Our Dorset Carers Collaboration – Better Care for Carers scheme
On this page
- Lead Organisation
Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust and Mid Dorset Primary Care Network
- Project contact
- About ‘Our Dorset Collaboration’
The Our Dorset Carers Collaboration represents our partnership working across the ICS, and the joined up approach that underpins these projects. These projects were worked on jointly within the Dorset Carers Partnership Group (DCPG). The DCPG brings together key partners in health, social care and VCSE sectors working with carers across the Dorset-wide footprint. We come together to network, raise awareness of carer support, discuss areas of challenge, and work in collaboration for the benefit of carers on a range of projects in line with the Pan Dorset Carers Strategy priorities.
‘Better Care for Carers’ (BCFC) is an accreditation scheme which provides a model of quality improvement for primary care practices to develop their services to better identify and support people who come to them who are unpaid carers.
The BCFC scheme is based on a model established in Wiltshire which ensures a consistent, whole-team approach to supporting carers. The scheme was successfully piloted in North Dorset in 2019, and in 2022 was identified as a way for Mid Dorset PCN, made up of 9 local GP practices, to improve outcomes for carers.
The scheme allows practices to be collaborative and ambitious, working towards a set of criteria in four ascending levels, deemed important to carers. The levels are:
• Bronze – provides the basics of ongoing support to carers
• Silver – starts to look at cultural change within the practice to better recognise, value and support carers in a way that supports them to continue in their caring role, but also look after their own health and wellbeing
• Gold – advanced level of identification of and support to carers, using a more proactive approach
• Platinum – the practice is exemplary and able to demonstrate ‘best practice’ in all aspects of support for a carer. A holistic carer-friendly culture is recognisable, including proactively using feedback from carers.
Practices work towards the Bronze criteria, before moving through the higher levels. Of the 9 practices, two received Bronze, five received Bronze Plus, one received Silver and one practice received Gold.
- Project duration
September 2022 – October 2023
- Key beneficiaries
Unpaid carers and the local community; The cared-for people; Primary care colleagues; All services, including health and social care and third sector organisations that support carers.
Our Dorset Carers Collaboration – Better Care for Carers scheme
Why we started this initiative
Mid Dorset PCN identified that unpaid carers are a population group who experience health inequalities. Health statistics highlighted that registered patients who are identified unpaid carers are twice as likely to suffer from depression, hypertension, diabetes and a number of other long-term health conditions.
In response, PCN colleagues invited local stakeholders to join a multiagency group with the focus of reducing these inequalities and improving health outcomes for unpaid carers through collective and sustainable action. The implementation of the BCFC scheme was identified as one way for GP practices to improve outcomes for carers across the PCN.
Our goals
The project’s aims were to:
• Improve carer identification across the PCN to reflect a more accurate data set of the carer population.
• Improve the carer support provided so carers are better able to manage their own health and wellbeing, including long term conditions.
• Improve access to information relating to carer support, and an enhanced offer of support from within all GP practices.
• Nurture and grow a ‘carer-aware’ culture across all 9 practices.
How we’re implementing it
The Project manager is funded by Mid Dorset PCN & delivered by Dorset Healthcare. We have a system of 1:1 support to practices’ carers leads carried out throughout the project. A working group was established, comprising key stakeholders (including some carers leads) and carers with lived experience. The group provided the project’s governance and oversight; allowing for practices to receive personalised support for their individual needs and challenges, providing structure within which best practice could be shared and common themes could be addressed.
Practices’ submissions reviewed by an awards panel. Celebration event October 2023, recognising hard work and good practice achieved, and maintaining momentum for further improvements.
Learnings
• Important to dedicate time at the start of the project to launch the project. Make sure to disseminate information to all teams about the aims of the project and the benefits that will result. You want everyone on board.
• Vital to include carers with lived experience throughout the life of the project. They supported us from start to finish, eg refreshing the criteria at the start, and coming to the awards evening to talk about the impact on carers and their involvement.
• Primary care is a sector with multiple different priorities and demands on them. Dedicated project support is vital, someone who can ensure the project’s momentum is maintained.
The testimony below is from Dorset Carers Hub, a local carer support charity that was involved in the scheme and directly supports local carers:
Our carers have reported that they are receiving more correspondence from their surgeries and this has left them feeling more valued than before. They also feel more confident in their role knowing that the health service is behind them, checking that their own health is OK, etc. They like knowing who the point of contact is at their surgery as this feels more personal to them.
Dorset Carers Hub