Our first carers meeting this evening. We had 19 participants which included the 6 Trustees.

One of the carers had already sent a question in advance of the meeting and therefore Lisa took that question first which was about Carers ID cards. Everyone in the meeting agreed that it was important especially in these difficult times for carers to be able to hold a Carers ID badge to be identified and given the same status as NHS workers.

Lisa said that she would look into this and may be work with Barnet Carers to produce a Carers ID card that fits in a wallet.

Nick one of the Trustees also mentioned that it would be a good idea if everyone who has a phone made sure that they filled in their details in the In Case of Emergency ‘ICE’ . ICE is a program that enables first responders such as paramedics, firefighters and police officers as well as hospital personnel to contact the next of kin of the owner of a mobile phone to obtain important medical or support information. (the phone must be unlocked and working) On an apple phone there is a way however to unlock the phone.

Other topics of conversation were about when a referral is made to the Psychiatrist Consultant at the hospital, there is no continuity with the patient as the patient is discharged after 6 months which means that a carer has to go back to their GP again if their loved one needs to be seen.

We also talked about the difficulties of seeing a GP and all surgeries have different rules with regards to whether they see you or do telephone consultations. The dentists seem to be more organised in seeing their patients as they are PPE prepared with every patient they see. We also talked about ‘incontinence pads’ and how you can go to your GP to ask if you can get these free. There was a mix of views about this and it would appear that you are only allowed to have one Pull Up incontinence pad free which is illogical especially if someone needs 6 incontinence pads every day.

Carers were also able to chat about more personal matters of concern which also helped.

This was a successful meeting. Lisa would like to thank all her Trustees for attending this evening.