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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BY THE DEPUTY OF ST. MARY
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 19th OCTOBER 2010
Question
Can the Minister advise members who has overall responsibility for promoting the quality of life for the elderly in Jersey?
Can the Minister give an outline of what strategy, if any, is in place for this area? In particular, but not only, can the Minister advise
- h o w feedbackisgathered from usersofcare facilities, bothresidentialandday-care?
- h o w whatconstitutes good practise' is researched and promoted amongst service providers?
- w h ether feedback is gathered from the elderly in generaland also from "the future elderly" in orderto guide policy andimplementation and, if so, how?
Answer
As Islanders we are all responsible for the quality of life of the elderly residents of Jersey. There is, of course, a joint responsibility between States departments working with other organisations in the community and this has been highlighted in the 2008 Medical Officer of Health's annual report where some of these cross departmental challenges are described.
The promotion of health and well being is the main concern for my department and the Carer's strategy launched in 2008 significantly contributes to this aim. Work continues on the local development of the Partnership for Older Peoples Project (POPPS), picking up on a national initiative to work with the Third sector, to promote the increased independence of older people through the strategic shift to prevention and early intervention. This can produce better outcomes and greater efficiency for health and social care systems.
- Feedback from the users ofcare facilities is gained from a variety ofsources.An integral part ofthe twice yearly statutory inspection process includes talking to residents andtheir carers to ascertain their experiences and to ensure they know how, and with whom, to raise any concerns. In addition HSSD monitors the performance of the homes used by the department.
H ealth and social care professionals who work directly with the clients pass relevant information between
themselves for action and information is forwarded to the senior nurse manager, care of the elderly, who coordinates appropriate action. The annual Picker survey is an independent survey which gathers the opinions and experiences of hospital inpatients, most of whom are over 65 years of age, and this is also a valuable source of further information.
- All owners of care homes and the professional staff who work within them are obliged by law to be registered and to comply with a code of conduct. To maintain registration, health and social care professionals mustdemonstrate continuing professional development in order to keep their knowledgeand practise current.Goodpractice is discussedas a fundamental part of the statutory inspection process. This has a focus onperson centred care and is referenced toprofessional guidelines such as thoseof the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and the NursingandMidwifery Council. Where issues are highlighted at inspection, theseare referenced to relevantgood practice in the subsequent report.
W hen new or revised good practice guidance becomes available, this is circulated to all care home providers and managers. The recent policy on guidelines for infection control was followed up with a workshop facilitated by the Community Infection Control Nurse and a further workshop concentrating on the audit of
infection control practices within care homes.
- Feedback from the elderly and future elderly population has been gathered as a "snapshot" through the Jersey Annual Social Survey. However, more specific and targeted feedback has been gained through strategic workshop days for the Carers' strategy and the POPPs initiative. Bothevents brought together diverse bodies ofstakeholders for their commentsand opinions onthe forthcoming strategy related to careof the elderly. Represented within these workshops were the Jersey AssociationofCarers Incorporated (JACI) whooverseeand continue toadviseon priorities and service developments for the future.
Looking to the future, the proposed Regulation of Care Law will have at its core an increased service user focus and emphasis on standard setting with specific standards against which care will be benchmarked.