Dartford and Gravesham District Partnership Group Report

Transcription

1 Dartford and Gravesham District Partnership Group Report Page 1

2 What is in the report PAGE 3 PAGE 4-6 PAGE 7 PAGE 8 PAGE 9 PAGE 10 PAGE 11 PAGE 12 PAGE 13 INTRODUCTION SUMMARY OF THE REPORT GOOD HEALTH - SCREENING GOOD HEALTH - LD EVENT GOOD HEALTH - GOING INTO HOSPITAL GOOD HEALTH - EXPERTS BY EXPERIENCE WHAT I DO -JOB CENTRE PLUS/EMLOYMENT WHERE I LIVE - OLDER FAMILY CARERS KEEPING SAFE - MOVING ON TRAVEL PACK PAGE 14 KEEPING SAFE - ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR REPORTING BOOK PAGE 15 PAGE 16 CITIZENSHIP - ACCESS ARTS AND CULTURE CITIZENSHIP - VOTING WORKSHOPS. Page 2

3 Introduction Dartford and Gravesham DPG is run by North Kent Independent Advocacy Scheme. It is part of the Kent Valuing people Partnership, a group of organisations working together to support Kent County Council to make Valuing People in Kent happen. Each district Partnership group has a district worker. Tanya Orchin is the Valuing People worker for Dartford and Gravesham. The District Partnership groups look at the 6 main themes in valuing people now. Health Employment (Getting ready for work) Where people live/housing Being in control of your life Keeping Safe/Advocacy. Young people becoming adults (Transition) Page 3

4 Summary The District partnership Group has been talking to lots of different people to find out what is working well for people with a learning disability and their families and what is not working well. This year to DPG s have also worked together across Kent on a number of Kent wide projects. The District Partnership Group has met 5 times this year. We have had 22 Self Advocacy meetings held in the day and evening. Some of these were our Read Easy Group. Members of the group have been supported to be part of the Kent County Council Valuing People Structure including Delivery Groups that work on projects for the whole of Kent. The Delivery Groups are open to everyone. Please contact Tanya on if you would like more information on these. The DPG has been working with Health Services to make sure people have goo information about staying Healthy and can use health services easily. We were involved in providing feedback to the good health group on access to National cancer screening Page 4

5 The DPG has continued to support people to help Kent Community Health Trust provide easy read information. The District Partnership Group continues to represent the DPG at public engagement meetings with Health Service Providers. The DPG continues to promote employment and volunteering for people with learning disabilities. DPGs across Kent are working with Job Centre Plus and the Department of Work and Pensions to provide services that meet people s needs. Information about changes to benefits is also made available through DPGs. Information and support to find housing continues to be improved. People have also been encouraged to think about their future and where they might want to live. Following last year s event for family carers in east Kent, DPGs across Kent will be holding open sessions for carers about planning for the future working with local carers organisations. We have continued to support members of the DPG to think about personalisation and the choices they make about their lives. Page 5

6 Their have been some changes made to how direct payments are agreed. The DPG worked with Direct Payment Co-ordinators to make sure these changes were explained to people and that easy read information is available. DPG members have been speaking up as citizens and continue to tell Kent Police about things that make them feel unsafe in the community. The DPG is also a member of the Police Independent Advisory Group. The DPG represents people s views at the Kent Keeping Safe Delivery Group. The DPG was awarded some money from KCC community members to help people prepare for the general election. Over 65 people attended the voting workshops in Dartford and Gravesend. We worked closely with the Electoral team to make sure the information we were giving people was correct. Across Kent the DPGs tried to collect information on what young people thought about their transition reviews through an on-line survey. We had very limited feedback to the survey and this was reported to the Kent Becoming an Adult Group. The Becoming an Adult Group are now working on this to find a better way to gather the information. Page 6

7 Topic:Kent Wide Target To find out what people with learning disabilities know about National screening services and their experience of using screening services. Why we did this work The national screening services check for cancers at certain times by carrying out checks on Bowels, Breasts and the Cervical screen/smear Test. What we did. We asked 20 people in each district across Kent to complete a survey to find out if people with learning disabilities are using screening services in Kent. A report of the findings was shared with the Kent Good Health Group and Public Health Kent. The information was also used in the Joint Health and Social Care Self Assessment Framework report to show what has been done in Kent and to understand how people with learning disabilities access National Screening Services and what has been done with the information. What has changed as a result of this work? Public health Kent will be running a campaign to raise awareness of cancer screening. Public Health Kent agreed to include the finding and recommendations of our survey report in their campaign Page 7

8 Topic:District Target Learning disability event Darent Valley Hospital. 1 Why we did this work To make sure people get information on Health screenings, Annual Health Checks, and local information on local health services. What we did. We worked with Darent Valley Hospital and the community learning disability team to provide a conference for people with learning disabilities and family carers. Over 65 people with learning disabilities and family carers attended the event. We had talks on health related issues, stalls and interactive workshops. Sue Carmichael started a petition at the event for the Hospital to get a Changing place toilet installed. What has changed as a result of this work? The hospital are looking to get a changing places toilet installed. More people know about the importance of health screenings and getting Annual Health Checks Page 8

9 Topic:District Target Going into hospital DVD Why we did this work To inform people of what to do and where to go if they are coming in for an outpatients appointment/blood test What we did. We made a film on visiting outpatients and having a blood test. This was then shown at the conference and the Good Health Group for peoples feedback What has changed as a result of this work? A DVD showing what people need to do if they are coming into hospital unsupported. More accessible information on DVH website for people with learning disabilities. Page 9

10 Topic:District Target Experts by experience nurse training with Canterbury University. Why we did this work We visited the Universities skill lab and were asked by the Senior Nurse Lecturer if we would like to be involved in some of the Nurses training. What we did. We made a film with one parent carer and worked with 6 people with learning disabilities and 2 other family carers. Over the course of the training we worked with over 25 nurses. What has changed as a result of this work? More nurses aware of the needs of people with learning disabilities, to look out for communication books and hospital passports on wards, to give time to patients with learning disabilities, to treat people as individuals. That we all communicate in different ways. Page 10

11 Topic : Employment-Kent Wide Target Build an employment support service that meets the needs of people with learning disabilities Why we did this work We worked with Job centre Plus as lots of people told us they didn't like going to the Job centre because of the security. Job Centre Plus told us what help people can get and how their service has changed. What we did We worked with Job centre plus and held a meeting for people with learning disabilities to tell us about their experiences and views. The information at this meeting will be used to plan how Job centre plus can meet the needs of people with a learning disability better. What has changed as a result of this work? The DPGs are working with the Job Centre to provide information on the introduction of Universal Credit as it happens in Kent. Two people who attended the meeting will be doing work experience with their local job centres. We will continue working with Job Centre plus to improve the experiences of people with a learning disability who use their services. Page 11

12 Topic : Housing - Kent Wide Target Identify how many older family carers have made provision for future housing needs of those they care for. Why we did this work Family carers told us that they find it hard to think about the future and make plans for their sons and daughters. Carers old us that they often put this off because they don't know where to start. What we did The DPG working with Carers First is planning to invite older carers in the district to share their concerns about future housing needs. By holding an afternoon tea session the DPG will gather views from older parents. These sessions will be held in summer 2015 Page 12

13 Topic Keeping Safe Kent wide target. Assist KCC in the revision of the Moving on Travel Pack Why we did this work The moving on Toolkit previously published by KCC to help people travel independently was out of date and needed reviewing What we did We held some focus groups to support people review the travel pack. People suggested changes as many things had changed since it was first put together. What has changed as a result of this work? The Suggestions for changes were reported back to KCC. KCC will liaise with the Keeping Safe Group on how to proceed. Page 13

14 Topic Keeping Safe- District Target. Anti Social Behaviour reporting book. Why we did this work People with learning disabilities and other vulnerable groups under report antisocial behaviour. What we did We worked with the Police, Dartford and Gravesham Council, and the JIP read easy group on this reporting book. There are two books one for the police and one for the council. What has changed? We hope that this book will be launched by Kent Police in summer/autumn of 2015 and will be used Kent wide by the Police, Housing associations. This book will give an accessible reporting format that at present is not available. Page 14

15 ! 15 Topic: Citizenship (Kent wide target) To find out if people are able to access Arts and Culture opportunities in Kent Why we did this work. To find out if people are accessing local art and culture opportunities. To provide information and evidence for the access to arts culture section in the Joint Health and Social care self assessment Framework. What we did The DPG has put together a checklist and a list of Venues in the area to visit During spring of 2015 the District Workers will support small groups of people to visit the venues. The DPG will share the results of the visits with the Venue and help them think about adjustments that may improve access or experience for people with a learning disability. Page 15

16 Topic Kent Wide Target Voting workshops To support people to understand why using your right to vote is important To support people to register to vote. What we did We held 3 voting workshops and one drop in for people doing postal votes. The Workshops were run in an interactive way to help explain about voting, how to vote and registering to vote. Through the DPG Facebook page and twitter account we gave out regular reminders about the General election and the need to register to vote. What has changed Over 60 People attended the workshops These people now have a better understanding about their right to vote and how to vote. Page 16

17 Who we have worked with over the past year. Page 17