Agenda and minutes

ATTENDANCE: Cllr Phil Larratt (PL, Chair), Martin De Rosario (MDR, Co-Chair), Barbara Barber (BB, Individual), Larry Barber (LB, Individual), Doug Peacock (DP, Different Strokes Northampton), Carl Weininger (CW, Northants British Polio Fellowship), Gill Chittenden (GC, NBPF), Richard Bailey (RB, NHS Nene & Corby CCG), Liz Johnstone (LJ, Favell Day Centre), Lynn Hinch (LH, FDS Northants), Pedro Santos (PS, NASS), Michael Macleod (MM, NBC), Debbie MacColl (DM, NBC).

APOLOGIES: Jaqueline Forrest Smith, Cllr Anna King, Cllr Julie Davenport.

PL opened the Forum.

Previous minutes accepted as true and accurate.

ACTION: MM to share financial details from RB when he has them.

RB talked through PowerPoint slides and explained the services that the NHS are responsible for regarding disability.

RB: Payments are through the council because they do not have to pay VAT as the NHS do.

Q: Why is that?

A: We are not entirely sure but that is just how it is.

Q: Now they are not spending they cannot provide things such as raised toilets?

A: That is statutory so it still has to happen and will continue to happen.

Q: Who is responsible to access to homes such as ramps?

A: The county council.

Q: Is that statutory.

A: Yes as part of adult social care.

Q: Is neurology restricted to MS and Parkinson’s – what about Polio?

A: Yes they are limited to those areas.

Q: I have read you need to find money, is that correct?

A: Yes, with the increasing population and longer life and successful treatments, it is more expensive so we need to find more money from elsewhere Northampton’s population is growing at around 10,000 people per year.

Q: Are groups such as “Breathing Space” Clinical?

A: The work is coordinated by Northamptonshire carers or a community group, if we run a pilot and it was successful, we would look to fund it.

ACTION: MM to share RB contact info with the Forum.

Q: Crutches were taken back to NHS, they were then thrown away, why can’t they be reused?

A: Sometimes it is cheaper to buy new than clean and reuse. Also it may be faster to buy new than the cleaning. NHS does need to be better at recycling and reuse more effectively. Also, items from the NHS is not given, they are loaned but people often keep them. There is a lot to learn both as a health service and in society.

A: There are websites and charities who accept things like crutches who will then pass them on for use elsewhere.

A: Retendering of contract is this year and a key part of the contract is reuse.

Q: Do the NHS have a storage problem?

A: That could be a problem yes.

CW: Maybe people need to be empowered to take their own cast/other specifics home so there is no confusion at the appointments.

Q: Is footwear being moved from podiatry?

A: It is probably not being moved, it would be a major change and there would not be much gain from doing that.

LH talked to the forum about the services that FDS provide.

LH: There is a large variety of activities that take place.

LH: FDS are self-supporting but do work in partnership with local government when it comes to travel.

LH: FDS look to raise funds to purchase equipment such as a Medibike to give better exercise opportunities to people in wheelchairs. Some councillors helped fund this Medibike.

LH: Hydrotherapy Pool is at the BeeHive in Kingsthorpe.

There used to be another Hydrotherapy pool at a school at Kingsthorpe Hollow.

LH: £36 for a full day of services and a meal is provided, there is another small cost to access the pool.

LH: Upcoming craft fair at the weekend 17^th/18^th March.

LH: Transport often depends on what the service users want. AGE UK can be used as a transport service, the same as NDDS. Take 6 is a taxi service that can be used for transport.

Forum members talked about how might be useful for organisations to come together to look at viable transport options.

ACTION: Add to agenda for a future meeting – transport strategy.

PS: covered what Assistive Technology is – the focus today is on electronic assistive technology.

The assistive technology house is now virtual. The website shows suggestions about equipment depending on the needs of the person e.g. if a person may be at risk of falling, there will be suggestions based on this criteria.

Items can be purchased VAT free.

New smart watch device which can detect seizures which connects to a phone, if a seizure is detected, 12 people can be called at the same time – this may allow people to try and independently. If this is triggered, a GPS signal is sent out to the responders on a map.

CW: This would be brilliant if there is some technology similar to this to detect strokes.

PS: talked through the falls alarm, one pendant which you have to press, or for people who may be unaware why they are wearing the pendant, a motion sensor which triggers an alarm for responders.

There is an alarm for a chair/bed which can set a timer once the individual leaves the seat/bed. If it is longer than set time, alarm will be triggered.

There is a new monitoring system called Canary which monitors a person’s movement. This system shows the movements of a person in their home which other people such as families can monitor to make sure everything seems in order.

161 of these systems have been supplied from the Northampton County Council.

Q: Who makes the assessment about if this is needed for an individual.

A: Discharges from hospitals are more difficult, we have to react straight away to install equipment.

Q: Can a GP look at this system?

A: Family members can share data with a GP, certain things can be detected by patterns, such as much more frequent toilet visits.

PS: One touch device – this can be taken anywhere, also up to 28 countries in Europe, up to 3 responders. This can be used for people with dementia. It has geofencing, will alert responders if the person goes out of pre-set boundaries.

PS: One touch device is currently £6 a week but looking at producing a cheaper option. Can last around for around 5 days for charging.

Next of kin can be given admin access if changes are needed to respondent’s details.

There is a vibrating alarm which is for people who are hard of hearing, this detects such things as smoke and noise.

Best way to look at this technology is athomelonger.co.uk.

Assessments are always free – this lets people see and try the equipment.

All maintenance is maintained by the assistive technology team – all monitored and replaced if necessary. Some rental equipment may be used previously but is always sanitised and checked.

The service has now developed so much that it is self-sufficient and are not relying on the County Council, however, their overhead charges may change which may have a knock on effect on prices.

DM talked to the forum about the disability training event that she and MM attended in Leicester which helped us create ideas for International Day for People with Disabilies 2018.

Item for future agenda - look to get in touch with businesses about the ability of disabled people in the workplace.

MM to invite Louisa Jepson to talk about hate crime.

Invite U3A to the next forum to talk about fraud prevention.

Invite a person from Societal to talk at the next forum.

11^th May 2018, The Guildhall.

11^th May 2018.