MEETING WITH THE CARE MINISTER TOMORROW

[wendy]

I am most concerned about what is happening in Norfolk to carers and will be meeting with Norman Lamb the Care Minister tomorrow lunch time.
Please think of me.
Wendy

[chenrezig]

Will do Wendy ...

gpr xx

[Honey]

33900
I will too Wendy.
hu****
x

[mumxtwo]

goo@@@@ thinking of you gpr

[annie]

goo@@@@

[wendy]

than999   than999 than999  than999
this was all set up yesterday and is amazing.
I still cant believe it.  I have met Norman Lamb before but so concerned are we about the care services in Norfolk, that he has agreed to meet us today.
I am meeting a carer and we are both going in.  I have to go to North Walsham.
I am a little apprehensive now, but I am also very angry.

[maureenho]

You'll be alright Wendy  goo@@@@ goo@@@@ goo@@@@

[Myrna]

goo@@@@
Thinking of you  goo@@@@


Myrna xx

[Bernie]

Hope all went well, I hope the carers of Norfolk appreciate all you do for them, your a star Wendy, love Berniexx

[sandy4]

33900

[wendy]

I went with a carer for her daughter who suffers with bipolar.  It was very sad as she does not know where her daughter is and yesterday she nearly died because of taking an OD.

We pointed out to Mr Lamb the grave concerns we have for carers in Norfolk which will happen on August 1st.
There will only be generic carer support workers and carers will only have access to any support by going to GP surgeries or by joining groups.  Gone are the days of a carer support worker visiting the carer in the home.
We both  told him this and explained how important the Mind carer support service is along  with  the other carer support workers across the county (who are facing loosing  their jobs)
There are many people I know who are facing reduncancy, who have given years of work into helping carers in Norfolk.
Mr Lamb taped a letter whilst we were there asking to find out the figures and then he is contacting Norfolk CC to ask why they are doing this by removing one of the only worthwhile services that is available to carers in Norfolk.
The newspapers today are full of talk, saying how carers need to be checked for depression.
If you dont live in Norfolk, please dont feel left out, I made sure I told him that many counties have never employed Carer Support Workers and so there is no help for carers to avoid getting depressed.

[maureenho]

[chenrezig]

[wendy]

Bernie,
in answer to your question.  The carers of Norfolk don't know what I do, or what we do on chill, except if they are members of Chill.
The agencies across the country know more about us then the Norfolk ones, and they appreciate what we do, but the Norfolk council and agencies tend to ignore what we do and dont tell carers.
It is such a shame, because more carers could join.
We have been in the local book for carers, for many years, but that is the limit of it.

[Honey]

[wendy]

This letter is being sent out by Mind from their carer support service.  It is most concerning.

Name:
Address:

Date:


Carer Support Service
Dear    ,
You may already be aware that there are about to be significant changes to the Norwich & Central Norfolk Carer Support and Carer Befriender Services. To avoid confusion, and as the situation is now clearer I am writing to provide you with the background as I understand it.
Norwich and Central Norfolk Mind has operated a specialist Mental Heath Carer Support Service since 2004. This service has assisted hundreds of carers of people with mental health problems and currently supports over 130 individual carers. We believe it to be an essential and very effective service.
Norfolk County Council (NCC) and the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG’s) have now made a decision to change the basis on which we are funded, with a new tender for a county-wide Carer Support Service commencing on 1st July 2013. We, along with many other providers of carer support services, were given notice that our contracts would end on June 30th 2013. The new specification covers adult carers of persons with all types of illness and disability including mental health, but although we continually raised awareness of the need for specialist mental health carer support it is no longer a specific specialist mental health contract.
The contract for the new service has now been placed with a group of voluntary carers organisations led by Crossroads (East Anglia) and. Norwich & Central Norfolk Mind will form part of this.
I must make it clear however that the service specification for the new service is not for a specialist mental health carer support service although there is recognition that the one full time equivalent  post allotted to us  will have that expertise.
Being aware of the likely consequences of these changes Norwich & Central Norfolk Mind has committed to funding a limited amount of extra staffing hours from its own resources for a specialist mental health carer support worker, but at the moment we can only commit funding until the end of 2013.
I am aware that this letter may cause some concern and I do sincerely apologise if that is the case, but I am also mindful of the importance of making all of the information about the changes available to you. I would also stress that it is our intention to keep the majority of our carers groups active if at all possible and that Carer Support will still be here, albeit at a much reduced level.  I strongly believe that there remains a very legitimate argument for specialised mental health carer support and am committed to finding a way to continue supplying this whilst contributing to the new generic carer support service.
It is clear however that with great regret we will not, unless we are able to find alternative funding, be able to provide the level of service that has been available in the past.

Yours sincerely,




Moira Goodey
Carer Support Service Manager

[annie]

So many services being cut back, where will it all end

[Misspears]

Where will it all end

Ann x

[wendy]

Friday, 24 May 2013

Mr Norman Lamb
Member of Parliament for North Norfolk
Unit 4, The Garden Centre
Nursery Drive
Norwich Road
North Walsham
NR28 0DR

Ref: 2013/1338-Beva001-WW

Dear Mr Lamb,

Thank you for your letter dated 14th of May in relation to the needs of people caring for someone with a mental health problem.  I would like to start by saying that we completely share the concerns raised with you by Penny and Wendy. I can confirm that their concerns are shared by many other carers of people with a mental health problem.

I am happy to provide you with the background to the current situation as I understand it. Norwich and Central Norfolk Mind has operated a specialist Mental Heath Carer Support Service since 2006. This service has assisted hundreds of carers of people with mental health problems and currently supports over 130 individual carers. We believe it to be an essential and very effective service.

During 2012 Norfolk County Council (NCC) made a decision to tender for a new county-wide Carer Support Service commencing in July 2013. We, along with many other providers of carer support services, were given notice that our contracts would end on June 30th 2013. In late 2012 and early 2013 we provided feedback on the proposed new service specification supplied by Norfolk County Council. The service specification described a model of carer support that included no specialist mental health carer support (although carers of people with a mental health problem are identified in the document).




We continually expressed our view that carers of people with a mental health problem both wanted and needed a specialist service. However, the final tender documents did not reflect this feedback.

In early 2013 we joined a Consortium (comprised of the existing providers of carer support across Norfolk – the Carers Agency Partnership) to submit a tender for the supply of this new service. The Consortium bid was led by Crossroads with each of the other partners being a sub-contractor. The tender was successful and this announcement was made in late April 2013. Throughout the tender development process we continually raised awareness of the need for specialist mental health carer support. As the service specification for the new service did not compel this, we were unable to secure this provision. The service to be provided from July 1st 2013 will contain no specialist mental health carer support although there is recognition that our staff (1 full time post) will have that expertise. It also appears that the overall spend on carer support by Norfolk County Council has been reduced significantly through the award of this new contract.

This means that there will be NO specialist mental health carer support funded by Norfolk County Council in Norfolk from July 1st 2013. This means a very significant change for carers of people with a mental health problem as prior to this there were NCC contracts for specialist mental health carer support delivered by West Norfolk Mind (1.5 full time posts) and Norwich Mind (4.5 full time posts).

We strongly feel that the generic service commencing on July 1st 2013 will struggle to meet the needs of mental health carers. In addition, there is already significant demand for the existing service that ends in June 2013. Norwich Mind have raised these concerns with Norfolk County Council (we asked for funding to extend the current service by 3 months but this was rejected), and with the Norwich CCG. We have made an application to the Big Lottery for funding to continue this service and have agreed to invest funding from our Reserves to operate a smaller specialist carers mental health service until the end of 2013 but this will have nowhere near the capacity of the current service.

I would be grateful if these issues could be raised as appropriate and I would like to re-iterate that there remains a very strong argument for specialised mental health carer support and we are committed to finding a way to continue supplying this whilst contributing to the new generic carer support service.

I hope I have outlined the position clearly and I would be more than happy to provide further information and support any action you feel able to take.


Yours Sincerely




Peter Gianfrancesco
Chief Executive
Norwich & Central Norfolk Mind

[daisy]

Thank you for all you do Wendy, not only for carers in your area but for carers everywhere.  33900