Two blogs about Transforming Care’s West Midlands “Service Users, Families and Carers Forum”
By Samantha Reeves and student learning disability nurse Francis Hancox.
Hello my name is Samantha Reeves.
On Thursday 14th march I attended transforming care forum at Droitwich Spa community hall representing Dudley Voices for Choice with Claire Allen and a student nurse. As we walked in we were recognised by the head of the forum and was given a cup of tea and biscuits which I really enjoyed. As the meeting started, we all introduced ourselves, then the rules of the meeting were explained. Rachel (from Speak Easy) introduced what Transforming care was and how it can help people with learning disabilities and mental health which I understood. I found this interesting and we all were talking about it which helped me to understand it better.
Then Rachel gave a presentation of how she is involved by attending care and treatment Reviews and explained what CTR’S were. I found Rachel’s presentation interesting learning about how she is involved in the CTR’S. I also think she is brave to talk about how she is involved and seemed friendly.
After we had another break with more tea and biscuits. Then we talked about how TCP’S work and other services this is where I got a bit confused. But I got involved in talking about the training for student nurses and professionals who work with people with learning disabilities. We think training needs to be more interactive instead of a computer as some people in the forum did not feel like the students or professionals have much training about people with learning disabilities.
Hello, I am Frances Hancox.
I am a first year Learning Disability student nurse. I am currently on placement at Dudley Voices for Choice. On Thursday 14th March I attended the Service Users, Families & Carers Forum at Droitwich Spa Community Hall. Before this meeting I did not know anything about Transforming Care Partnerships, I was an outsider, however as soon as the forum began and when Rachel explained what TCP is, I was able to understand what it was and how it helped people with learning disabilities and mental health. I found it really interesting. Rachel then gave another presentation about how she is involved with TCP and Care and Treatment reviews (CTR’s), which I also found really interesting.
After the break different service providers explained how TCP’s work within their area and what needs to be improved. Some of the experts by experience put their views across that how students and professionals do not have the correct training in how to work and treat individuals with learning disabilities or mental health problems in the sense that the majority of training is done on a computer, no face to face interactive training which will benefit individuals with learning disabilities and mental health and improve their care. I felt very strongly about this and took part in this discussion about how the training needs to be more interactive and that DVC are working to try and get more interactive training, especially in complex cases or situations. During the forum I learnt a lot about Transforming Care Partnerships and Care and Treatment Reviews. I was glad I was given this opportunity and can now take what I have learnt and develop it throughout my training.