Welcome to our November 2017 Em.Bold.en newsletter. This is a regular update to let you know what we’ve been doing and planned events for 2018.
The Embolden project (funded by Comic Relief) was started to give a strong voice for older families who have relatives with learning disabilities to influence decision makers, hold them to account and improve services.
The Embolden project aims to give a strong voice to family carers and to influence and hold decision makers to account within health and social care services.
This report sets out the current knowledge on the numbers of older family carers in Oxfordshire, caring for an adult relative or friend with a learning disability (LD).
It aims to make the case for increasing current knowledge in health and social care services – both statutory and independent of the numbers and profiles of older carers of people with learning disabilities in Oxfordshire, in order to meet their needs and plan support for their futures.
To read the full report follow the link to:
The number of older family carers of people with a learning disability in Oxfordshire
This year Oxfordshire Family Support Network (OxFSN) ran a series of workshops around the county to explore, debate and create solutions for families supporting adults with learning disabilities, especially older families.
Read the first Embolden Newsletter December 2016
The Embolden Project (funded by Comic Relief) asked carers:
The aim of the project is to give a strong voice to family carers and to influence and hold decision makers to account within health and social care services.
OxFSN will schedule more Embolden events and workshops in 2017.
Family carers at the “Meet the Decision Makers” event in November 2016
26/06/2014
A new report commissioned by Healthwatch Oxfordshire and delivered by the Oxfordshire Family Support Network (OxFSN) sheds light on the difficulties faced by families seeking appropriate care and support for loved ones with learning disabilities, autistic spectrum disorder and mental health needs or challenging behaviours.
The report highlights the failures in respect of the current system in Oxfordshire and calls on local commissioners to work with families and service users to create services which meet their needs by working with them as ‘experts by experience’.
To read the full report please click on the link here,
A Local Experience of National Concern
Further information is also available by following the link to Healthwatch Oxfordshire.
Welcome to our July 2018 Em.Bold.en newsletter. This is a regular update to let you know what we’ve been doing and planned events for 2018.
The Embolden project (funded by Comic Relief) was started to give a strong voice for older families who have relatives with learning disabilities to influence decision makers, hold them to account and improve services.
Disability Related Expenditure
Contributing to the cost of your care – is a 25% allowance enough?
Anyone with a personal budget and claiming DLA (Disability Living Allowance) or PIP (Personal Independence Payment) will no doubt by now have received a letter from Oxfordshire Adult Social Care telling them what their new contribution towards the cost of their care will be.
This means that from the 1st October the amount that you are expected to pay towards the cost of your care services may have either increased or decreased depending on what you previously paid. OCC will no longer carry out an individual face to face financial assessment of your income and savings unless requested. Instead they will send out forms for individuals to provide details of their income and savings. They will deduct 25% of the care element of either DLA (Disability Living Allowance) or PIP (Personal Independence Payment) to allow you to keep part of this benefit to help towards any extra costs you may have due to your disability.
The care act statutory guidance says that the council must leave you with enough money “to pay for necessary disability-related expenditure to meet any needs which are not being met by the local authority”. If you feel that your disability related expenditure is more then 25% each month then you can request a visit from the Financial Assessment team to ask for an individual assessment.
They can be contacted on 01865 323642 or FinancialAssessmentTeam@Oxfordshire.gov.uk
Read the document for examples of Disability Related Expenditure:
Joint Statement from the Oxfordshire Transforming Care Partnership Board:
Oxfordshire review into the deaths of people with learning disabilities 2017-18
Statement from the co-chairs of Oxfordshire’s Transforming Care Partnership Board
“While we have known for many years that people with learning disabilities die earlier than the general population, the Learning Disability Mortality Review report made for grim reading and was deeply upsetting.
As co-chairs of Oxfordshire’s Transforming Care Partnership Board we feel it is important that we make public the work that is being done locally to explain how deaths of people with learning disabilities are investigated in our county. Despite the lower numbers of deaths reviewed, it is clear that there is still much work to be done to address these inequalities. We are however pleased that all deaths are now being reviewed in such detail. We welcome the recommendations contained in this report and the spirit of transparency and openness in which it has been shared.“
Gail Hanrahan (Oxfordshire Family Support Network) and Paul Scarrott (My Life My Choice)
Follow the link to read the full statement: Oxfordshire Transforming Care Partnership Board: Oxfordshire review into the deaths of people with learning disabilities 2017-18
Proposed Changes to Adult Social Care Contributions Policy by Oxfordshire County Council and Possible implications for people with a learning disability.
Oxfordshire County Council are proposing to streamline the current policy for assessing financial contributions. The consultation on this is open until April 3rd 2018
OxFSN believes that the council are genuinely seeking to simplify and speed up this process, and we understand why there is a particular focus on older people, as the largest group of people in receipt of social care services. However, we are deeply concerned that this is likely to have a much bigger impact on those with the most complex needs…
Read the response in full here:
We worked with Tom Skinner from Age UK Oxfordshire on another film. This film shows some of our older family carers talking about the benefits of supported living and the difference it has made to all their lives.
