New Carers Strategy launch

What's available from Fife's Libraries and Museums?

Plans to identify and support carers of all ages across Scotland were revealed on 26th July 2010, including investment in respite and short breaks.
Making the announcement Public Health Minister Shona Robison said "Carers of all ages make a huge contribution to their families and to society. Their efforts help their loved ones to continue living independently - and their contribution as unpaid workers to health and social care is worth an estimated £7.68 billion a year."

The adult strategy - Caring Together - lays out a ten-point plan with specific commitments to help carers, including:
The following are the headline actions in this strategy to help improve outcomes for carers:
1. A Carers Rights Charter will be developed, consolidating existing legal rights and setting out key principles for carer support both now and in the future.
2. Measures will be put in place to help professionals in the health and social care workforce identify carers. Carer identification opens the door to a carer's assessment and to the provision of support. There will be a strong emphasis on workforce training as members of the workforce who are 'carer-aware' have a big role to play.
3. Steps will be taken to improve the uptake and quality of carers assessments/carer support plans. This will be achieved through workforce training and widely-disseminated guidance as well as by inclusion of the role of assessments in the forthcoming NHSinform carers information zone. Carers centres will continue their vital work in supporting this process.
4.  The provision of information and advice to carers through various means including workforce training and our support for NHSinform.
5. Working to ensure carer representation on Community Health Partnerships. Carers will be central to the planning, shaping and delivery of services for the people with care needs and in relation to support for themselves.
6. As carers can suffer poor health directly as a result of caring, carer health and well-being is vitally important. A bespoke resource on issues relating to stress and caring to complement the successful Steps for Stress will be developed. Work will continue with the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland and the national carer organisations on carer identification and support, including promoting good health. Work will be done to ensure that carers aged 40-64 have access to health checks under plans to target groups of people, including carers, who may not live in the most deprived areas - those eligible people in the most deprived areas will already have access to health checks under the Keep Well initiative.
7. Carer training promotes carer confidence and enables carers to care for longer.  £281,000 will be invested in carer (and workforce) training this year through a grant to the national carer organisations. Working  with NHS Boards to ensure a 'training offer' may be made to carers in greatest need, contingent on the outcome of the next Spending Review.
8. The provision of short breaks or respite is hugely important to carers. Work will continue with a range of partners to promote the further development of flexible, personalised short breaks. Local authorities will continue to provide, and support access to, short breaks. A further £1 million will be invested in 2010-11 to provide more innovative short breaks provision in Scotland to be delivered by the voluntary sector.
9. It is important for carers to be able to remain in employment, when they want to, or to take up employment, learning or training opportunities. Employers will be encouraged to develop and promote carer-friendly employment practices. Skills Development Scotland will be working with the national carer organisations to help promote learning and other career opportunities.

What do carers want?

10. There is a clear need for better strategic planning and collaborative working between health and social care services to ensure the delivery of co-ordinated services and supports. Work will be done to ensure this happens so that carers do not have to negotiate the boundaries of different health and care services.

Afternoon Tea with the Queen

Fiona Knight in a suitably flower frock for a garden party

Nancy, Pamela and Margaret get their glad rags on

The rewards of being a carer usually are confined to the gratitude of the one that you care for - which for most is sufficient. However just occasionally that dedication is recognised and rewarded by others - on 13th July that happened to six carers here in Fife when they were invited to the Royal Garden Party at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. Fife Carers Centre had arranged for Peter and Sheila Hibberd, Margaret Norie, Pamela Adamson, Nancy Beveridge and Fiona Knight to go along to this very special occasion as recognition of their dedication to their role as carer and as a way of thanking them for the help and support that they give to Fife Carers Centre throughout the year.

Peter and Sheila Hibberd ready for their meeting with the Queen

The afternoon started with tea, sandwiches and pastries before the Queen, Prince Philip and Princess Anne came amongst the guests. The chances however of being introduced to the Queen is remote as the afternoon is shared with so many other people. However, much to their surprise, Sheila and Peter were asked if they would like to be presented to Her Majesty. Like for most the opportunity was welcomed.
In the few minutes available Peter and Sheila told the Queen of their role as carers and the fact that their son Gavin had moved onto his own home with support. They also told the Queen of the role that Peter has as a Carer representative on the Strategy Implementation Group for Learning Difficulties. The Queen showed great interest in what they had to tell her and for them the experience will stay with them for the rest of their lives. 
It could only be described as an afternoon of great excitement for everyone, an opportunity to dress up and live in another world.

Dementia Learning Forums for 2010

If you are caring for someone living with Dementia I’m sure you would be interested in going along to one of the forthcoming Dementia Learning Forums. The forum runs 6 times a year from mid morning and over lunchtime and each forum starts with a presentation by a keynote speaker on a dementia related topic – something that has usually been recommended by forum delegates.  The forum gives you an opportunity to meet other people involved in aspects of Dementia care and treatment both over lunch and then in the small conversational learning groups, facilitated by Forum members.


The forum has several objectives and is always looking for carers to take part and share the knowledge and experiences they have:

    * To create better outcomes and improve the experience for people living with dementia and their carers through supported shared learning;
    * To involve the wider multi-disciplinary network in a process of shared learning about dementia and make best use of local knowledge and experience;
    * To include carers and people living with dementia as partners in learning;
    * To contribute to the induction of new staff working with patients with dementia.


Over the past 2 years, the number of people coming along has averaged at 68 per forum.  People come along from all sorts of backgrounds, from community social work, community health, acute and primary care ward staff, voluntary agencies, independent sector as well as carers and people living with dementia.


An example of topics covered to date have included “Legal Considerations for adults with dementia , their carers and professionals”, “Palliative care for people with dementia” “Therapeutic Values in Horticulture” and considered the carers perspective in each case.

The meetings are all held between 11.30 and 2.30 in the Dunnikier House Hotel in Kirkcaldy and for the rest of this year are as follows:

    * Tuesday 27th July – Topic is “Living with Risk” and the speaker is Bill Coyne, Senior Clinical Effectiveness Practitioner, NHS Fife.
    * Tuesday 21st September – The topic is Dementia Care in the Acute Hospital Setting and the speakers are Audrey Melrose, Nurse Specialist, Liaison Psychiatry (Older People), NHS Forth Valley and Dr Emma Reynish, Consultant Physician in Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Victoria Hospital Kirkcaldy, and Honorary Professor in Dementia Studies, University of Stirling.
    * Tuesday 16th November -Fiona Crow, Music Therapist, NHS Fife, Jane Bentley, Community Musician, Art Beat and ‘The Buddy Beat’ Community Drumming Group.

The Forum are very keen to hear from carers and to have their input at the forums – if you’d like to attend please contact Sandra Anderson, KLLMU Development Co-ordinator, Balfour Rehab Unit, Cameron Hospital, Cameron Bridge, Leven, KY8 5RR.  Tel: 01592 226768  Email: Sandra.Anderson-lmu@fife.gov.uk

Caring with Confidence for someone living with Dementia - workshop

The dates have been released for the next six "Caring with Confidence for someone living with Dementia" workshops.  They are

•  Thursday 30th September 2010 between 10 am and 2pm.
• .Thursday 21st October 2010 between 10 am and 2pm.
• Wednesday 24th November 2010 between 6.30pm and 9.30pm
• Thursday 20th January 2011 between 10am and 2pm.
• Thursday 10th February 2011 between 10 am and 2pm
• Wednesday 22nd March 2011 between 6.30pm and 9.30pm.

All of the workshops will be held at Fife Carers Centre in Kirkcaldy.  To book a place please call Fife Carers Centre on 01592 642999. These workshops are run in partnership with Alzheimer Scotland and are free for unpaid carers in Fife to attend.
The workshops will help carers understand the effect of Dementia on the brain, some of the common behaviours associated with dementia will be discussed along with the groups own experiences. The session will also include some ideas and suggestions for helping the carer cope with their caring role.

Carers Week 2010

Phew!  What a week!
Our first attempt at filling Carers Week with useful and interesting events for carers was pretty successful - everyone who came along to anything seemed to enjoy it and get something out of it.  We learned a few things to bear in mind for next year:

• We need to be better at advertising the events.
• We should include evening and weekend events so that working carers can be included without taking time off work.
• It's worth including not just unpaid carers but also anyone who is interested in carers issues and supporting carers in Fife.

We'll be carrying out an evaluation and will take note of any points raised but if you have ideas for how we can build on this year's event and make next year even better please let us know!