The Conwy People’s Partnership continues to be committed to the participation of children, young people, families and parents/carers in decision making and recognises the benefits of listening to service users.  The Conwy People’s Partnership Board and Conwy Outcome Groups will continue to listen to the ideas of service users to develop responsive and effective services.

We will continue to use our Communication Plan which illustrates systems and processes to underpin the Conwy People’s Partnership Board Working Agreement, which puts principles into practice to ensure a common understanding of the practicalities of working in partnership with multi-agency stakeholders in Conwy County Borough.

The partnership also recognises the importance of embedding the ‘Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014, the ‘Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015’, and work with the newly formed Public Service Boards.

The Carers Network has worked with the Partnership Team to purchase 2000 trolley coins to be utilised during Carers ‘drop in’ sessions, Carers Week, Carers Rights Day and any promotional activities fulfilled by the Carers Team. The funding was received by Public Health Wales Wellbeing Activity Grant. The trolley coins will enable Carers of any age to have access to the relevant phone numbers and website details to ensure that they are able to access information, support and advice when required, and to target unknown Carers ensuring that they receive the contact details of where to get the right support when needed.

COG 7 arranged an ‘End of Life Care Good Practice Learning Exchange’ in March 2016. Aimed at professionals to encourage them to have the confidence to begin having conversations regarding their last wishes, and raise awareness of ‘End of Life Care’ and ‘Bereavement Services’. The following information was presented on; Advance Care Planning, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, Byw Nawr/Live Now, ‘DeadSocial’ and Conwy End of Life Service. The event was well attended, an evaluation report has been completed and shared, and some of the attendee’s positive comments are listed below:

“I will take back to my group the latest info on the End of Life. We as a group are out on a limb & don’t always get to go to these events but I think it is essential to keep as up to date as we can to deliver a 100% service”.

“Improving my communication on death and dying – improving patient outcomes”,

“I will refer my patients to the Conwy End of Life Team”.

All the Chairs from Conwy Outcome Groups are members of the Co-ordination Group, the role of this group is to focus on communication, monitoring, quality assurance and engagement as well as their priority areas; Welsh Language, Information, Equalities and Transport.

The Communication Plan has been agreed and endorsed which outlines communication and reporting mechanisms between a variety of groups such as the CPP Board, COG groups and task and finish groups. Arrangements are also in place to ensure good working relationships are established with other groups such as the General Practitioners Clusters to ensure information is shared across all sectors in Conwy County.

Terms of Reference for the group has been agreed and includes citizen representation in order to ensure openness, transparency and accountability. Expressions of interest were sent out for a citizen representative and have now been selected and welcomed at a recent Co-ordination Group meeting.

COG 5 identified a number of gaps in training around emotional wellbeing and mental health, the following approach was agreed:

• Multi-agency partnership approach in delivery
• Target appropriate staff for the right training
• Ensure it is cost effective and utilise existing resources as much as possible.

Training courses were arranged and delivered in partnership; Mental Health First Aid and Connecting with People.

• Mental Health First Aid – identified as an expensive course, an accredited partner delivered the course for free, utilised council premises and the resource books were purchased through the Public Health Wales Wellbeing Activity Grant.
• Connecting with People – A particular training need was identified around front line employees requiring training and support on how to deal with individuals threatening suicide whilst on the phone with members of Conwy County Borough Council staff.

The partnership approach from COG 5 demonstrated positive results, in reducing costs, sharing resources and utilising knowledge and expertise, and a potential cash saving of £7280 to the Local Authority.

COG 4 has been made aware of the annual decline in uptake figures in Conwy County of the Welsh Adult Health Checks for individuals who have Learning Disabilities. COG 4 Co-Chair attended the General Practitioners Cluster meeting to highlight this in May. Following further discussion at the COG a task and finish group is to be established to identify the barriers to the take up of the Welsh Health Check. In addition the group will look to address issues around the use of gathering information during the health check process to inform service improvement.

The Communication Task and Finish Group have developed an ‘Accessible Communication Guide’ to inform individuals and their organisation of aspects of communication that are important to consider when in contact with people who have communication difficulties. Whether that is face to face or through other means of contact for example documents, posters, or letters etc. This guide is aimed at professionals working with individuals with disabilities; (including sensory impairment, deaf or hard of hearing, physical disabilities, learning disabilities, and chronic conditions). The next steps for COG 4 will be to embed the guide within Conwy County Borough Social Services induction processes and promote usage with other multi agency partners and organisations. The guide was shared with Board members and a very positive response was received.

COG 2 are continuing to support a number of priorities linked to healthy living practices in Conwy and supported ‘Screening for Life’, ‘Flu Campaign’ and the following smoking cessation initiatives; ‘Stoptober’ in Conwy County Borough workplaces, the British Heart Foundation ‘Stop Smoking Day’ and the ‘Quit for you and Quit for Them’ campaign.

Smoking brief intervention training and alcohol prevention training has been delivered to professionals working with clients who want to quit smoking or reduce their alcohol intake. The majority of attendees strongly agreed that the training met their expectations. Participants highlighted some of the following comments;

“I work as an OT and recently ‘OT News’ had a featured article re: role of OT to aid smoking cessation – very timely – feel able to apply taught techniques!”

“Really good, thought provoking course”

“I learnt so much today and feel I have gained a much better understanding of the difficulties faced with stopping smoking”

“Alcohol scratch card are a great resource”

Conwy Youth Council chose sexual health as a priority and have worked with COG 2, a survey was sent out to schools and colleges on sexual health provision and education and over 500 responses were received. A number of questions were asked about different themes including information, contraception interaction with professionals and education;

“Do you have any ideas about what would make you more comfortable with going to see medical professionals about your sexual health?”

• Be more certain of confidentiality (31) 36%
• No communal waiting area or faster waiting times (12) 14%
• Same gender Doctor (11) 13%
• Relaxed Doctor  (9) 10%
• Going alone (5) 6%
• Going with friend or family (6) 7%
• Non-judgemental Doctor (5)  6%
• Make it a more open subject, talk about it in education (4) 5%

The main perception identified by the young people was confidentiality issues, the Conwy Youth Council produced a poster and this has been shared with schools, pharmacies and GP Surgeries, a short film has been produced following their journey and is available on YouTube:

COG 1 are continuing to work on their areas, membership has been reviewed and new working relationships established. Next steps in September 2016 is to review the existing service plan and priorities, and hold a workshop with members from COG 1 and sub-groups to consider and agree new work streams.

The Free School Task and Finish Group was commissioned following an identified gap in take up of free school meals in comparison to entitlement In Conwy schools. A whole school approach was introduced ‘Our School Lunch’ in order to be all inclusive, avoid stigma and ensure schools are responding to the Healthy Schools Measure (Wales) 2009.

Consultation took place with Head Teachers, Conwy Youth Council, and worked with the School Nutrition Action Group / Bwyd o Bwys (SNAG / BOBS) who are mentors that share knowledge and skills around healthy eating in schools.

The work of the Group has demonstrated that the inclusive approach involving all stakeholders generates positive results, in ensuring children and young people have a better understanding around food, nutrition and wellbeing to maximise their own development for their future.
It also contributed to reducing obesity and increasing attainment.

Subsequently Conwy Catering Department was nominated as one of the 7 most improved Catering Services on a National level in December 2015, through the Association of Public Service Excellence. This was due to a higher % (1.8%) of take up of eligible primary pupils having a free school meal in 2014/15 (82.3%), in comparison with 2012/13 (80.5%). Information has been shared with the Conwy People’s Partnership Board and COG 1 and the uptake of free school meals will continue to be monitored.

To find out more about the work of SNAG / BOBs at one of their Cooking Session in Ysgol y Creuddyn with David Preston, Cook in Charge, Ysgol Y Creuddyn

Conwy People’s Partnership is a realigned partnership which is the merger of the Children and Young People’s Partnership and Conwy Joint Locality Partnerships based on guidance from the ‘Welsh Government Shared Purpose Shared Delivery’ on integrating partnerships and plans.
The first meeting of the Conwy People’s Partnership Board was held in April 2015, the board consists of multi-agency strategic cross-sector key partners to work on shared principles and priorities. The work of the Partnership informs the ‘One Conwy Single Integrated Plan – Working Together for a Better Future’. To assist in the delivery the Conwy Outcome Groups (COGs) and a number of task and finish groups were established.