To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, pursuant to AQW 39545/11-15, how Health and Social Care Trusts are actively encouraging people who are fulfilling a role as a carer, but are unknown to the Trust, to identify themselves in order to have an assessment carried out.

In order to fulfil their statutory duty to make information regarding a carer’s right to an assessment widely available, all Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts continue to undertake a high level engagement process across all Programmes of Care (POC) to identify as many ‘hidden’ carers as possible.

Each Trust has longstanding Carer Co-ordinators in post who drive policy on the identification of carers of all ages. This is achieved through a wide range of initiatives including: service wide communication strategies which incorporate information packs on the carers assessment, these packs are made available to all Trust teams and information can be accessed on each of the individual Trust websites; GP initiatives, Trust contracts with voluntary and community sector organisations to encourage carers to recognise themselves as carers; and supporting specific projects like the Carers Trust ‘Mind the Gap’ project, which specifically targets older, hidden carers.

A summary of individual Trust initiatives is attached.

Annex A

Northern HSC Trust

In line with the Northern Trust Carers Strategy, 8000 information leaflets & information packs on Carers Assessment and Carers Register are disseminated each year. This information is distributed through Heath and Social Care Teams within all Programmes of Care (POC). Similar information is displayed in GP surgeries across the Trust with particular emphasis during Carers Week in June, where the Northern Trust promotes carer support and Carer Assessment by distributing information throughout Trust hospitals, and local supermarkets. In order to raise awareness in Black Minority Ethnic (BME) carers, these information leaflets have been translated into 11 different languages.

The Northern Trust run 12 carer support events per year. These events are promoted widely through Trust mechanisms and also through local press releases, and external organisations - such as churches, community and voluntary groups, supermarkets etc. In partnership with Carers NI, seven carer support groups are facilitated in the Trust area. These groups continuously raise awareness of the rights of carers to a carer assessment.

The Northern Trust website also contains a comprehensive list of carer support which is updated on a monthly basis.

Western HSC Trust

The Western Trust’s Carers Support Team attend a wide range of events in order to identify hidden carers and work closely with the Trust’s communications team to promote carer awareness. The Support Team also facilitates a Carers’ Worker network, which is open to community and voluntary sector staff that come in contact with carers with the aim of providing up-to-date relevant information, to raise awareness of carers’ rights and issues, as well as encouraging the uptake of carer’s assessment.

A Carers Newsletter (updated throughout the year) and information booklet has been produced and is circulated to 3,150 carers currently registered on the Trust’s Carers’ Register, as well as all Trust staff, GP practices and community and voluntary sector organisations. Further, the Trust has established a pathway for GPs to refer carers for a Carer’s Assessment.

The Western Trust is actively engaged in supporting the ‘Mind the Gap’ project funded by the Big Lottery via Carers Trust, which specifically targets older, hidden carers.

Belfast HSC Trust

Over the past four years the Belfast Trust has been implementing their Strategy, Belfast Carers at the Heart of the Belfast Trust. This strategy outlines our commitment to carers and provides a framework to promote, develop and improve support services for them in Belfast. Some of the outcomes from this work have led to earlier identification of carers.

The Belfast Trust has two Carer Co-ordinators and one of their key roles is to promote awareness of carers, their right to an assessment and the ways in which the Trust can support them. This is done in a number of ways. The Carer Co-ordinators regularly go out to groups to speak about carer assessments and support. These include church groups, senior citizen forums and voluntary groups. Both Carer Co-ordinators have established networks within the voluntary and community sector who are aware of how to refer carers for a carers assessment. The Trust has developed information on a carers right to a carers assessment and these leaflets have been distributed widely in the Trust area to these groups. Information on carer assessments is also promoted on the Trust website.

The Trust contracts with a wide range of voluntary and independent organisations to encourage carers to identify themselves including Alzheimer’s Society, Belfast Carers Centre, CAUSE and Praxis. Work has also been progressed with GP surgeries across Belfast where they have a pathway to refer carers for a carer assessment and information. This work is being currently reviewed to ensure the Trust is effectively identifying carers in primary care.

To identify specific groups of carers, strategic partnerships have been developed. The Belfast Trust works with Mind the Gap project to identify older carers in the area who are not known to the Trust. The support worker in turn makes referrals for carer assessments for all older carers identified by the project.

South Eastern HSC Trust

The South Eastern Trust has a carer information booklet containing a range of information about the supports available within the Trust through Trust services or organisations in the community and voluntary sector. These booklets are available in Trust Offices and GP surgeries across the entire Trust area, as well as through a range of organisations which support carers including Carers NI. The Trust website has a dedicated carer section on its internet site about the supports/initiatives available within the Trust area for carers.

The Trust Carers Development Officer has strong links with a range of organisations and groups in the community and voluntary sector to ensure that the already well established network of support is maintained and kept up to date. For example, the Safe and Well Project, a Lottery funded project in the Down and Lisburn areas, aims to identify and support older people aged 65 and over who are socially isolated. As well as other areas of input, this project actively seeks to identify hidden carers.

The Trust Carers Development Officer also has an initiative with all GP surgeries across the Trust area to promote the identification of family carers. There is a specific referral pathway for carer assessment and carer support through the Trust carer database. In addition, there is regular communication with GPs to ensure they are aware of the supports available for carers.

Southern Trust

As part of the Southern Trust Carers Action plan, a GP protocol has been developed informing practices of Carers right to a Carers assessment and how to access support. Plans are in place to disseminate this within all GP practices within the Southern Trust.

The Southern Trust are partners in the Big Lottery funded Mind the Gap project and the Carers’ Coordinator attends meetings as part of the expert reference group. This projects aims are to identify Carers over the aged of 60 not known to services and signpost on to relevant supports including the SHSCT for Carers Assessment. The Southern Trust has also in place a contract with an organisation, Carers Matter, to support Carers by providing a community based outreach programme that works with relevant local statutory and community based organisations to identify both rural and urban locations from which to provide carers support services.

The Trust Carers Coordinator works with voluntary & community Groups across all POCs including the regional BME Carers group, and has developed a Carers information booklet which has been circulated to all teams and GP surgeries in the Southern Trust. The Communications department have developed a webpage for Carers sharing all the resources and up to date information. The Carers Information booklet and Carers assessment leaflet can be downloaded from this page. Up to date information is shared on the Trust Social Media accounts.