Agenda item

Katy Lewis, Carers Strategy Manager, Hannah Thornton, Voluntary Action Rotherham Director of Services (Projects) and Barry Knowles, Voluntary Action Rotherham Social Prescribing Service Manager to present the Success of the Current Strategy Under Aim 3.

Board Sponsors:-

Jo Brown, Assistant Chief Executive, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council

Bob Kirton, Deputy Chief Executive, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust

 

Jo Brown, together with Katy Lewis, Gilly Brenner and Hannah Thornton, presented a review of the success of the current Strategy under Aim 3:-

 

Strategic Priority 1 – Ensure support is in place for carers

Borough That Cares Strategic Framework 2022-2025

-        The Borough that Cares Strategic Group formed to co-produce strategic framework

-        Strategic Group reformed as The Borough that Cares Network to represent the voice of the carer and influence change

-        Strength-based approach to support carers linking them to community provision

·        Increased community provision through a Small Grants Programme

·        Linked voluntary and community sector groups to VAR to support sustainability

-        Established a carer community

·        Carers Week and Carers Rights Days Events with visible social media presence

·        Strong links with VAR to support carers’ health and wellbeing

-        Robust Co-Production Platform

·        Borough That Cares Network, Unpaid Carers Multi-Agency Strategic Group, RASCAL Co-production Board and small VCS groups

·        Carer Conversations programme completed to inform commissioning decisions

 

Information, Advice and Guidance

-        Re-designed Carers Information pages on Council website for the corporate digital platform refresh

-        Carers Directory published and embedded in webpages

-        Carers newsletter established

-        Information Navigator roles incorporated into commissioned services

·        Making Space Dementia Cafes (Council)

·        Sight and Sound Sensory Impairment Service (Council)

·        Crossroads Carers Resilience Service (SY-ICB)

·        Crossroads Dementia Flexible Support Service (SY-ICB)

-        Accelerating Reform Fund secured to develop a Carers app and increase respite opportunities through Shared Lives

 

Supporting Carers to Live Well

-        Carer Link Officers established within Adult Care and Integration Supporting Independence Team to provide additional capacity for Carers Assessments

-        Adult Care and Integration Service Carers offer reviewed

·        Practice guidance issued to ensure offer is clear, legally compliant and improves outcomes for carers

-        Carers Emergency Scheme re-commissioned with contract in place until April 2027

-        Moving forward

·        Carers Strategy to be revised through co-production

·        Ensure revised Strategy continues to build on the cornerstones put in place by the current strategic framework

·        Utilise ARF funding to develop a Carers app and increase the Shared Lives offer

 

Strategic Priority 2 – Support local people to lead healthy lifestyles including reducing the health burden from tobacco, obesity and drugs and alcohol

 

Tobacco Control

-        Establishment of Tobacco Control Steering Group

-        Tobacco Control Work Plan

-        New Community Stop Smoking Service – October 2023

-        Collaborative work across South Yorkshire – Tobacco Control Alliance established across the 4 local authorities

-        Trading Standards activity on illicit tobacco and vapes

-        Implementation of national initiatives e.g. Swop to Stop Scheme

-        Local Stop Smoking Services and Support Grant – included additional investment in Stop Smoking Service with additional capacity in Community Services and local enhanced support through Primary Care and some hospital settings

 

Better Health Service:  Smoking

Aim: For Rotherham to become smokefree by 2030 (<5% prevalence)

-        Smoking prevalence has decreased to 14.5% (approximately 30,000 people) although the target of <5% prevalence is ambitious

-        Local service performing in the top 10 in England – 1,500 people a year supported

-        Quit rate of 72%

 

Better Health Service:  Obesity

-        73.7% of the population were overweight - 155,000 in Rotherham were overweight (including obesity)

-        Rotherham Healthwave had supported 1,800 people per year

-        4,500 activities booked on on 2024/25

-        40% of people achieving a 5% weight loss

 

Drugs and Alcohol

-        Increased numbers of adults in treatment

-        Young people supported by the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Service more than doubled since 2020/2021

-        Improved rates of people accessing Community Treatment Services following release from prison

-        Establishment of the Rotherham Combatting Drugs Partnership

-        Several projects funded by the Supplemental Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery Grant improved access to, quality of, and integration of wider services with drug and alcohol treatment

-        Rotherham Individual Placement Support Service – 336 referrals

-        Development of the Rotherham Recovery Community

-        Local Drug Information System and Drug and Alcohol Death Related Review Processes

 

Rotherham Social Prescribing Service

-        Helping people to manage their own health and wellbeing and live independently in their communities for as long as possible

-        Working alongside clinicians and Adult Social Care within multi-disciplinary teams, the Service supports patients from:

·        Primary Care – people with long term conditions and/or frailty

·        Community Mental Health – support on discharge from services

·        TRFT – support on discharge from hospital

-        100+ funded referrals per month to specialist voluntary sector provision

-        6,000+ people supported since 2021/2022

-        25% living alone without regular support

-        In 2023/24 the Service helped individuals secure £1.7M in additional benefits

-        Sheffield Hallam University’s 4 year evaluation of the service (published August 2024) identified:

·        Reduced in-patient admissions for all patients who had been admitted to hospital more than twice in the 12 months prior to RSPS support

·        Reduced attendances at A&E for patients below the age of 80 during the 12 months following RSPS support

 

Moving Forward

-        Refresh of Tobacco Control work plan and continued collaboration

-        Consideration of changes to weight management offers across Rotherham

-        Continuation of partnership working through Combatting Drugs Partnership

-        Continued working to support Rotherham Proactive Care model with priority on preventing unnecessary admissions

-        Working with micro-commissioned VCS providers

 

It was noted that conversations had taken place with Barnardo’s and their young carers.  The young carers had been through a period of change with their service recently moving from Barnardo’s to Family Action.  Part of the new Strategy would be to incorporate young carers more widely with more outcomes around children and young people.  The commencement of Family Action and connections therewith had been made and joint work would be taking place on a campaign run by Carers Trust around making sure anyone who met a young carer recognised the fact and made contact.

 

Resolved:-  (1)  That the successes presented under Aim 3 be noted.

 

(2)  That the refresh of Tobacco Control Work Plan and continued collaboration be supported.

 

(3)  That the consideration of changes to weight management offers across Rotherham be noted.

 

(4)  That the uncompleted actions highlighted in the Aim be rolled over to the Action Plan of the new Strategy.