Project lead: Local authorities

• Civil Society Organisation

How collaboration worked: We have worked in collaboration with Welsh Government Foundational Economy to secure funding for the project’s pilot stage, and ensure there is sufficient support for people to get over the challenges they face in setting up their own business. Social Firms Wales are an operational partner who provide business support to people looking to setup their own business, as well as evaluating the council’s delivery of the project. We work very closely with North East Wales Carers Information Services (NEWCIS), Flintshire Local Voluntary Council (FLVC), internal social work teams and other frontline services, to ensure that older people are aware of Micro-Carers in their local area and are supported to access additional support from them if needed.

Older people’s involvement: Older people helped to implement the age-friendly practice

Details on older people’s involvement: Older people were one of the stakeholder groups engaged with in terms of scoping the Micro-Care project. On an ongoing basis we have engaged with people accessing Micro-Care to form the evaluation, as well as to monitor individual Micro-Carers performance.

Has the impact of this age-friendly practice been analysed: Yes

Was the impact positive or negative:
Positive

Please share with us what you found in detail:
We have had 2 structured evaluations of the project, undertaken by an independent organisation Social Firms Wales. We are currently finalising the 3rd evaluation of the project and will be able to share findings shortly.

Evaluation report: Micro-care-Evaluation-Report-June-2022-1.pdf

Feedback:
1) “My Mother has dementia and by having this workshop on the Tuesday/Friday every week helps us greatly and allows us sometime to ourselves. She enjoys the day and with all the activities Nicola provides helps my mother with her wellbeing. I hope in the future she’ll be able to attend more which will of course help all of us” 2) “Both Nic and her daughter Chloe were very welcoming to us both and to my surprise my husband settled very quickly. He tells me he enjoys a number of activities in particular the quizzes, going out for meals and a dancing afternoon. His mood has been better since joining the group and I feel he has benefitted from the mental stimulation they provide. I certainly have benefited from a little time and space to myself happy in the knowledge that he is safe, content and well cared for” 3) “things are so much better now, I have the help I need to sort things like the garden weeds, my shopping and all appointments, we are off to buy some new shoes today. Nat is such a nice person, he is calm and very patient which I find very helpful. My speech is not always understandable to other people, it comes out all muddled up, but Nat tells me to take my time, slow down and think about what I want to say. When I do this things come out in the right order and make sense.” 4) “My husband is so much better now he has a little independence and can get out and about without me and meet new people. It also means I can take my Mother shopping.” 5) “My Micro-carer is a real life-line. Without him I would not see anyone.” 6) Allowing a stranger to look after your family leaves you in turmoil. For my Mum and the family, it has been very the best decision we have made on her behalf. Sally started and mum just thought she was coming in to have a cup of tea and some biscuits with her she could not remember her name and called her “Miss Pinafore” In only a few months Sally has formed a relationship with my Mum, and she helps with bathing and getting dressed. Knowing how private and independent my mum has always been I never thought this would be possible. 7) Having a micro carer has changed my mum’s daily life completely, she is seeing the same person so she now looks out of the window waiting for her to arrive and although her health condition will never improve, I can see a significant change in her and can only describe it as her being more content.

Expansion plans:
Yes. We have continued to expand the number of Micro-Carers in Flintshire to ensure sufficiency of supply of care and support for people that need it. The process of becoming a Micro-Carer has tightened, and is under continual review, to ensure people accessing care and support are safeguarded and receiving trusted services. We are continually analysing Micro-Care provision based on area to ensure people in rural locations have access to provision, and we also encourage unique ideas and services to offer a wider array of services to older people in the community.

Reflections:
We are one of the first local authorities in Wales to directly commission Micro-Carers for personal care services. Originally we intended this to be a consortium of Micro-Carers delivering daily support, but this has proven difficult with legislative restrictions and the work/life balance of sole traders. In reflection we have found that Micro-Care actually works really well where we commission flexibly with options for the person to increase or decrease their hours on a weekly basis depending on the outcomes they are looking to achieve at that time.

Challenges:
We have faced significant challenges through the regulatory impact of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care Act. This restricts Micro-Carers to only being able to support 4 people at any time with personal care services. The impact of this is particularly strong on contingency arrangements as it means that Micro-Carers are unable to cover for each other in the event of illness. We have emphasised with Micro-Carers the need for strong contingency arrangements and where this is not possible to be honest and say the service isn’t deliverable for them.