National Care Service: forum discussion guide - easy read

National Care Service Forum 2023 Group Discussions - Easy Read

At the National Forum we will have discussions around tables. Everyone can take part.

We will talk about things people told us about at our local summer events.

The events were about these themes:

• Information sharing to improve care support
• Making sure your voice is heard
• Realising rights and responsibilities
• Valuing the workforce
• Keeping care support local (local services and community health).

People told us about topics related to these themes that we should do more work on. We will talk more about these topics.

We will also talk about how we should work together to design the National Care Service in the next few months.

On the day you can join a discussion on the topic you are most interested in. There is more information about the topics on the next page.

Topic 1: ‘Care and support should follow people and their friends and family through changes’

People have told us about many problems with transitions. Transitions means changes.

We will discuss making it easier to:

• move from one service to another
• access the same service across different areas.

Other parts of this discussion could be about things like:

• better access to information for everyone to support transitions
• making sure eligibility criteria for services are always used in the same way
• how best to support people with death.

Topic 2: ‘Prevention is important too’

Many people told us the National Care Service should have a bigger focus on prevention. Prevention means giving someone help early so they may need less help later on.

Prevention might include helping people to:

• get support before their situation becomes a crisis
• get different kinds of support, like social events or access to nature
• stay well for as long as they can and prepare for when they might need care.

People told us that strong communities are an important part of prevention.

Other parts of this discussion could be about:

• how people with fewer friends and family members can get support earlier
• links between health and care support and other issues such as housing or poverty
• support for unpaid carers, friends and family.

Topic 3: ‘Needing care support should not feel unusual or stigmatising’

People have told us that stigma can make it hard to access support. Stigma means feeling shame and people having unfair ideas about you.

Discussions on this topic will look at ways to create more opportunities for empathy in service delivery. Empathy means thinking about others.

Other parts of this discussion could be about:

• making sure people using care support have privacy, while thinking about the needs of family and friends
• how understanding accountability, roles and responsibilities could help community health and social care support services improve
• how to spot risks around stigma in service delivery.

Topic 4: ‘Shared decision making is needed at all levels ’

People told us that they need trust and good relationships for shared decision making about care to work.

They also told us that:

• better information about services would help everyone make better decisions
• people want care that can be adapted to suit their local area, but also want a say in national standards
• people with lived experience need support to be able to represent others. One person should not be expected to do this alone
• listening to what people say is as important as formal feedback, complaints and data.

Other parts of this discussion could be about:

• how to involve service users and unpaid carers in decisions about care
• how advocacy can play a role in discussions between professionals and people needing care. Advocacy is when someone who is independent helps you understand your rights and express your views.

Topic 5: ‘We must be careful not to exclude anyone as we develop the National Care Service’

Everyone has the same rights to the support they need. Support should be person-centred.

Community health and social care support is complicated. It affects many people. We need to make sure that we are not excluding anyone without meaning to. Excluding means leaving someone or something out.

Discussions on this will look at how we can engage better with ‘seldom heard’ groups.

Other parts of this discussion could be about:

• how we can work with people in a way which suits them
• avoiding risks of further exclusion through the development of the National Care Service.