Agenda item

Presentation by Jane Thomas from Age UK

(Enclosure)

The Chairman welcomed Jane Thomas from Age UK who gave a presentation to the Group about First Contact.

Ms Thomas gave a brief background to the Group.

·       First Contact was first introduced in 2008.

·       It gave over 60’s access to services.

·       It was a single gateway to free information and advice.

·       The completion of one form did it all.

·       Both public and voluntary services were involved.

·       The form contained 13 checklist questions

She then gave examples of when First Contact could be used; the key was to get the leaflets out to people, the form could also be accessed online.

Within 24hrs of someone completing a form they would receive a letter confirming which services would be contacting them, the Service Level Agreements in place with those partners required them to contact people within 28 days, this may be sooner, it depended upon the resources available in the County at the time. Although the information and advice were free the use of some of the services was chargeable and outcomes would vary per person as would eligibility. 

Since the launch over 8,000 people had used the service and over 24,000 referrals had been made to partner agencies.

Ms Thomas then spoke about getting the information out to people and informed the group about training that had been done, including training Boots Pharmacy staff to get the message about First Contact out to the relevant people.  Any help that Members could give her in order for her to talk to groups of people would be welcome, whether it was a coffee morning or a Parish Council meeting.  A meet in the street and street talking had been held in South Holland and this had been very successful and she was hoping to do the same in South Kesteven.  She was also set to attend a GP surgery in the Deepings shortly and also hoped to attend flu clinics.  She referred to the launches already carried out in South Kesteven and the future events planned, any help that Members could give or contacts would be greatly received in getting the message out to the community.

For Members information a breakdown had been done of the number of people who used the service within each of their wards and this was circulated.

Other partners would soon be coming on board such as the Environment Agency and more training and education would be undertaken.

A discussion followed with Members asking for copies of forms (circulated to all Members) and Ms Thomas’s contact details and offering possible channels where she could get the message about First Contact out to the wider community, including adverts in some parish magazines.

One Member did ask how First Contact was different to the CVS and also how they were funded and whether they were paid by results to which Ms Thomas replied that they had targets as part of Age UK but Service Level Agreements were in place with partners and public health in order that the right level of checks were carried out and the partners achieved capacity.  Public Health held the contract for First Contact which was funded by the NHS.  Age UK hosted the front facing part of the service whilst Lincolnshire County Council hosted the back facing part of the service. 

The Chairman thanked Ms Thomas for attending the meeting.