Health and Wellbeing News, Events and Opportunities – October 2023
October 10, 2023
Welcome to Cumbria CVS’s Health and Wellbeing News, Events and Opportunities for October 23. This page will be updated regularly, so we are delighted you have landed here today and hope that you will keep coming back for updates during the month.
To catch up on our News, Events & Opportunities from August 2023, click here
Lots of the News, Events and Opportunities information will also be appearing in our regular Health and Wellbeing Bulletin. This Bulletin is sent out to all current members of our two Networks: Action for Health and the Mental Health Provider Forum. If you have found this page useful why not join either or both Networks by following these links:
News – we will be using this as an opportunity to pick out particularly important/interesting articles from our most recent Bulletin and/or highlighting information that might be time sensitive.
Events – we will be using this as an opportunity to highlight events of interest to organisations interested in health and care issues including Network events. Most of these will be local Cumbria events but some maybe regional.
Opportunities – we will be using this to highlight health and care focused funding and project opportunities, representative roles and working groups you might want to get involved in and much more. These will focus on Cumbria but may also include regional opportunities.
If you’ve seen something you think we should be sharing, let us know! Email us:
Clare Edwards claree@cumbriacvs.org.uk Holly Ferguson hollyf@cumbriacvs.org.uk
COUNTYWIDE – National mental health charity Rethink’s report about the importance of urgent investment by Integrated Care Systems in community mental health
Rethink’s experience of working in and supporting local systems tells us that it is more important than ever that Integrated Care Systems invest urgently in community mental health. The introduction of the Community Mental Health Framework in 2019 presented a once-in-a-generation opportunity for mental health systems.
With ringfenced transformation funding coming to an end in April 2024 and in a climate of crisis and uncertainty, we need to ensure these changes are embedded.
Four years on from our publication ‘Building communities that care’, we are launching our new report, ‘Building community into the Integrated Care System; A practical guide to developing robust community mental health’, where we:
- Summarise the significant challenges facing mental health care.
- Provide a toolkit of practical, workable solutions to common barriers to transformation.
- Explore the role that the VCSE sector can have in pursuing the four core aims and future goals of ICSs.
Follow this link to download a copy of the report:
NORTH CUMBRIA NHS area – Update on what is happening across Integrated Care Communities in North Cumbria
As many of you are aware here in North Cumbria we operate 8 local Integrated Care Communities (ICCs). ICCs bring together individuals from key organisations and bodies to work on a Neighbourhood footprint (30 to 50,000 people) to improve the heath and wellbeing of their local community.
Since 2019 our third sector have had 2 representatives at each ICC representing our sector and getting involved in delivering improved services.
Since early 2023 all ICCs across North Cumbria have been undergoing a refresh and refocus exercise. Click here to read the document to find out how all this work is going.
WESTMORLAND & FURNESS COUNCIL area – Expansion of Community Catalysts project
A new free development programme has launched to help people set up working for themselves offering care and support to older and disabled people locally.
You could offer any kind of help at home such as: cleaning, cooking, shopping, trips out, support to dress and wash, DIY, gardening and more.
The programme is coordinated by Community Catalysts in partnership with Westmorland and Furness Council; and supports people to make sure their care and support business is set up safely, legally and sustainably.
Leave your details at Community Catalysts’ website and your local catalysts Jade and Hannah will be in touch for a chat to tell you more.
COUNTYWIDE – Trauma Informed Conference 2nd November 2023 Castle Green Hotel Kendal
Trauma Informed are excited to announce their upcoming Trauma-Informed Conference, which is scheduled to be held on the 2nd of November 2023 at Castle Green Hotel in Kendal.
The conference is designed to bring together professionals from all walks of life to discuss and learn about trauma-informed practices and how they can be implemented in various settings, including voluntary sector agencies, health, education, social work, and criminal justice agencies.
To book a place please click here
COUNTYWIDE – HOLD THE DATE Right Care Right Person event for organisations supporting unpaid carers 14th November 2pm to 3pm online
What is Right Care Right Person?
Police involvement in supporting people with mental health needs is changing from January 2023
This event will give you an opportunity to find out more so that you can support carers and help them understand the changes.
The session will focus on explaining the situations where carers will still expect support from the police including:
- Missing person incidences
- Situations where a carer is in physical danger as a result of challenging behaviour perpetrated by the person for whom they care
More information & useful links
Right Care, Right Person is a way of operating that recognises that when people are in mental health crisis, they need timely access to support that is compassionate and meets their needs.
In recent years there has been a national recognition that the police are involved in many more cases than are appropriate. While there will always be cases where the police need to be involved in responding to someone in mental health crisis (for example, where there is a real and immediate risk to life or serious harm, or where a crime or potential crime is involved), police are increasingly involved when they are not the most appropriate agency to respond, and they are not able to handover care to a more appropriate professional in a timely manner. This impacts on the ability of the police to carry out their other duties effectively, and importantly, can result in people with mental health needs experiencing greater distress and having poorer experiences of the mental health care pathway.
Information taken from
While some mental health incidents do require police attendance, there are a significant number that involve no safety risk or crime. The new approach will mean police can focus on attending health incidents where there’s a significant safety risk or crime being committed, and refer others to the appropriate partner agency. Estimates show that implementing the principles of RCRP could save around one million police officer hours each year.
The RCRP approach is based on a model developed by Humberside Police in 2021. It has also been implemented by other forces, including Lancashire Police, South Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Police.
https://www.college.police.uk/article/rcrp-national-guidance-launched
WESTMORLAND & FURNESS COUNCIL area – NEW SURVEY Have your say on accessible communication from GP’s dentists and pharmacists
Healthwatch Westmorland and Furness are carrying out a new project looking at the accessibility of information and advice provided by GPs, dentists and pharmacies.
They want to hear your views on accessible information, the advice you received and whether your access needs were met when visiting your local health services.
The focus of this survey will be to find out how easy and accessible information and advice provision is for people with a range of impairments when communicating with GP’s, dentists and pharmacies.
Healthwatch would particularly like to hear the views of those with a disability, their carers, personal assistants, and parents.
Access the survey here:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/HWWaFcom
NORTH CUMBRIA NHS area – Women’s Health Conference October 2023
In August 2022, the first ever Women’s Health Strategy for England was published, marking a reset in the way in which the government looks at women’s health. The strategy sets out the national 10-year ambitions for boosting the health and wellbeing of women and girls, and for improving how the health and care system engages and listens to all women and girls.
The North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System and the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities are co-hosting a Women’s Health Conference in the North East on Thursday 19th October 2023.
Part of the conference aim is to:
- Celebrate and showcase work from across the region in line with the national women’s health strategy published last year
The organizers are looking for people/organisations to submit ideas for presentations. Click here to open form to apply.
