Launch for project that promotes independence for older people
25/05/2007
Representatives from the NHS, Gloucestershire County Council’s Community and Adult Care Directorate, Care Home providers, community groups and older people themselves gathered on Friday 25 May for the official launch of a multi million pound project that will promote independence for older people.
The event was staged at the Civil Service Club in Tewkesbury Road, Cheltenham and celebrated the beginning of the innovative ‘Gloucestershire Care Homes – Part of our Community’ project which has landed £2.6 million of national funding.
The project is designed to develop services within care homes to promote independence and provide training for rehabilitation to support people leaving hospital to get home more quickly.
The funds will also be used to provide training and development for staff working across the care sector to support older people within their care homes and prevent unnecessary admissions to hospital.
Another objective of the project is to work with people who may be early retirees to train for a second career in care services and involve and train older people as assessors of quality in care homes to work with local inspection teams.
Training will be provided on the mental health needs of older people to equip staff to work with the increasing numbers of older people who have dementia.
Over 70 attendees also took part in a workshop designed to support Dignity in Care for Gloucestershire’s service users. The session heard direct from two older people about their own and others’ experiences of health and social care services and then heard a presentation by the Department of Health’s Regional Change lead for Older People’s Services, Nye Harries.
Dignity in Care challenges health and social care providers to deliver high quality services that respect people’s right to privacy, support people to maintain the maximum possible level of independence, choice and control over their care, reduce people’s loneliness and isolation and listen and support people to express their needs and wants.
Chief Executive of Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust, Jan Stubbings said:
“It felt so right to officially launch the county’s ambitious care homes project alongside the Dignity in Care workshop – they are inextricably linked. We want older people to be treated with respect and dignity and to be fully involved in planning for a healthy older age.”
Cllr Tony Hicks, Gloucestershire County Council Lead Cabinet Member for Adult Services said:
“The message we continue to receive from our service users is that they want to be cared for in their own homes and communities for as long as possible.
They should be supported with services that meet their needs and anyone
involved in providing services to people who are vulnerable has a responsibility
to ensure that they are treated with respect and care.”
Lynne Gardner, Chair of the Gloucestershire Care Provider Association said:
“This project recognises how important it is for Care Homes to work side by side with the County Council, the NHS and local communities in support of older people and their carers.”
“We will be working together to ensure that we make the very best of this exciting opportunity to improve services.”
Mick Churchward from Gloucestershire Older Persons Assembly (GOPA) said:
“GOPA has been closely involved in making sure older people were consulted and their views taken into account in developing the original bid for the care homes project. It is extremely important that we now rise to the challenge of involving them fully in delivering the initiative. We will continue to work with the NHS and social care to make sure that older people have a strong voice in shaping the future of services in the county.”
