This week Carers Week focuses on Equality and there is a different topic each day, today’s is Health and Social Care
Health
NHS take Equality seriously – The NHS England Patient Equalities Programme combines various efforts to promote patient equality. It offers advice and support to ensure we meet our important legal obligations related to patient equality, as well as the specific goals outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan and NHS Mandate.
For some people accessing support in the NHS can be challenging, this might be due to education, housing, gender, age, ethnicity, disability , geography and social inclusion, or different health status – the NHS aims to tackle these issues with their 7 priorities.
A core promise of the NHS is that we are here for everyone and have a duty to care for all. Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust are dedicated to fulfilling the Public Sector Equality Duty outlined in the Equality Act (2010). This means they are committed to ensuring equal opportunities and access for all employees, potential employees, carers, and service users.
NHS Services provided many services for people in UK, here is the main link for these services.
Care Co-ordination Service
In Suffolk we would like to bring your attention to the Care Co-ordination Service. It is a contact centre that provides 24/7 support for patients and referrers across Suffolk and some services in north east Essex. Services that are covered are Bowel and Bladder service to Falls Prevention, Speech and Language Therapy to Stoma Nursing Service. The same centre also covers West Suffolk Family Carers .
Please call 0300 123 24 25 – some referrals will be needed by a health professional or look at the website.
For Waveney a similar service is provided by East Coast Community Health Care – 01493 809977
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust , support residents Mental Health
Promoting mental health in services – Mental Health and Wellbeing in Suffolk – Your Voice Matters
If you are having issues and are eligible for advocacy support -some of these leaflets might be useful:
Suffolk Advocacy Service Carers Advocacy Leaflet
Suffolk Advocacy Service Care Act Advocacy Leaflet
Suffolk Advocacy Partnership NHS Complaints Advocacy Leaflet
Social Care
What is social care? Social care services are here to help if you need practical support due to illness or disability, or if you care for someone with these needs. You might find social care beneficial if you’re having trouble living independently at home or if you can’t find the help you need from family, friends, local services, or your community.
Suffolk County Council is committed to providing services that are fair and accessible for everyone they also have an Equality Promise, and like other organisations refer to the Equality Act 2010.
To ensure that all carers have a voice in 2022 the Suffolk All Age Carers Strategy was launched. This strategy highlights the importance of early identification of carers and raising awareness across services and companies.
Suffolk County Council are undertaking a programme of widespread change in how they deliver Adult Social Care services, to help them better support people with increasingly complex needs to maintain their independence and live good lives, with the right support, in their community, and better manage the ever-increasing levels of demand placed upon the social care system. People at the Heart of Care is based on the simple idea that people should be at the centre of their own care and support choices and decisions.
Services
Suffolk County Council have a wealth of services designed to support you and/or the person you care for and make it possible for you to live independently at home for as long as possible. You can get support and information on equipment, paying for care, technology, Carers Assessments, Care and Support Assessments.
For general support please contact Adult Social Care – Customer First. If you need to contact Customer First by phone you can call 0800 917 1109. The phone line is open Monday to Thursday, 8am to 5:20pm, and Friday, 8am to 4:20pm.Outside of these hours, this number will divert to the Emergency Duty Service. They can respond to any matters that cannot wait until the next working day.
There is lots of advice on how to protect people at risk of abuse. If you are worried that someone you know may be being abused or at risk of abuse please report your concerns.
