Feedback on September – October Consultation (Part 2)
Thank you to the carers who provided feedback for the Carer Council’s September – October 2024 Consultation.
We are pleased to provide a further update on how consultation feedback was used regarding:
- Workforce consistency and communication with carers, and
- Therapeutic supports for children and young people.
Workforce consistency and communication with carers
Acknowledging that workforce consistency and communication is a major topic for carers that impacts many aspects of the caring experience the Carer Council has continued providing advice on this topic, taking a particular focus on complaints and accountability.
Your feedback has helped inform 13 recommendations on complaints and accountability, made across two Carer Council meetings. These relate to information-sharing, dispute-resolution, organisational culture, narrative work, as well as advice on improved data collection.
Please see Feedback on consultation (part 1), which includes an initial update on how consultation feedback was used regarding workforces consistency and communication with carers.
Therapeutic Supports for Children and Young People
The feedback from the carer community on this crucial topic is appreciated to improve systemic advocacy for effective and available supports for children and young people and their carer families. Feedback on this topic has helped inform 8 recommendations on therapeutic supports for children and young people, which includes recommendations on improvements to the existing process for accessing therapeutic supports, as well as recommendations on new and improved processes.
Through consultation, some of the top problem areas identified through our poll relating to therapeutic supports for children and young people included:
- Access to specialist assessments (e.g. for ASD, ADHD, FASD etc)
- Access to medical information by carers (e.g. medical reports and assessments)
- DCP actioning recommendations by professionals to access therapies and specialists.
- DCP’s internal procedures for accessing therapies and specialists.
- Timeliness of accessing therapies and specialist medical services
- Trauma-informed practice
Additionally, see a word cloud representing some of the comments and feedback provided on other problem areas:
On the other hand, some carers noted areas that are going well as:
- Skilled therapists and medical professionals
- Advocacy by health professionals
- A choice of therapists and therapies
- Flexibility of appointments
- Skill building and training for carers
- Early intervention
We also received comments on successes, represented by the below word cloud:
It was also pleasing to see many community members offering ideas on how carers could be better supported regarding therapeutic supports for children and young people. See a word cloud below representing some of the ideas provided:
