Cornwall Partners in Care at the Eden Project
Annual conference for Cornwall Care Providers held at the Eden Project in St Austell
Fire Safety from Cornwall Fire and Rescue
Great to attend the Cornwall Partners in Care Conference today at the Eden Project! Excellent range of speakers and it was good to meet other providers working in care across Cornwall.
Elen Thomas talked about how Cornwall Fire and Rescue help people to reduce the risks of fire. Her top tips were to make sure smoke alarms were fitted, plan escape routes and if there is a fire get out, stay out and call 999. Safelincs is an online home fire safety check that can give you a personalised fire safety plan. If this highlights a high risk it may generate a free home fire safety visit from the team. During this visit they can fit smoke alarms and help put together an escape plan. At Home Instead when we work with a client and their family to put together a care plan we recommend people contact Fire and Rescue for a home visit to reduce the risks of fire.
Elen also explained about the risks with emollient creams and naked flames from smoking, candles, open fires or gas cookers. We include these in our risk assessments and are careful in the sparing use of these creams to reduce excess build up. Another tip was to make sure clothes are washed at high enough temperature to remove the oils from the clothes.
Sometimes people may be reluctant to accept a visit from the Fire Service and Elen talked about how they try to find a way that works for the individual so they can help them. For example they could meet with them first away from the house or agree to go in a normal car out of uniform. Hoarding increased during covid and this presents extra risks of fire and can hinder escape and rescue.
Technology Enabled Care from Corserv
Sarah Wickett from Corserv spoke about the TEC – Technology enabled care that Corserve offer. We know them as Lifeline and many of our clients living with dementia, frailty or other health conditions use their services to enable them to live well at home and call for help if needed when they are alone.
Sarah showed us the existing products that we see including pendant alarms and wrist alarms with falls sensors. She talked also about the newer services and products that focus on prevention rather than just the problem when it happens. For example their new Andi Digital Hub which connects to unobtrusive sensors that can detect a potential issue that may be happening. This could be a lady who is not using her kitchen as frequently or a motion sensor may detect they are getting up much later than usual.
On the stand we saw a pendant that can be used to help locate someone if they are lost. A client could record their own message to remind them to take this with them if they are leaving the house.
It was a really interesting talk about useful products that can be used alongside high quality home care visits to properly support a person living on their own with Dementia or Frailty.
Citation on likely Employment Law Changes and RWK Goodman on Employment and Immigration
Flora from Citation gave an overview of the likely Employment Law Changes that will happen soon. These are almost certainly going to be very significant changes in how Employers and Employees work together. At Home Instead Mid Cornwall we welcome these changes. Our mission is to Improve and Professionalise the Experience of Working in Care in Cornwall and these law changes should help the whole sector do that in a fair way. Care work is extremely rewarding when Care Professionals are supported to enable them to do a good job. They deserve to be treated well, paid well and have rewarding careers where they can grow and develop.
Flora gave some great practical advice to the room. For example, a return to work interview for all periods of absence is very good practice. For one reason it can help from a health and safety point of view. Is the Care Professional well and able to do the role safely?
We have moved away already from Zero hours contracts and ensure all our Care Professionals are paid Travel Time between visits and schedule time in for these gaps. All holiday and SSP and pension contributions are paid properly. We invest in good training to ensure our Care professionals provide a high quality of care and that it is safe for them and their clients. We have better work patterns now and clear expectations on both sides regarding availability. Our office care team help coordinate and deal with any issues that arise. With flexible working this can be a challenge in care but with our better work patterns and clear expectations we are confident we can meet the needs of both clients and care professionals. We have made many improvements as an employer over the last two years and are confident that we will be able to adapt well to these changes.
As ever, it will be the detail in these law changes that really matters. We hope that the government get this right and also that they are enforced properly and fairly. If not, the good employers can be undermined by those that flout the rules.
Adrian from RWK Goodman talked about employment and immigration. At Home Instead Mid Cornwall we haven’t sponsored employees from overseas yet. We are waiting to see what the new employment laws and guidance will be. It was interesting to hear about how sponsorship works and the obligations on a sponsoring employer. We have seen in the media how in some cases this has gone wrong in Cornwall and we think this is definitely an area where it is important to enforce good practice. There have been very sad stories of people arriving expecting work, not receiving it and really being left in a very vulnerable position.
Cornwall Integrated Care Board - Tracey lee
After a lovely lunch (Thankyou to all the staff at Eden!) , Tracey gave us all an overview of the Integrated Care Board in Cornwall. When you work in a health or care role I think is natural to think all the time about your own world and the people working in it and the people and their families we look after. It was fascinating to see the breadth of health and care that the ICB overseas in Cornwall. Community hospitals, GP practices, Dentistry, Pharmacy services, Acute services and Continuing Health Care and lots more. It is a huge budget and the organisation deals with a very large group of organisations including public sector, social enterprises, voluntary groups and private providers.
Tracey talked about the challenges the health and care system has now and in the future. As well as the demographic change the whole country has, there are particular challenges in Cornwall with the geography and difficulties with recruitment for health and care workers at all levels. Tracey showed some examples of how improved community services can help both reduce pressures on acute care and result in a better outcome for people. At Home Instead Mid Cornwall we welcome the improvements to these community services and hope they continue to be backed and developed. We have seen the mobile X Ray service for example used to check a lady after a fall to establish that nothing was broken. She was able to be looked after at home where she wanted to be. In the past she would have been taken to RCH Trelliske and likely spend a day or two there unnecessarily causing stress for her and extra pressure on the acute system. We have seen the expansion of the Dementia Support Workers service working with Dementia Care Practitioners to help them work more effectively with people living with dementia in the community. The Integrated Admiral service offers support and advice to families and people living with dementia in the community and when they are being treated in the acute or community hospitals. Social prescribers connect people to practical and emotional community support giving GP’s and their patients alternative options to medical treatments that can be more effective long term. For example encouraging and teaching a person how to use a gym or join a walking group can be very effective at reducing the risk of diabetes.
Health and Care face huge challenges, especially in Cornwall, and there are no easy answers. It was good to hear about some of the ways the ICB is adapting plans to meet these challenges and we hope that they receive the resources they require to make the improvements needed now and in the future.
