CQC Quality Statement
Theme 1 – Working with People: Supporting people to live healthier lives
Royal Borough of Greenwich statement
We support people to manage their health and wellbeing so they can maximise their independence, choice and control. We support them to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce future needs for care and support.
What people expect
I can get information and advice about my health, care and support and how I can be as well as possible – physically, mentally and emotionally. I am supported to plan ahead for important changes in my life that I can anticipate.
Oxleas NHS Trust staff work in an integrated way with RBG to ensure that carers are supported while looking after people with mental health needs. The Trust has a commitment to ensure that carers are recognised and their needs assessed in their own right.
Carers are registered on RIO and have their own record where a carer’s assessment is recorded and the record is linked to the person that they care for. The care coordinator will work closely with the carer to ensure their views are documented and included in the care plan where the service user has given consent (if possible) for this to happen.
The service user Support Network Tool is used to identify and document the key people that support the service users in a time of crisis whether they are family, friends or neighbours. This can therefore be used to offer carers assessments where the input to that person is substantial from any one in the network. it helps people to identify themselves as carers where previously they may not have done so.
In older adults memory services the staff work closely to ensure that carers are support in a variety of ways post dementia diagnosis. The carers support group explores the emotional and psychological impact of a dementia diagnosis on the carer and family.
In partnership with The Alzheimer’s Society the service have Dementia Advisors who are able to offer emotional and practical support relating to living well with dementia, benefits, and signposting to carers support in the local community.
The Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) offers carer assessments and records that this has been offered and either accepted or refused. Staff work closely with carers in the formulation of care plans where the person has consented. As the team is fully integrated with RGB the carers support and services detailed in the policy apply equally to carers of older adults with mental health needs.
Currently specific carers support services include one to one psychological therapy and family therapy. Both are aimed at supporting carers to understand how their caring role impacts on them and to offer tools and strategies in helping the person they care for to manage their mental wellbeing.
In line with NICE guidelines, in our adult CMHTs all people referred to our teams are offered an initial family meeting. The purpose of these meetings is to improve client, family and significant others involvement in care planning, to ensure priorities in care planning reflect the priorities of clients, families and significant others and to improve relationships between clients, families, significant others and services. The team will continue to work closely with families and support networks to deliver care where the client consents.
The client and family network may be offered carers support, the aim of which is to explore the impact of caring on their life and wellbeing and strategies or tools to help them. NICE concordant family interventions are offered to families of people experiencing psychosis-this will help the client and family understand their diagnosis, the impact this may have on them and their family and how they can work together to solve problems, conflicts or difficulties to support the client within their family network. The Greenwich Family Consultation Service offers therapy to clients and their families with more complex or long standing difficulties.
