We have again been recognised by the Carers Trust ‘Triangle of Care’ programme for our continued efforts and commitment to improving the way we work with carers and families.
As a Trust, we have successfully achieved our one star accreditation, meaning the majority of our inpatient wards and home treatment teams have committed to make a difference to the lives of carers by self-assessing their service provision for carers to highlight what is working well and what could be improved.
A carer can be anyone, including both children and adults who look after a family member, partner or friend who needs help because of their illness, frailty, disability, a mental health problem or addiction and they cannot cope without their support. The care they give is unpaid. In England and Wales, there are an estimated 5 million carers, and that number is increasing year on year.
The Triangle of Care is a working collaboration between the service user, professional and carer that promotes safety, supports recovery and sustains well-being. We are committed to changing the culture of LSCft to one that is carer inclusive and supportive.
Associate Chief Nurse of Patient Experience Paul Jebb said:
"To be accredited by the Carers Trust like this is wonderful news for the Trust and fantastic work by the team. It's so important to support and involve carers who are central to the lives of our service users, and great it's been acknowledged we offer person centred care involving carer, professional and service user as part of the Triangle of Care."
The Triangle of Care was initially developed to improve mental health acute services by adopting six principles. It's widely accepted that these key principles can be applied to all service areas:
- Carers and the essential role they play are identified at first contact or as soon as possible thereafter
- Staff are 'carer aware' and trained in carer engagement strategies
- Policy and practice protocols regarding confidentiality and sharing information, are in place.
- Defined post(s) responsible for carers are in place
- A carer introduction to the service and staff is available, with a relevant range of information across the care pathway
- A range of carer support services is available.
The standards then include a rigorous self-assessment and action plan to demonstrate how we are involving and supporting carers, promoting the important role they have and further improving services for carers.
On awarding the reaccreditation, a representative for Carers Trust commended the great deal of work and effort to bring teams into Triangle of Care following the appointment of our Carer Experience and Improvement Manager, Jenna Matthews in 2022 and noted the success of our Service User and Carer Council driving the involvement of carers forward.
We now look forward to working with community services including mental health, learning disability, dementia and substance misuse services in order to achieve our two star accreditation status.
