
when it goes out on its own.
Q: Do the carers have an allowance?
A: Yes.
Q: Are there people with autism in the scheme?
A: Yes. Five or six of the 24 being supported have it.
Sirona’s Services in South Gloucestershire. Cathy Daffada, Rehabilitation
Lead, South Gloucestershire, Sirona Care and Health.
View Cathy’s presentation at www.thecareforum.org/pagesouth-gloucestershireadults-events-archive.html
Cathy talked through her power point presentation ‘Taking it Personally’ and pointed
out that Sirona shares the same ethos as the Shared Lives Scheme. It ensures that
people feel:
 welcome
 valued
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supported
safe.
Sirona focuses on the person and their goals. It is a not for profit organisation which
started in October 2011 and serves 170,000 in B&NES and 250,000 in South
Gloucestershire. There are 2,200 health and social care staff operating out of 150
locations providing more than £65m worth of care and support each year.
There are five areas of provision:
 adult services
 specialist services
 children and young adults
 learning disability service
 health improvement service.
Staff are:
 physiotherapists
 occupational therapists
 rehabilitation support workers
 speech and language therapists
 falls prevention lead
 mental health nurses.
Sirona works:
 to deliver planned rehabilitation
 with GPs and other community health care providers to prevent admission to
hospital
 with hospitals to support people to return home in a timely manner
 to provide input to 29 community rehabilitation beds located throughout South
Gloucestershire
 with groups on falls prevention.
Q: What services does the minor injuries unit in Yate provide?
A: Small injuries to the hands and feet and small fractures are dealt with. Someone
with e.g. chest pains would be blue lighted to Southmead Hospital.
Q: Is there a hot line that people who use the Sirona can ring?
A: Service users have a green folder which has contact details for them to use.
There is a telephone number on the website that people can ring from 9 to 5,
Monday to Friday and there is also a customer care line. T: 01225 831 400.
Action: Cathy
Healthy Lifestyles Booklet for Adults with Learning Difficulties
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Dan Hull, Well Aware Outreach Officer, The Care Forum and Annie Owen, South
Gloucestershire Council.
Dan said that the booklet is a great guide on how to have a healthy lifestyle for
people with learning difficulties. It also contains a list of groups and activities in South
Gloucestershire. It is available on the website and 1,500 copies have been printed.
Well Aware had worked on it with partners including Annie Owen at South
Gloucestershire Council, South Gloucestershire Council being the lead partner.
Annie said that a lot of people with learning difficulties and their carers had found it
difficult to find information in one place. The topics in the booklet were decided by
the steering group. It is planned to run focus groups in March to assess its
usefulness etc. The learning difficulties development fund paid for the publication.
Questions and Answers:
Q: What flexibility is there to keep it up to date?
A: It is not planned to have another leaflet but it is available on the Well Aware
website which is updated regularly. The leaflets have been sent to:
 adults with learning difficulties known to South Gloucestershire
 adults with learning difficulties known to Sirona
 providers
 organisations e.g. the Carers Support Centre.
Learning Difficulties Partnership Board, Diana Elliott, Branch Officer, National
Autistic Society (Avon Branch)
View Diana’s paper at http://www.thecareforum.org/pagereport-from-southgloucestershire-learning-difficulties-partnership-board.html
Diana circulated her paper of the points covered at the Board’s meeting on 21
January. The board meets six times a year and she is happy to take issues to them if
she is asked to. The learning difficulties development fund has money for projects in
South Gloucestershire to help people with learning difficulties. The applications will
be discussed on 16 March. The board has a good membership with a mix of
statutory and non-statutory organisations as well as service users.
Questions and Answers:
Q: Is South Gloucestershire Council strict about who attends?
A: It is only for South Gloucestershire residents and Mencap supports people who
attend. Bristol has its own learning difficulties partnership board.
Personal Independence Payment
Michael Tipple, Welfare Officer, South Gloucestershire Council
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Michael talked through his power point presentation and said that this is a relatively
new benefit from the Department of Work and Pensions. It has only been around for
two years and in South Gloucestershire for 18 months. There are conditions of
entitlement and assessment criteria. Three assessment centres are used; one in
Bristol and two in South Gloucestershire.
Questions and Answers:
Q: Can people take someone with them when they are assessed?
A: Usually people can only take one person with them but this may be due to space
issues. Flowers Hill allows more than one. The DWP is quite willing to relook at
decisions on assessments.
Q: Is everyone now called in for assessment?
A: The majority of people are now seen (75%) and people can request to be seen
face to face.
Q: How would someone fare if they cannot use the bus alone but can use a car
alone?
A: A car could be classed as assistance. The overarching principle of the PIP is that
they can do it safely, reliably and repeatedly.
Reassessment is not yet taking place in South Gloucestershire but if someone’s DLA
is coming up for renewal they will get PIP.
Q: If needs have changed will the DLA still apply?
A: Yes at the moment. People could, in theory, sign off from DLA and apply for PIP.
It has taken months for people to be assessed but the timescale is reducing. There
are 110,000 cases outstanding so it is about two to three months behind.
Home Share, Elaine Jones, Home Share Coordinator
Elaine said that Home Share has been operating in Bristol for 18 months and now
there is funding for South Gloucestershire. People offer a spare room rent free in
exchange for 10 hours per week of help and companionship. The support the
householder receives depends on their needs, no two arrangements are the same. It
could be that the house sharer e.g. helps and entertains a dementia sufferer so that
their spouse/carer can have some time to themselves.
House sharers are rigorously vetted with references taken up and a DBS check
undertaken. There is a month’s trial and then a commitment for a minimum of six
months, although it can last much longer. Each receives £60 per calendar month.
Caroline thanked everyone for attending and contributing to the meeting. She
announced that she is leaving The Care Forum and that Pat Foster will be facilitating
until someone new is appointed.
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Date of the next meeting
Friday 13 March, from 10am to 12pm. The topic will be suicide prevention. Book via
www.thecareforum.org
Appendices
Evaluation
1) What was the most significant outcome of the meeting for you?
PIP update
Information to share with my colleagues
Meeting and developing relationships with multi agencies
Increased awareness of other services and their provision
Didn’t know about Sirona, so that was useful.
Shared Lives, PIP, Home Share, Sirona. Enjoyed shemes info. Very useful.
Hearing the presentations
Networking
To meet and hear about Sirona’s services. It is always good to hear and to
network with other charities. Also wanted to hear about PIP.
Understanding better shared lives scheme and possible future opportunities.
2) Please circle the appropriate number for each element of the network
meeting:
Knowledge at start: 2.7
Knowledge at end: 4
Pre-event information: 3.6
Facilitation: 4.2
Organisation on day: 4.2
Speakers before break: 4
Speakers after break: 3.9
Access: 4.2
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Refreshments: 4
Standard of room: 4.1
3) Are there any particular topics you would like to see covered in future
meetings?
More feedback from service users
Continue as offered. Value topics already provided.
Advocacy.
Have you considered Care Act?
4) Are there any other comments you would like to make?
Really good session
A really interesting and enriching meeting.
Attendance
Contact
Michelle Bower
Cathy Daffada
Diana Elliott
Katie Gebler
Marion Gray
Robert Griffin
Kath Horne
Dan Hull
Elaine Jones
Liz Lewington
Caryl Rundle
Gill Stephenson
Michael Tipple
Lauren Nash
Michael Bell
Dominic Box
Steve Hickman
Annie Owen
Suzi Brooke-Davies
Paul Frisby
Tina Curtis
Caroline Gerrard
Keith Berryman
Organisation
Talking Money
Sirona Care and Health
National Autistic Society
Second Step Housing Association
Headway
South Gloucestershire Council
Sirona Care and Health
The Care Forum
We Care and Repair
Jessie May Trust
South Gloucestershire Council
South Gloucestershire Parents and
Carers
South Gloucestershire Council
Cintre Community
South Gloucestershire Council
Avon North Mencap
South Gloucestershire Council
Choices 4 U
Alzheimer’s Society
South Gloucestershire CCG
Brandon Trust
Brunelcare
Second Step
Apologies
Contact
Will Bee
Derek Dominey
Organisation
South Gloucestershire Council
Independent
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Philippa Forsey
Peter Hale
Kathryn Mason
Virginia McNab
Lorna Robertson
Ann Walker
Dave Webb
Creativity Works
Supportive Parents
The Care Forum
Alzheimers Society
South Gloucestershire Fibromyalgia Support
Group
Survivors Network
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