Developed in collaboration with hundreds of carers from across Somerset, the Commitment acknowledges the invaluable contribution and challenges they face. It outlines the values and actions that health and social care services should implement to make sure unpaid carers are supported and able to stay healthy and well while they carry out their vital caring roles.

Priorities for unpaid carers

The Commitment to Carers 2024 outlines priorities aimed at recognising, supporting, and empowering unpaid carers, including young carers. These priorities include addressing carers’ health and wellbeing needs; providing breaks from caring roles; ensuring easy access to information, health and care support, and learning opportunities; and involving carers in decision-making processes about the services they use. Approaches that focus on fostering carer friendly cultures, promoting inclusive partnerships and recognising unpaid carers as experts by experience are needed.

Recommended actions for implementation

To bring these priorities to life, health and social care services in Somerset are encouraged to adopt key principles and actions outlined in the new Commitment, emphasising the need to respect and value carers, identify carers in primary care, ensure quality support, and enhance communication and joined-up working. The Commitment also calls for a special focus on young carers, on building awareness and access to support and opportunities, and involving unpaid carers in service improvement initiatives.

Somerset’s Commitment to Carers 2024 is aligned with the 2014 and 2022 Care Acts. It was formally endorsed by Somerset’s ICB in March 2024 and will inform and influence all health and social care strategies, commissioning decisions and service developments in the future. It will be overseen by the Somerset Carers Strategic Partnership Board.

Lucie Woodruff, CEO of Evolving Communities said: “Somerset’s new Commitment to Carers represents an important milestone in empowering and supporting unpaid carers to influence positive changes in health and social care services. It was a privilege to work with so many people who found time, despite their caring responsibilities, to share their stories and ideas with us to help transform support for unpaid carers. We are delighted that the Commitment to Carers has been formally endorsed by the ICB, Council and NHS in Somerset, and we now look forward to them working together with the voluntary and community sector to turn these commitments into positive action to improve support for unpaid carers.”

Councillor Sarah Wakefield, Lead Executive Member for Adults Services at Somerset Council said: “There are approximately 50,000 unpaid carers in Somerset (and possibly more than that) who provide vital support to the people they care for. Many of these people don’t think of themselves as carers, as they see what they do as a normal part of family life, or just being a good friend. Caring for someone, though very rewarding, can also be very isolating and demanding, so as a Local Authority, we have a duty to support them to look after the people they love.”

Find out more

• Read the Somerset’s Commitment to Carers 2024 report and find out how it was coproduced with unpaid carers.
• Watch videos of carers, Alison and Siana, talk about their caring roles and what the Commitment to Carers means to them.

Find out more about our work driving improvements in health and social care by harnessing public and patient feedback and insight.

The Commitment to Carers is a statement that acknowledges the issues and challenges faced by unpaid carers and sets out the values and principles that health and social care services should adopt to ensure effective support for unpaid carers.

The new Commitment to Carers is being produced with carers and those who work with and support carers, and it will be formally adopted by Somerset ICB in early 2024. It will inform and influence all other strategies, commissioning decisions and service developments in the future.

Coproduction workshop

Siana Paginton shared her moving story of growing up as a young carer. She highlighted the impact this had on her wellbeing, education and career choices, and explained how social care and support, when it eventually arrived, made such a positive difference.

The recent collaborative workshop brought together over 130 different stakeholders, including unpaid carers, professionals from health and social care, and decision-makers from Somerset Council and NHS Somerset.

The event featured a diverse and engaging programme, including keynote addresses from key figures such as Councillor Heather Shearer, Associate Lead Member for Somerset Council Children’s Social Care & SEND; Jonathan Higman, Chief Executive of NHS Somerset; and Paul Coles, Service Director for Adult Social Care Commissioning in Somerset. There were insightful and moving presentations from carers and those who work to support carers, and expert presentations and discussions on various aspects of unpaid caregiving.

Highlights from the event included:

• Facilitated conversations: Participants engaged in open and group conversations, sharing personal accounts, perspectives and visions for the future of unpaid care in Somerset.
• Young carers focus: Special sessions were dedicated to understanding the unique needs and perspectives of young carers, ensuring their inclusion in the commitment to carers initiative.
• Addressing challenges: Sessions explored the challenges and issues faced by parent carers, strategies for removing barriers to inclusion, and the importance of collaboration across sectors.
• Future planning: The event concluded with a forward-looking session led by Andrew Henon, Somerset Carers Engagement Project Lead, emphasising the commitment to embedded practice, co-production, and continuous improvement.

Left to right: Alison Birkett, who read her poem, ‘Where is my man’, about caring for her husband who had dementia; Andrew Henon, Somerset Carers Engagement Project Lead; Siana Paginton, who shared her story of being a young carer; Councillor Heather Shearer, Associate Lead Member for Childrens Social Care & SEND; Gill Keniston-Goble, Healthwatch Somerset Manager; and Jonathan Higman, Chief Executive NHS Somerset.

Andrew Henon commented: “The collaborative working event marked a crucial step towards renewing our commitment to unpaid carers in Somerset. The valuable insights gained from diverse perspectives will contribute significantly to shaping the Commitment to Carers 2024, ensuring it reflects the needs and aspirations of our community. I want to thank everyone who attended on the day and helped make it such an energising and valuable event, as well as the many carers who could not join us due their caring responsibilities, but who have contributed in other ways.”

Next steps

Feedback and findings from the event will be analysed and combined with other evidence, data and reports, including insight gained by talking to carers across Somerset and case studies of unpaid carers’ experiences. The information gathered will inform the final Commitment to Carers, to be formally adopted by NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board (ICB) in early 2024.

For more information about this work, visit: Somerset Carers Engagement Project

• Welcoming and informative
• Safe and clear
• Friendly and personal
• Organised and calm
• Accessible and inclusive.

Somerset MNVP shared videos about their findings on social media and invited further input from people who couldn’t attend the visits.

The new report highlights what Somerset MNVP liked, along with recommendations for change and improvement for each area of maternity and neonatal services including reception, pregnancy and day care assessment units, scanning clinics, antenatal and postnatal areas, labour wards, special care units and bereavement spaces.

Somerset MNVP has shared the report with maternity and neonatal leadership teams at the hospitals as well as with other partners working in maternity and neonatal care. They will monitor progress made by NHS Somerset Foundation Trust by attending regular safety walkabouts, meeting with the leadership teams for updates on the recommendations made in the report and repeating the 15 Steps visits again in 2024.

Announcing the report, Laura Perry Somerset MNVP Lead, said: “I’m proud to be working with our community to develop our local maternity and neonatal services. We know that the right care and support during pregnancy is vital and we want our hospital spaces and facilities to match the wonderful, personalised care that is so often provided by staff. Our 15 Steps report will help services get that right for families.”

Commenting on the report, Alison Dennett, Head of Midwifery at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We have welcomed the team visiting our maternity units in Somerset and value the 15 Steps feedback. Continuing to work together with the Somerset MNVP team, enables us to reach out to our women, birthing people and families in a way that we would not accomplish alone. We will be working to achieve the recommendations from the feedback highlighted in this report and look forward to sharing our progress with the team.”

Read the full report for detailed findings and recommendations: 15 Steps for maternity and neonatal in Somerset

 

Find out more about the work of Somerset MNVP and how to get involved as a volunteer by visiting: Somerset MNVP, follow their social media, or get in touch by email somersetMVP@evolvingcommunities.co.uk