Presentation by Steve Helps
Minutes:
Steve Helps, Area Manager, gave a powerpoint presentation and a video of the work of the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Safe and Well initiative:-
Change of Fire and Rescue Service Business Model
- Change to Fire Service Act 2004 to introduce statutory duty to provide Community Fire Safety Advice
- UK Fire and Rescue Service business model amended from a reactive lead service to one of proactive
- The introduction of Home Safety Checks – approximately 670,000 completed annually across the United Kingdom – around 20,000 across South Yorkshire
Targeting the most vulnerable
- Are over 65 years of age
- Live alone
- Have a physical or learning disability
- Have a cognitive impairment including dementia or memory loss
- Have a mental health issue
- Have a substance or alcohol dependency
- Have Adult Social Care needs
- Are a smoker
- Are unable to protect themselves from harm for any reason
Safe and Well Visits
- In support of the 5 year forward plan CFOA, RSPH, NHS and Age UK published the consensus statement in 2015
- Move towards Safe and Well visits
- Doncaster pilot – Ageing Well, Falls questions, crime prevention, fire safety and crime private information
- Steering Group in Barnsley – work was progressing in Rotherham and Sheffield
Delivering a range of prevention initiatives
- Comprehensive schools educational programme
- Lifewise Centre introduced CPR awareness
- 7 Cadets Units routes4you
- Achieving Respect Confidence (ARC) courses
- Princes Trust Team Programme
- Eyesight tests RNIB Sheffield
- Boxing Clubs – Thorne and Moorend
- Age UK Barnsley and Rotherham
- Eastwood in Rotherham and Great Places in Sheffield – cooking courses
- Rotherham Hospice
- Hotspots referral scheme
- Over 100 Safe and Well Referral Partnerships
- Investment in £1.7m through SSCR across over 30 community-based projects
- Winter warm packs
- Midwife lead prevention work through SSCR project
- Troubled Families Programme
- Supporting food banks
- Dementia Alliance funding/project
- Alzheimer’s Memory Café
Fire Health Conference 2016
Recommendations
- The introduction of Safe and Well visits across South Yorkshire
- Partnership supporting and becoming Safe and Well referral partners allowing the most vulnerable within our communities to receive early interventions
- A mature conversation with partners to identify opportunities for data sharing to ensure limited resources are targeted at the most vulnerable through early intervention activities
- South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to support the priorities of the Health and Wellbeing Boards and for Boards to recognise the varied activities that the Service undertake in support of the Health and Wellbeing agenda
- Commissioners and South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to identify activities which the Service’s assets could contribute to support early intervention or reduce demand on existing services
Safe and Well Referral Partnership
How you can assist
- To sign up to become a Safe and Well Partner please follow the links below
Website www.syfire.gov.uk/safe-well
Once you have made contact with us an Officer will follow up your enquiry to discuss further and process your application
Discussion ensued to the presentation with the following issues raised/clarified:-
- The fact that the Fire Service was a trusted service going into a property was very useful. For elderly people who were isolated and lonely, and by definition not engaging with services, the opportunity of Safe and Well visits linked up with social prescribing
- One of the biggest referrals from outside agencies was to the Fire Service
We see the benefits of working with the 3rd sector agencies and Age UK with the engagement programme
- The Service was doing this work but most of the agencies did not see/aware of it; the challenge was how to make that connection. Was a Safe and Well visit communicated to partners?
The referral pathway would enable the Service to report back the outcome and the number of visits made. If the visit resolved the issue that was the end of the matter but if it was more challenging and the resident was someone who had long term issues it would be escalated to a specialist Community Safety Officer. There would be a multi-agency approach with the right people around the table and discuss the resident and every endeavour would be made to ensure that the resident was safe
- Were the red referral cards that a professional had to fill in still used?
The system had been found to be quite bureaucratic. A new simpler system was used for Safe and Well as well as a web portal
- If the Service was able to find a way of looking at/achieving risk reduction it would be helpful to the Foundation Trust
- The Trust was to start its next stage of community setting work which would include the Fire Service so there would be an opportunity to educate the Health side
Steve was thanked for his very informative presentation.