Carers Legislation - Analysis of Consultation Responses

Annex 1: Consultation Events and Summary of Key Points

The following list shows the dates, venue and host for each of the 16 consultation events.

Between January and April 2014, 16 consultation events were held across Scotland. Some of these were hosted by the Scottish Government; some were hosted by other organisations. Across these events, attendees comprised carer organisations, carers (adult and young), third sector organisations and NHS Board representatives. Seven of the groups who hosted an event provided a summary of key themes emerging, and the remaining nine groups who hosted an event included findings from events within their final response to the consultation. The following paragraphs provide a summary of key themes from the seven events that provided notes.

Other than the themes already outlined in previous chapters of this report, other issues raised included:

• The need for a holistic and whole family approach when considering the needs of carers.
• A request for a duty for awareness training for practitioners.
• A query over what penalties would be instigated if local authorities failed to meet their duties.
• The concept of a named person or 'navigator' who would be a point of contact.
• Funding for a public information campaign to help raise awareness and encourage carers to self-identify.
• Concerns that connections between this new legislation and other legislation such as SDS are not clear.
• Issues surrounding guardianship and how this influences carers' contributions.
• Hospital discharge and issues in relation to discharge planning.
• While there is general agreement for services to carers across Scotland to be consistent, there were also recognition from young carers of a need for some degree of localisation as needs may differ from one area to another.
• Creation of a central hub of information to foster communication between local authorities, carer centres and carers.
• The need for a system to monitor contracts to ensure fairness and accountability.