CHSST Minutes Template V1 0

Minutes of the Older People’s Panel held on Wednesday, 24 June 2015 at 2pm in The Boardroom, The Cottage

Present: Thelma Dillon, Independent (Chair) Adrian Friel, Alzheimer’s Lyn Campbell, Carers NI Isobel Dunlop, Independent Kevin Daly, Carer Steven McCrudden, Age Concern Causeway Roy Hamill, Northern HSC Trust Caroline McKeown, Mid & East Antrim Age Well Partnership Deirdre McCloskey, Mid & East Antrim Age Well Partnership Patrick Graham, Northern HSC Trust Clare Greenfield, Independent Hazel Kelso, Northern HSC Trust Alison Irwin, Northern HSC Trust

In Attendance: Frank Rafferty, NI Ambulance Service Denise Quinn, Northern HSC Trust Sandra Ewing, Northern HSC Trust Lyn Hanvey, Northern HSC Trust Lynda McConaghie, Northern HSC Trust (minute taker)

Item Note Action 1. Welcome/Apologies

Members were welcomed to the meeting and introductions were made. Apologies were received from:

Yvonne Carson, NHSCT Mary Lowe, Woman’s Aid Bob Coulter, Ballymena Retirement Group Pamela Craig, NHSCT Maura Barker, Age NI (Volunteer) Peer Facilitator Jenni Archer, Age Concern Causeway Dr Petr Zvolsky, NHSCT Nicola Greer, Causeway Rural & Urban Network Eleanor Duff, Independent Lynsey McAteer, Extra Care

2. Statutory Residential Homes (Item brought forward on agenda)

Mr P Graham informed the Panel that Trust Board would be considering the consultation document and the Trust’s proposals at their meeting tomorrow. Subject to approval from Trust Board the documents will be made public and uploaded to the Trust’s website.

1 In July 2013 the Health and Social Care Board took on a review of the care homes which resulted in criteria being developed. It was noted that Southern H&SC Trust have already gone out with their consultation and South Eastern and Western H&SC Trust are due for consultation in autumn.

Mr Graham advised that there have been a few pre consultation events with representatives from the Equality Commission, Commissioner for Older People and Age NI. This resulted in good feedback and acknowledgement of a transparent process.

It was noted that there will be no change to permanent residents; they will continue to stay in the homes as long as their needs are being met. It is proposed that Westlands and The Roddens will be phased out and eventually closed. It is proposed that Pinewood will be used as a rehabilitation facility. The consultation document also asks for ideas for the future of our services. The Local Commissioning Group’s needs assessment is also available as supporting information.

This is a 14 week consultation ending on 2 October 2015. Everyone was encouraged to read the document. Copies will be sent out to the Panel if approved by Trust Board. It was agreed by the Panel that an Equality extraordinary meeting be arranged late August/ Early September to Unit collate a response to the consultation.

3. Changes to NI Ambulance Services – Frank Rafferty

Copy of presentation to be sent to the Panel. Mr F Rafferty informed Equality the Panel that through Transforming Your Care there are changes Unit happening to the Ambulance Service. There is an increasing demand but no more ambulances. The aim is if an emergency ambulance is required it will be provided, however, some calls may be non-urgent which could be referred to a new team as new pathways have been set up, for example a falls team. There are 20,000 falls recorded each year. Ms D McCloskey advised that a lot of people who have falls are on a 9 month waiting list for equipment. With the correct equipment in place falls could be reduced significantly. Mr A Friel queried if there has been a pathway for dementia set up. Mr F Rafferty advised that this is currently being worked on.

Mr F Rafferty advised that the average response time for a life threatening call is 8 minutes, 21 minutes for non-life threatening and 1 hour for non-urgent. Once the ambulance has been contacted it is their responsibility to make sure the client is seen one way or another. Mr S McCrudden advised that he had tried to book a non-emergency ambulance but had to wait a long time on the phone. Mr F Rafferty advised that he will feed this back.

Mr F Rafferty advised that all staff including clinical staff are located in the control room. Sometimes there is a better way to treat a person

2 than sending out an ambulance.

NIAS is currently undertaking a piece of work to stop nuisance calls. He informed Panel members to keep an eye on the ambulance services website for more information and FAQs.

4. Furniture – Ballymena Health and Care Centre – Lyn Hanvey

Ms L Hanvey informed the Panel that there are 14 weeks left to the handover of the new health and care centre at Ballymena. There will be a period of time when members of the Panel can go around the new centre, try out the furniture and ensure signage is correct.

A copy of the presentation will be sent out to all Panel members. She Equality explained that they hope to have a receptionist employed at the health Unit and care centre. She advised that the waiting areas will be colour coded with space for wheelchairs and a bariatric chair.

Mrs A Irwin thanked Ms L Hanvey for all the work done with the Health and Care Centre and attending our Panel meetings and engaging with the Panel.

5. Regional Reablement Service for NI – Frequently Asked Questions

Ms S Ewing and Ms D Quinn handed out to Panel members a copy of the Regional Reablement Service for Northern Ireland Frequently Asked Questions Leaflet. They advised that the Regional Board is currently looking at Reablement over all the Trusts, and as part of the communication this leaflet has been developed. A copy of the leaflet will be sent out to all Panel members. They explained that as well as this leaflet each Trust will have a service user leaflet, this is to ensure the same standard of work in all Trusts. This FAQ is more of members of the public.

They asked Panel members if they had any comments on this leaflet. Equality Mrs A Irwin advised that the font size should be Arial 14, and a section Unit about alternative formats should be added. Equality Unit will send the information to Ms S Ewing.

It was suggested that the question “What will the Reablement Team do for me?” should be moved to be question 2. And also ‘How do I get the Reablement Service’, moved to be question 3.

The question ‘How do I get the Reablement Service?’ should be changed slightly as most people will not know what a Health and Social Care professional is and that referrals are not made by GPs, they usually go through the Social Workers.

The Panel queried if when a client is being assessed is a family member present or when being arranged are they asked if they want family to be present. It was noted that clients are assessed privately

3 and the regional criteria for reablement is over 65.

Members queried if there is a waiting time for this service. Mr Hamill advised that anyone who is referred has a needs assessment carried out within 5 weeks of referral being received.

It was noted that the terminology used in the leaflet was sometimes hard to understand. For example people like to know who’s who in the Trust. What is a health and social care professional? Or a community team? The term ‘Maximising Independence Plan’ needs to be explained in a bit more detail – what exactly does this mean?

It may be beneficial to have a space on the leaflet for their GP contact number.

Keep the information on the leaflet plain, simple and straight to the point.

It was queried if the reablement service would help someone on a waiting list for equipment to get it faster? Mr Hamill explained that this would only happen if the person meets the criteria and if this would help promote independence. Resources are targeted at those with greatest need.

It was queried if someone wanted to buy their own equipment privately would this be ok? People are not always able to purchase their own equipment but if they wanted to the Trust would give them the correct specifications.

Ms S Ewing and Ms D Quinn thanked everyone for their comments and advised that comments will be taken back to the regional group. A list Equality of members who were present at the Older Peoples Panel today will be Unit forwarded as proof of engagement.

6 & 7 Matters arising from previous minutes and approval

Amendments made to draft minutes and approved.

8. Any Other Business

Donaldson

Mrs Irwin thanked everyone for their comments and a cumulative Equality response from the Trusts has gone to the Health and Social Care Unit Board, this includes comments from the Older Peoples Panel and over 2000 staff. A copy of Donaldson response will be forwarded to the Panel.

4 Item Note Action

Complaints Process

It was agreed that someone from the Trust’s Complaints Department would come along to a Panel meeting. Mrs Irwin advised that Ms Olive Equality Macleod (Director Of Nursing) was very keen to come along and Unit engage on how we can improve the complaints process and make it more open and transparent. It was suggested that at our next Panel meeting we gather views/suggestions to ask when the complaints department come. A copy of the Donaldson and Francis reports will be forwarded to Panel members for information.

Service User Survey

Mrs Irwin advised that Ms Roisin Doyle, Service Improvement Lead at the Health and Social Care Board had developed two surveys in relation to the Northern Ireland Single Assessment Tool and would like the Panels feedback on the formatting of these surveys. A copy of the surveys will be sent to members again and any comments should be returned to the Equality Unit for forwarding to Ms Doyle.

As the surveys had already been circulated some members had the following comments:  It is very repetitive  People would disengage due to the length  Some questions require the answer to be Yes, No or Partly – Does partly not mean yes? This should be more diverse.  Should have the question – Do you know what a single assessment is?

Volunteers

Mrs Greenfield advised that there are increasing numbers working in health care services and there is a tremendous need for a Volunteers Coordinator. Panel members agreed that a letter should be sent to the Trust from the Panel to raise the importance of volunteers in a hospital setting. It was agreed that Mrs Greenfield and Ms Dillon will compose a letter from the Older People’s Panel. Mrs Greenfield has produced a paper on volunteering which will be forwarded to the Panel.

Smoke Free

It was noted that the Trust will be completely smoke free from end March 2016.

10. Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting will be arranged for October 2015. An extra ordinary meeting will be held in September to discuss consultation documents.