Chepstow & Caldicot Carers Support Group
NOVEMBER 2002 NEWSLETTER
CARERS' SUPPORT GROUP Chairman: Hermione Ford (01291-689233) Secretary: Patsy Lewis (01291-420602) Office: 'Cobblers Pitch', Highmoor Hill, Caerwent, Monmouthshire NP26 5PF Dear Carer, Firstly some good news. As you can see from the top of the page, we have a new Chairman, Hermione Ford who will be ratified at the AGM in December. The AGM is on Thursday 5th December on our regular meeting day, but it is at Dewstow Golf Club and will be followed by our Christmas Lunch. The meeting is open to all carers. For the lunch you can bring the person you care for if you wish. Ring me if you would like to come. Carers Rights Day. Tuesday 3rd December. This will be an all-day affair at Chepstow Racecourse with lunch provided. This is being organised by Maxine Smillie, the Carers Development Worker in Monmouthshire. Local County Councillors, Huw Edwards MP and David Davies AM are guest speakers. We particularly want to invite carors who have not been to anything before. This day will include workshops on Carers Assessments and Carers Rights, particulary changes in benefits. This is a must to come to and bring along any other carers that you know of. Transport can be arranged if this is a problem. Please contact me if you wish to come or you need transport. Our October meeting at Boverton House welcomed eighteen carers. Our talk was from Gaynor Wogan from 'Inapeace' which is a holistic therapy business run by Gaynor and her sister-in-law Lyn. They are both retired trained nurses, and they both have experience in holistic therapies such as hypnosis and hypnotherapy, counselling, herbalism, acupuncture, aromatherapy and they also have people working with them using the Bowen Technique. Gaynor knows what it is like to be under pressure and stress, as many carers are, and she took the group through a relaxation session, which for some was very effective. Being able to relax is something that some people have great difficulty in learning to do, but it is possible to train yourself to do it. She explained a lot about hypnotherapy and how effective and safe it can be for a lot of problems like phobias, smoking, fear of flying etc. This was a really interesting and enjoyable session. If you would like to speak to Gaynor or Lyn, contact them on 01291-420653 or 424002. We also had the opportunity of meeting the new Carers Assessment Worker for this part of the County, Christine Pearce. She explained her role in doing Carers Assessments and that as a result of the assessment she can put in some more imaginative services. One young carer has received driving lessons, other carers have had help with gardening, and decorating. These are not the run of the mill services, but each carer has his or her own problems to solve. You can ask for a Carers Assessment by ringing Social Services on 01291-635666 and ask to speak to Christine. The Social Worker for the person you care for can also do a Carers Assessment, but sometimes it is more appropriate for an independent person to do it. It is your choice. Our Chairman has volunteered to be a member of a working group with the County Council to review Charging Policies in Monmouthshire. She has been to one meeting, and at this meeting there was discussion on changing the way Monmouthshire charge people for services. They want to abolish the stamp system and charge people on the actual cost of the service, taking into account the income and savings that each person has. If people can afford the service, it can be very expensive. However, if people cannot afford it, it would be free, and there is a sliding scale between the two. This will mean that every user and carer (if they have had an assessment and services put in as a result) will have to be reassessed. It seems too that no one will be offered purely domestic help. Help will only be on offer if it is for personal care. Hermione expressed her views on this very strongly, asking from where will users and carers get this money? For many people too, domestic help can be a life line. She has also written to Jane Hutt, Minister for Health and Social Services in the Assembly, and David Davies AM, expressing her opinion. It seems that if anyone has any money saved now, it will disappear quite rapidly in paying for services. The working group is a public meeting and if anyone would like to go with Hermione and listen to what is said, or indeed just write a letter, please ring her and find out when the next meeting is. At the Monmouthshire Carers Strategy Group at the Sessions House in Usk the main topic was to hear about the Joint Review that will be done in Social Services soon. 'Joint' refers to the Audit Commission and the Social Services Inspectorate. They will be meeting users and carers and staff in the Social Services Department in Monmouthshire to find out how the service is doing and what people think about them. It is an opportunity for staff and users and carers to be honest about what they think! The people asking the questions will be coming to groups and to individual carers. It will be between now and February. You may have seen an advertisement for a carer for the new Local Health Boards in the newspapers. These Boards make the decisions about local health services. It will be a great advantage to have a carer representative on the board, but quite an onerous task. Whoever it is, we wish them good luck. The Information and Support Service that I run at Gray Hill Surgery is now available at Chepstow Community Hospital. There is no permanent office available, but I visit the wards every week to speak to visitors who may be carers. It is another step in the right direction. That's it for this month. Our next meeting is at Boverton House on Thursday 7th November, when we have representatives from Social Services explaining the Joint Review and the Complaints Officer. In the afternoon we have a speaker from Age Concern. The meetings start at 10:00am and finish at about 3.30pm. Come for all of the day, or any part as you wish. I look forward to seeing you there. If you want a chat I am at Gray Hill Surgery on Monday and Wednesday mornings from 10:00am-12:00 mid-day. Anyone, subscribers or not, can come and see me there. Ring 01291-420282 for an appointment or take a chance and pop in! For transport to meetings contact Nan Smith on 01291-421665 or Alison Short on 01291-623771.
Best wishes,
Patsy Lewis. |