Bishopsteignton Village Website

MINUTES OF HEALTHY LIVING & WELLBEING GROUP MEETING

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April 20th 2021

Apologies:  Carlie Karakusevic, Alison Prestt, Jenny Charlton & Mary Hampson.

Present:      Eddy Stephenson, Elaine Cawthraw, Fran Edwards, Serena Edwards,  Roos Alsop , Lis Durham, Finella Whitehorn , Ann Meyrick, Keith Lambert & Barbara Long. Also present Becki & Michelle (Social prescribers)

Minutes:     The minutes of the previous meeting on Zoom on February 16th   2021 were accepted as a true record. Proposed by Elaine and seconded by Keith..

Matters arising:   The only matter arising other than those covered by the agenda for the meeting was that Eddy reported the Defibrillator cabinet at the Village Hall had been flashing but has now been replaced.

Social prescribers: Eddy introduced Becki and Michelle who have been social prescribers for the area since November 2020 and March 2021 respectively. He asked them to provide information on their work and role.

Becki explained all primary care networks should now have at least 1 social prescriber. GPs etc can refer patients to a social prescriber for non medical wellbeing, mental and physical support. It is envisaged that this will play an even greater role as we come out of lockdown, tackling issues of loneliness and social isolation among both older and younger generations. At present the number of referrals average 50 – 70, covering a maximum of 6 sessions. There should then be a 3 month gap before patients can rejoin and the emphasis is on self help. Social prescribers work as a team, sharing expertise and there are regular reports to GPs. Social prescribing is NHS funded.

Becki and Michelle agreed it would be useful to have information from HLG regarding our community activities. This has already started with Care Watch & Lis.

Eddy thanked Becki and Michelle for their input and they are to be kept informed of and invited to future HLG meetings

Meeting items:

Updates

  • Memory Café: Not meeting at present but discussions are underway about the possibility of reopening as lockdown eases. To this end Elaine and Mary are due at the beginning of May to attend a Zoom meeting organised by Devon Memory Cafe Consortium on restarting Memory Cafes. Ideally it would reopen in June but its exact format may have to change.
  • Teignmouth Hospital Medical Centre: No real update as the matter is still with TDC Planning department and progress is difficult to assess from their website.
  • Trim Trail: Walks: Again this has been deferred to the next meeting.
  • Finance: Currently there is £3038.68 in the bank. However, some of this money is ring-fenced for particular expenses. HLG also contributed to the replacement cost of the defibrillator cabinet at the village hall.
  • Bishopsteignton Care Watch: Lis reported that there had been an increase in calls over the last 2 months. However, a number of objectives had been achieved – all enhanced DBS checks have now been carried out. Befriender training took place in March and there are now 12 befrienders. Barbara has agreed to carry on as deputy and will have responsibility for the phone on a rota. It was agreed that it would be useful to have a 3rd person available, especially as numbers increase.

It was agreed that Lis has done a brilliant job so far and thanks were given to her for this.

  1. f) Dementia Friendly Village: Finella had asked for ideas as to what a Dementia Friendly Village should look like. So far she has received suggestions from Eddy, Elaine, Lis & Alison. She asked for further ideas to be submitted to her before the next meeting. Elaine suggested that information and case studies were available on the Alzheimers’ Society website and these may well be worth looking at.
  2. g) Publicity & Social Media: Serena thanked all those who had sent items to her to be put on Face Book and reported there had been a favourable reaction to these.

AOB:

  • Lateral Flow Tests are available from the Pharmacy but usage is being prioritised. They are also available from the NHS website. The government is promoting the general use of these tests but it was felt that it was especially necessary for those who are inter-reacting with others.
  • Serena reported that she has been researching the setting up of a Grief Group and is hoping this will happen soon, perhaps on a monthly basis. The need for such a group has increased recently due to Covid and the consequences of lockdown.
  • There was general discussion about the problems of reopening activities and groups after lockdown and the paperwork involved in Risk Assessment. Serena offered to share the risk assessment form she has had to complete for the reopening of Mother & Baby group for other groups to adapt to their needs. The issue of the need for Pat. Testing was also raised.
  • Eddy reported that Nicky at the Village Stores is keen to move on. The owners of the freehold are unwilling to sell this. The Parish Council has now set up a working party to look at the Right to Bid raised by HLG.

 

Next Meeting: Tuesday June 22nd at 7 pm