There's more to Healthwatch than health: social care conference March 2015

Healthwatch Newcastle held its first annual conference on 5 March 2015 at St James’ Park, Newcastle, focusing on social care commissioning and delivery. More than 90 delegates from the voluntary, community and statutory sectors, as well as members of the public, attended the event. The conference aimed to raise awareness of Healthwatch’s role in social care, gather views on social care services, and help inform Healthwatch Newcastle’s priorities for 2015–16. 

The conference highlighted concerns that social care receives less scrutiny than healthcare despite increasing demand and significant funding pressures. Healthwatch Newcastle emphasised its role in ensuring that people are informed, involved in service design, and able to influence local health and social care services. 

Four breakout sessions explored key social care issues. The first session focused on carers’ experiences. Participants discussed barriers to accessing support, a lack of awareness of carers’ rights, fears surrounding assessments, emotional pressures such as isolation, and the challenges faced by specific groups including young carers and kinship carers. Carers reported that being listened to by professionals and maintaining their own health were among their greatest concerns. 

The second session examined issues affecting disabled young people. Delegates highlighted the impact of welfare and benefit changes, reductions in funding, challenges in accessing education and employment, and transport limitations that can restrict choice and independence. Concerns were also raised about the closure of the Independent Living Fund and the potential consequences for disabled people’s ability to live independently. 

The third session considered the implications of the Care Act 2014, which came into force in April 2015. Participants learned about new rights for carers, the introduction of a national eligibility threshold, stronger duties on councils to provide information and advocacy, and a greater emphasis on wellbeing, independence and personalised care. Delegates stressed the importance of ensuring that people are aware of these changes and can access appropriate support. 

The fourth session focused on service-user involvement in social care. Speakers emphasised that people who use services and their carers should be treated as experts in their own experiences and involved meaningfully in decisions about services. Effective involvement was described as requiring proper support, training, reimbursement of expenses, and recognition of participants’ contributions. 

Conference attendees were invited to identify priorities for Healthwatch Newcastle’s future work. The three highest priorities selected were dementia and older people’s care, domiciliary (home) care, and care for people with learning disabilities. Delegates also discussed the importance of complaints about social care and continuing healthcare. 

As a result of the conference, Healthwatch Newcastle committed to incorporating attendees’ views into its evidence base and using them to shape future social care projects. The organisation planned to begin work on domiciliary care through research and stakeholder engagement, followed by similar work on dementia services and support for people with learning disabilities. 

Feedback on the conference was overwhelmingly positive. Attendees praised the quality of the speakers, the relevance of the topics and the accessibility of the venue, although some suggested that future conferences should allow more time for discussion and be scheduled in a way that is easier for carers and disabled people to attend.