Agenda item

(30 minutes - 10 minutes presentation/20 minutes discussion)

To receive a presentation on the findings of Healthwatch NHSEI on “Unpaid Carers Experience of Mental Health during the Pandemic”.

The HWB board is asked to respond to the recommendations. 

Sue Poole and Ann-Marie Scott, Healthwatch

Sue Poole and Anne Marie Scott, Healthwatch, gave a presentation on the experience of unpaid carers during the pandemic as follows:

Who are we?

•  Healthwatch champion the views of the public for health and social care.

•  Healthwatch are an independent statutory body, with the power to make sure NHS leaders and other decision-makers listen to feedback and improve standards of care.

•  Healthwatch worked with the NHS England E&I Commitment to Carers Rapid Learning Pandemic Legacy Project to deliver a piece of research to hear the experiences of unpaid carers and their view about mental health during the Covid 19 pandemic.

•  The research was carried out in Swindon and Bath and North East Somerset which are part of the BSW ICS.

What did we do?

•  Project was carried out in March 2022.

•  Used online Surveys in Bath & North East Somerset and Swindon.

•  Attended group meetings/sessions with unpaid carers and families/advocates experiencing mental ill-health.

•  Analysed information/data supplied from carers centres based in each locality and national statistics taken from Carers UK.

•  Incorporated existing sources of feedback/reports so that people don’t have to repeat themselves (data collected by Local Healthwatch).

•  Ran a Twitter poll.

What were the challenges?

•  People do not recognise themselves as carers when caring for loved ones. 

•  Healthwatch were NOT able to go into care provisions to carry out interviews to gather feedback directly from their staff and service users due to COVID restrictions and capacity at the time. 

•  There was limited input from ethnic minority carers, they are less likely to self-identify as carers. 

•  Only able in timescale to talk to a small proportion of carers.

Key Findings

•  Pandemic had a significant impact on carers – isolation, lost support and a lot have not got that support back.

•  Carers feel they are not being listened to and their own mental health is negatively impacted.

•  Care coordinators are overstretched, high turnover, it further impacts on unpaid carers and other service users.

•  Ethnic minorities generally do not self identify as carers.

•  Rural nature of Bath and North East Somerset hinders Carers getting support.

•  One positive was ‘virtual’ get togethers made carers feel less isolated.

What has happened since?

•  Healthwatch has shared the report findings both locally and nationally with organisations that can make a change.

•  Increased Healthwatch engagement with carers across B&NES’s communities and shared their feedback.

•  Continued working with the local Carers Centres to ensure their voice is heard

•  The three Carers Centres in BSW are meeting with AWP in March to look at how they can help AWP staff identify carers during their work & make referrals for tailored support (BSW Older people & mental health sub-group).

•  Working with the local hospital to improve support for carers when the people they care for are inpatients.

Questions for the Health and Wellbeing Board

•  What further steps are B&NES Council and other Health & Wellbeing Board partners taking to:

•  Identify carers?

•  Recognise and meet their needs for support as carers?

•  Listen to their voices as an ‘expert’ about the person they care for?

The following comments were raised by Board members:

General comments

1.  In response to a question, Sue Poole confirmed that the survey relied on feedback from Young Carers via Carer Centres rather than direct feedback.  Mary Kearney Knowles undertook to share the Young Carers’ Strategy with Healthwatch.

2.  Kate Morton confirmed that she was aware of a lot of work going on to address the concerns raised in the survey and undertook to meet with Healthwatch representatives to discuss this further.  She advised that KS2 was a valuable group supporting carers of people with mental health difficulties and it was important to widen the profile of this group.

3.  Ronnie Lungu stated that the term “ethnic minorities” was wide that it would be useful to have an understanding of issues facing different groups within that category.

Identify Carers/Recognise and meet their needs

4.  Becky Reynolds commented that some GPs had a register of carers which had proved helpful in identifying people who were eligible for a flu jab.

5.  Cllr Alison Born suggested that the Village Agents working in North East Somerset may be able to help identify carers in rural communities.

6.  Natalia Lachkou stated that employers could help identify carers and also had a statutory duty to support carers.  It was noted that benefits were available such as carers’ leave/carers’ passport.

7.  Sue Poole suggested that organisations could contact the Carers Centres if they identified any carers.

Listen to their voices

8.  Joss Foster commented that while the feedback about hospitals/GPs listening to carers was generally positive, there was always more that could be done.

9.  Nicola Hazle stated that a priority of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy was to strengthen healthy communities and that this included carers.  She questioned whether carers also needed to be represented on the Health and Wellbeing Board.

In identifying an action for the Health and Wellbeing Board, it was agreed that a starting point would be for Healthwatch to get feedback from the Carers Forum to provide information which organisations could use to support National Carers Week in June.  Becky Reynolds suggested that information could also be included in the primary care newsletter.

Laura Ambler suggested that in the longer term, a small task group be identified to pull all the information together with a view to signposting carers, as well as providing practical support for organisations and employers.

The Board RESOLVED to;

1.  Ask the Carers’ Forum to provide information for partners to support National Carers’ Week in June.