Together improving the health and well-being of people and communities
2020 was an extremely busy year for the North Wales Regional Partnership Board.
Together with our partners and stakeholders, we adopted new, creative and innovative ways in supporting citizens and we’d like to share with you a few of our achievements during the past 12 months.
Children’s Services’ Transformation Programme
Workstream 1: early intervention & Prevention
• Undertaking the groundwork to build a collaborative approach across partner agencies. This involved consulting with key stakeholders from services to share the plan and hear views. This exercise was well received and contributed to shaping the project and set out a clear commitment to co-production.
• Building a mature, transparent and collegiate understanding of why the system to support children’s emotional health and wellbeing is not working effectively now and why this project is needed.
• Steering Group with attendance from senior leaders across the partnership including all local authorities, the Health Board and the Community and Voluntary sector
• Establishing the right level of leadership on the Steering Group, with the right mind set
• Gaining commitment to adopting one coherent approach across organisations to help support children, young people and families improve their emotional health, wellbeing and resilience across the partnership.
Workstream 2: Edge of care interventions
• Detailed research and development to inform the choice of models of care.
• Detailed operational plans drawn up by each area to outline service model including staffing requirements and cost breakdown.
• An intense period of partnership working to develop mutual understanding, a shared vision and a common language as the basis for establishing new ways of working that will facilitate system change and assure families of the best possible support to enable behaviour changes and improved outcomes
• Implementation of new services delivered by multi-disciplinary teams; this includes a Multi-Systemic Therapy model of service in one of the sub regional areas which is up and running, the first to embed MST in Wales.
Workstream 3: Effective Child Protection
- Creation of a bespoke practice mentor role to deliver individual and group mentoring to staff
- Development and delivery of new models for individual and group mentoring interventions to staff, and their evaluation.
- Establishment of two websites, for Effective Child Protection and the Gwynedd Risk Model, and intranet site for staff.
- Delivery of multi-agency briefing events
- Reconfiguration of individual and group mentoring into virtual platform.
Unpaid carers:
Lockdown for many carers has been extremely difficult; feeling invisible or abandoned; and loss of independence. Many are worried about the long term, ie job, finances etc. High levels of stress is now known within carers.
Covid-19 has increased the number of unpaid carers by 196,000 in Wales. By June 2020, 98,000 unpaid carers remained in work as well as caring.
Services responded by:
Carers services provided support
- by moving online and through distanced working.
Local authorities supported carers by:
- creating Covid-19 support teams;
- sharing information about what services are available;
- giving emergency funds where needed;
- sharing resources with other organisations.
Charity and voluntary organisations collected medication, undertook shopping, made video calls and much more.
“Suddenly your support network around you who might be family or friends disappear, the local authority may be unable to deliver services into your home, the person you care for is unable to go to a respite or day centre three days a week; you are unable to go to the shops because you’re unable to leave your loved one; you are suddenly isolated; alone; your loved one may have died or may be in hospital.”
Young carers have asked for:
- more support with wellbeing;
- help to stay connected;
- breaks;
- help to balance caring with education and work;
- support to stay fit and healthy.
Digital Communities:
Supporting hospitals, care homes and supported living accommodation during COVID-19 has had a huge impact on people who receive health and social care support across North Wales. Patients, residents and tenants have not been able to see friends and family when they need it the most.
Through the support of the Community Services Transformation Programme’s ‘Digital Communities’ Initiative, we have purchased and distributed around 500 iPads to older people, and other ‘at risk’ groups, across North Wales. These have been an important life-line to many people throughout the pandemic; giving older people who are isolating, or who are in hospital or living in a care home the opportunity to maintain contact with loved ones, as well as continue to engage in social activities.
Residents and staff across North Wales are now embracing the use of digital technology, which has been life changing for many.
The video calls have had emotional benefits including supporting mental well-being:
“When I received a call to offer us an iPad to enable the residents to keep in touch with loved ones during the current lockdown, I was absolutely delighted. Their faces light up when they see their family members appear on video calls. Having the iPad to communicate with the outside world during such a difficult time has definitely had an emotional benefit to our residents”
For many children and young people, using technology comes easily. This is why the North Wales Regional Partnership Board is working in partnership with Digital Communities Wales to train children and young people to become Digital Heroes so that with their help, we can change people’s lives.
Becoming a Digital Hero could be as simple as spending time with an older relative, explaining and getting them comfortable with using a mobile device; or it could be helping older people in their community to ‘get online’.
To find out more about becoming a Digital Hero & sign-up for free training, visit: Digital Hero
