Buckinghamshire Council launches All-Age Carers Strategy Consultation
Buckinghamshire Council has been working with unpaid carers and professionals to understand about their caring experiences and what matters most to carers. This feedback has been used to help shape Buckinghamshire’s new ‘All-Age Carers Strategy’.
The new strategy sets out how the council can continue to develop and deliver meaningful support to unpaid carers, to enable carers to maintain a positive quality of life alongside their caring role.
The council has been working closely with a range of carers across all age groups to develop the priorities identified in the strategy and ensure their views are reflected. This has included the strategy forward being written by a young adult carer.
They now want to hear from unpaid carers, professionals and residents to ensure the identified priorities are the right ones and understand if there is anything else they should be focusing on in the strategy. Your views will help them understand how they can further improve their offer to carers and ensure carers have the support they need to carry out a caring role. Whether you are a young carer, an adult carer, or an elderly carer, your input is crucial in shaping the future of carer support services in Buckinghamshire.
Key partners including Carers Bucks, Healthwatch Bucks, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Buckinghamshire Health Trust, NHS Primary Care Network, FACT Bucks parent carer forum, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire & Berkshire West Integrated Care Board as well as wider council colleagues have contributed to the strategy development, adopting a whole-system approach.
Angela Macpherson, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing, commented:
“I am delighted to present our draft strategy for consultation which has been co-produced with partners and carers of all ages in Buckinghamshire.
“There are so many carers that we do not know about and many who do not recognise themselves as a carer. We have a great opportunity to reach and support more carers through our delivery work with partners.
“It’s vital that we have a clear set of priorities and actions to drive forward improvements with and for our unpaid carers.
“For all carers who are reading this, thank you for everything you are doing in providing care and support to another person. Please do reach out to us if you need more support and we will do all we can to work with you to help.”
The consultation, including the printable survey and address for posting it, is available via: buckinghamshire.gov.uk/all-age-carers-strategy
The consultation is live and will close at 11:59pm on 15 December 2024.
After the consultation period, all feedback will be carefully reviewed and integrated into the final Buckinghamshire Council All-Age Carers Strategy. Once adopted, the strategy will include an action plan to implement and drive forward improvements for carers.