Care Support Independence

Care Services Minister on tour in Newcastle

The number of Dignity Champions across the country has risen to more than 3,000, Minister of State for Care Services, Phil Hope, will announce on a visit to Newcastle today.

Dignity Champions, who include frontline staff, MPs and, most famously, Michael Parkinson, are volunteers who commit to make a difference to the way older people are cared for.

The visit to Newcastle forms part of a national tour to ensure that allpeople using care and health services are treated with dignity andrespect at all times. People in Newcastle will also be able to give theMinister their views on the care and support system and shape a systemthat meets the needs of society well into the future.

In the next 20 years the number of people over 65 in Newcastle will increase by 8,800 (21 per cent) and the number of people over 85 will increase by 3,300 (60 per cent).

The tour, which will visit every region in England, aims to raise the profile of the Dignity in Care campaign, and to continue the conversation on the future of the care and support system launched by the Prime Minister in May.

Minister of State for Care Services, Phil Hope said: “In 20 years time the number of over 65s in Newcastle will have increased by a fifth so it’s vital I discuss, with people here, how we can create a high quality, affordable care and support system for a rapidly ageing population. I want to hear views on how we can provide a system for the future that promotes independence, choice and control for everyone.

“People want, and have a right to expect, services with dignity and respect at their heart, so I am delighted that we now have over 3,000Dignity Champions dedicated to ensuring that dignity and respect are central to the care people receive.”

Clare Abley is Nurse Consultant for Vulnerable Older Adults for Newcastle Primary Care Trust and is a Dignity Champion. She has been working with Chris Dugdale, another Dignity Champion, and Manager of Adult Care Services at Newcastle City Council, on extending the network of Dignity in Care Champions across Newcastle.

They are both keen that the Dignity in Care agenda encompasses not just older people in residential care and hospital, but also those living at home and other vulnerable adults. One of their main priorities is to ensure that the standard of care people receive is consistent.

To achieve this, they want to widen the Dignity Champions network in Newcastle to get more organisations involved and for the network to develop joint policies and joint training programmes for staff.

Clare said: “People come into contact with a wide range of organisations, so it’s only right that they should expect to be treated the same, from oneorganisation to the next.

“We need to create an awareness of how important it is to treat people with dignity and how this can be maintained. Although the need for dignity and respect is most crucial when people are at their most vulnerable, simple changes really can make a big difference - whether it’s stopping the bus long enough for older people to get on and off safely, or taking a little bit of time to talk to someone in a way that values and respects them.”

In April, Clare, Chris and the Dignity Champions network organised Newcastle’s first “Dignity for All” conference, where 150 representatives of care organisations committed themselves to ensuring a level of dignity for all vulnerable adults across the city, sharing best practice, and developing a Newcastle-wide action plan for putting Dignity in Care on the agenda.

The network of Dignity Champions talk to individuals and groups to find out what their concerns are and the changes they’d like to see. At one recent meeting, residents said they felt that the local bus company often didn’t take their needs into consideration. As a result, the bus company took up the Dignity Champions network’s offer of involving them in their driver training to ensure that older residents felt they were being treated with dignity.

Clare added: “Dignity in Care is all about making sure you treat someone with the same care and respect that you would want for yourself or a family member – whichever sector you work in. Most older people want to live independently, and everyday things like treating them with courtesy can really help them do that.”