Progress to date

Communication

• Established multi-stakeholder commitment to deliver the Borough Partnership Carers Board by the end of 2024.
• Carers have been involved in the 2024 changes to the Council’s switchboard service, Contact Camden .

Information and advice

• The Carers Action Plan website development: https://carersactionplan.camden.gov.uk,which will go live in summer 2024, links to Camden Care Choices, a website with carers information: https://camdencarechoices.camden.gov.uk/support-and-advice-for-carers/. The information on Camden Care Choices was recently revised in Spring 2024 and checked as being Care Act compliant.
• A range of focus groups have taken place during 2023 and 2024 to reach more carers and talk about the support they are entitled to.

• In summer 2024, specialist organisations will receive funding to identify and engage male and LGBTQ+ carers.

Mental Health

• The newly established North London Mental Health Partnership are creating a carers strategy, which will be connected into the action plan’s delivery.

Carer conversations

• In March 2024, Adult Social Care audited their carer conversations.
• In July 2024, Adult Social Care recruited a carer practice development lead focussed on improving carer practice in Camden. This role will also help implement the recommendations from the audit.
• Adult Social Care has initiated plans to update its practice guidance, in line with strengths-based practice, Camden’s What Matters Approach to Adult Social Care. There are plans to involve carers as this develops. This should be complete by the end of 2024.
• In early 2024, the Camden Learning Disability Service appointed a family carer development social worker to support practice involvement.
• Working with the commissioning manager and practice lead for autism, Adult Social Care are ensuring that the action plan connects in with the developing refreshed autism strategy. Key to this is ensuring carers for autistic people have the same access to carer conversations.

Emergency/future planning

• Plans are in place to improve Adult Social Care practice so carer conversations and assessment forms include emergency/future planning.
• Camden Learning Disability Service are looking at risks and mitigation plans for older family or unwell family carers.
• Adult Social Care have started work to understand what worked well with the previous carers card, and lessons learned for why this wasn’t continued.

Health and hospital discharge

• In 2023, Camden Carers received additional funding for a Hospital and GP Development Project to support carers in hospitals, and after discharge, embedding good practice to support carers rights across health services in Camden. This project continues into 2024.
• Camden Learning Disability Service and Camden Carers have started designing a hospital passport to improve people’s experiences during a hospital stay and support health outcomes.
• In summer 2024, Camden Carers will receive additional funding to increase the reach of their health and lifestyle checks programme.

YAC support

• In summer 2024, Camden Carers will receive funding for their YAC strategy, to support carers transitioning from children’s services to adult services.
• In spring 2024, Adult Social Care connected with the young carers strategy and will ensure ongoing links to the action plan.
• There are plans in place for Adult Social Care to consider implementing No Wrong Door, designed to improve services between adult and children’s social care services, Integrated Care Boards and other key organisations in respect of identification and support for young carers and their families.

Financial and legal support

• In January 2024, the money and benefit section of Camden Care Choices was revised. This includes a section on carers.