Name agreed for new Regional Adoption Agency

Almost 400 people across Cumbria, Durham and Sunderland responded to the recent consultation on the name and logo for the new Regional Adoption Agency. Opinion was quite evenly split, but Adopt Coast to Coast just shaded it and has now been agreed as the official name for the agency. The pictured logo has also been adopted, subject to some further development work.

The agency is also now advertising for a Senior Communications Officer to take forward development of the brand and communications plan.

+ APPLY HERE

"Light, airy and modern"

Council Leader Stewart Young and Cllr Patricia Bell, Cabinet Member for Health & Social Care, met with Eric Wright at the new Carlisle Care Home before Christmas when the £6m home was formally handed over from the contractor to Cumbria County Council. 

Construction on the Copeland home is due to complete today and local members are meeting senior representatives from Eric Wright Construction Ltd on site on 8th February for the same formal handover of the building from Eric Wright to the County Council.

Registered Managers have now been recruited for both homes and staff have started to visit Burnrigg Court in Carlisle. For both homes there is still a significant amount of work to be completed in respect of soft furnishings, staff training and completion of CQC registration. Once this is complete we can start to move our residents into the new care homes.

Feedback from staff about the "light, airy and modern buildings" has been positive. Our newly appointed registered managers are also looking forward to the challenge ahead.

Tracy Bindokas, manager of the new Carlisle Care Home – Burnrigg Court
“I look forward to the new, exciting challenge ahead. The building is beautiful and will benefit the service users and staff with the modern systems that are in place as well as the en-suite facilities and the safe access to the outside areas for each service user. The layout of the public area of the building, the outside areas and the facility for a shop will give us opportunity to engage with the local community. I look at this opportunity as an new adventure for myself, staff, service users & the community."

Helen Green, manager of the new Copeland Care Home – The Gables
“I am really looking forward to moving to the new Copeland home, it is exciting times for everyone, staff and service users. I am sure we will face a few challenges along the way which we will all work through together as a team, to ensure service users feel happy and safe, in their new home, and to make the transition as smooth as possible.”

With both homes scheduled to open to residents in Spring 2019, the next few months are a going to be an important time for everyone involved in these significant projects.

NQSW shaping national policy

Richard Hartley, NQSW based in Barrow, has been selected to be part of a national working group on improving the Children Services’ (CS) ASYE Programme.

This national group is one element of a programme of work being driven by the Department for Education to address the variation in the support and assessment of NQSWs. The DfE wants the voice of the NQSW to be central to this and through Skills for Care has established a NQSW Community of Practice made up of NQSWs drawn from all regions of the country. Richard will be a NW Regional representative.
The work of the NQSW Community of Practice will be focused on:

• taking an overview of NQSW feedback and experience
• highlighting innovative practice examples from local programmes
• producing key messages for all CS ASYE Programmes to support their continuous improvement and development
• to inform future practice and national policy.

Richard is attending the first meeting of the NQSW Community of Practice on 30th January in London.

+ MORE INFO RICHARD.HARTLEY@CUMBRIA.GOV.UK

Teams respond to pressures in north acute hospitals

There has been considerable pressure in the North acute hospitals in recent weeks with the system falling well short of its targets for A&E waiting times, delayed transfers of people into the community and a lack of bed capacity to deal with those that need acute support. Capacity is all about admission avoidance and ensuring that people flow through the system smoothly thereby ensuring people can be discharged when they become medically fit.

Our hospital teams at Cumberland infirmary and the West Cumberland Infirmary are on the front line in terms of facing this pressure and have done a fantastic job in securing discharges to keep the hospitals flowing. They do not do this in isolation, with reablement providing considerable support and brokers sourcing care in a marketplace which we know lacks capacity. Commissioners at one point downed tools and spent a couple of days ringing around all providers to squeeze extra capacity and hurry care homes up to do assessments.  Community teams feel the direct impact of hospital pressures too as they engage in supporting people into the community.

So a huge thank you to all involved. The Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer of the North Acute and Community Trust have specifically acknowledged the fantastic work done by Council teams – job well done.

Homestays young people enjoy Christmas get together

The pictures didn't make it to People News in time for the Christmas edition, but they are here now!

Jayne McGarry, Homestays Adviser, said:

"The Homestays team wanted to arrange a 'Christmas get-together' for Barrow Care leavers who are receiving Homestays outreach support. Homestays advisors, Iain Jamieson and Jayne McGarry, Homestays providers and young people used The Hub kitchen and meeting room to cook a full Christmas dinner together and then eat together. Young people were given a small amount of money to get a present for ‘secret santa’; and we also had a ‘build-a-bear’ activity which was kindly donated by Joanne Gawne, Children’s Rights Officer. We think everyone had a good time and there was even a game of Jenga!"

+ MORE INFO JAYNE.MCGARRY@CUMBRIA.GOV.UK

Period poverty project makes the news

Period Poverty North Cumbria are working in partnership with Cumbria County Council’s Community Development team, colleagues from the Specialist Youth Support service, young women involved with the Carlisle Youth Offending Service, as well as community volunteers to distribute free sanitary products to Community & Outreach Centres in Carlisle.

Following a £3,000 grant awarded to Period Poverty North Cumbria from the council’s Local Committee for Carlisle, an additional 13 locations, bringing the total to 56 locations across Carlisle and Eden will now offer free sanitary products including the newly set up 13 Community & Outreach Centres in Carlisle.

+ WATCH NOW

New junior promise agreed by children

Cumbria's Promise sets out the council's commitments to Children Looked After. But following feedback from younger children that they would like their own version of The Promise which was more “straightforward”, the Junior Children in Care Councils took on the challenge of revising the text.

They worked hard together over 2017/18 to create a Promise that reflected, in easy to understand terms, what they wanted and that has more meaning and value to them.

+ VIEW THE JUNIOR PROMISE

New pharmacy advice campaign set to launch

On 4 February 2019, NHS England will launch a Help Us Help You ‘Pharmacy Advice’ campaign which the council will be supporting alongside local NHS partners.

The campaign is aimed at the general public and will encourage people to use their local pharmacy as the first port of call for clinical advice for minor health concerns such as coughs, colds, tummy troubles and aches and pains.

The campaign will help to further build the public’s trust and confidence in community pharmacists and the pharmacy team as providers of care, and ensure minor illnesses are effectively managed in the right place.

+ Find out more here.

Physiotherapist trial in GP surgeries already proving a sucess

The introduction of ‘first contact’ physiotherapists at GP practices in the Bay area have enabled over 200 patients to be seen since November 2018. The new clinics are being trialled at Bay Medical Group in Morecambe, Ashtrees Health Centre in Carnforth and Ulverston and Dalton practices.
Charity Bamforth, a First Contact Physiotherapist in Ulverston, sees up to 14 patients a day offering 40 minute sessions. She has seen more than 100 patients since November 2018 and only six of these patients have been referred on to the Integrated Musculoskeletal Service (iMSK) service and Outpatient physiotherapy.

+ READ MORE