Sheffield\u2019s new Adult Partnership Board was established on 30 April to work collaboratively to transform local social care, and in choosing its areas of focus, it was recognised that unpaid carers are essential but often overlooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Board was formed to find \u201cbetter outcomes\u201d by pooling resources, not just money but \u201cpeople power,\u201d according to Coun Angela Argenzio, chair of the Adult Health and Social Care Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The board includes Sheffield City council, health organisations and the University of Sheffield. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe can’t do everything ourselves as a council, it’s not something that is owned by Sheffield Council, it’s a partnership board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you work in partnership, you have to be very honest with each other. The council doesn’t have all the answers, the council doesn’t have all the money,\u201d Argenzio said. \u201cSo we need to look\u2014how can we resolve something? It’s really hard. It’s a challenge. How can we do this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the key areas of focus is unpaid care support. Argenzio pointed out that she thinks this is the most urgent part: \u201cIt\u2019s very important to recognize that care and unpaid carers are an integral part of providing care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unpaid carers are those people who look after family members, neighbours, friends, and often they don’t even realise that they’re providing care. \u201cIt even takes an unpaid carer about two years to realise that they’re a carer.\u201d Cllr Angela added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She emphasised the systemic dependence on such informal support. \u201cWithout unpaid carers in the country, basically, the system of care would be overwhelmed, so it\u2019s extremely important that we support unpaid carers as much as possible.\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With care needs rising and central government funding decreasing, Sheffield hopes this multi-agency model can lead to more efficient solutions and more inclusive service planning. The partnership wants to do something different to what they\u2019ve done before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unpaid care is one of four strategic focus areas identified by the Board, alongside preventative care, workforce planning, and sustainable service delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By working together across sectors, Sheffield\u2019s care partners hope to turn shared responsibility into lasting improvements for those who need support most.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sheffield\u2019s new Adult Partnership Board was established on 30 April to work collaboratively to transform local social care, and in choosing its areas of focus, it was recognised that unpaid carers are essential but often overlooked. The Board was formed to find \u201cbetter outcomes\u201d by pooling resources, not just money but \u201cpeople power,\u201d according to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":762,"featured_media":65967,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,50],"tags":[15,49,38,141],"class_list":["post-65898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-sheffield","tag-sheffield-city-council"],"yoast_head":"\n