We had 6 members join this evening. Our Trustees Dr Angela and Nick and Mark were present – thank you. A few members joined just before 7pm and had already started chatting about various matters.

Lisa then welcomed everyone officially at 7pm. The first topic of conversation was about carers needing respite. The council used to be able to provide respite vouchers but it would appear that these have been suspended because of Covid-19. Lisa suggested that one of the ways to get some respite was to admit your loved one to a care home. Some of the members mentioned that they had tried asking and because of Covid-19, anyone who wants to stay at the care home has to stay for the minimum 4 weeks as the first 2 weeks they need to be isolated.

The conversation then moved on about carers emergency cards and the person who mentioned this showed her card which was provided by Barnet Carers and has a registration number on it and telephone number. This is something that carers are very anxious to have especially if there is a second wave of the virus. Nick one of the Trustees mentioned that as this was raised in previous meetings he had already put an information pack on the website about ‘medical emergencies’ which shows how to set up your phone so that someone can access your medical emergency details. Everyone was very interested to hear this and asked if they could receive a copy by email. Lisa informed everyone that she would ensure Nick sends everyone the information pack.

The conversations then moved on to more personal matters and also the problems about getting the right carers which are suitable. This was a good session. Lisa then informed everyone that she will be having a zoom meeting with the Secretary of State of Health Matt Hancock MP tomorrow to ask him about families visiting their loved ones in care home and also informed everyone that she has organised and we will be having a special visitor on the 22nd September – Cllr. Sachin Rajput who is also the Chairman of the Adults and Safeguarding committee.