Yorkshire Coast and Ryedale Disability Forum (YCRDF)
Minutes of Meeting 23rd March 2022
Friends Meeting House
1. Welcome and Introductions
Present: Bridget Hardy (Chair), Sophie Gallagher (KeyRing), Carl Maw (NYCIL), Mark Smith (Scarborough DAG), Ruth Stockdale (Healthwatch North Yorkshire), Nicole Hingley (Sight Support Ryedale),
Apologies: Ian Peck (Whitby DAG), Eleanor Gabriel, Jane Tye (MND Association), Ian Lawson, Marilyn Rule
1. Welcome and apologies
Bridget welcomed everyone to the meeting and everyone introduced themselves. Apologies were noted.
2. Minutes of previous meeting and actions
Nicole noted that Ryedale Sight Support should read Sight Support Ryedale. No further corrections were needed.
3. Accessible taxis
Ian was not present to provide an update on this item. Mark will forward a query to Bridget regarding access to taxis for more than one wheelchair at the same time. The person involved was informed that they would need to get more than one taxi if two wheelchair users wanted to travel at the same time.
Action: Mark to forward query about access to taxis to Bridget
4. Healthwatch Accessible Information Standard survey
Ruth spoke about the Accessible Information Survey which Healthwatch North Yorkshire is running. They are working with Healthwatch York and North Yorkshire County Council to ensure people can get the information they need. There is one for individuals and there is another one for organisations. These are both open until 22 April. Healthwatch is very keen to talk to people about their experiences. They will be writing a report and would like to work with people to write that.
Healthwatch North Yorkshire will then be working with health and care organisations to develop and/or deliver action plans. There will be ongoing work for 12-18 months and they will then be looking to run the survey again to check if anything has changed.
Claire said that the county council is currently running a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment survey where people can share their views and experiences of pharmacy services.
Bridget said that she had found some of the survey unclear. Claire will talk to Bridget about this separately
Ruth said that the feedback so far from the accessible information survey is mixed. People who need information by email or text generally seem to have a better experience than people who need easy read and other alternative formats
Sophie said that self-advocates don’t remember being asked about their needs, particularly by doctors and dentists. Ruth said that this seems a common experience. Nicole agreed that this is an issue.
Ruth said that they also value receiving feedback via organisations, about the experiences of people they work with, in accessing other services.
5. Changing Places and Accessible toilets update
Bridget noted that they had had a really good meeting with National Changing Places team, which was attended by other local organisations and district councils. Bridget noted that her concern is how can people get access to the facilities straight away, while also keeping the facilities safe.
6. Scarborough Library funding
Bridget noted that Scarborough library had been successful in their bid for funding to improve the library
7. Publicity materials
The forum discussed the new leaflets which have been drafted. They are planning to get about 1000 printed. Everyone preferred the version with the two people facing outwards. The forum would like to share the leaflet at Ryedale One Stop Shop. Carl said that he can put it out amongst his networks.
The forum is also going to redo the website and get a new domain.
8. Make Care Matter Meeting
Earlier this year, North Yorkshire County Council launched a publicity campaign to encourage more people to take up a career in care. The forum watched the TV advert which was produced. Bridget will be attending a meeting to hear an update about the campaign and to discuss how North Yorkshire Disability Forum can work with Make Care Matter in future. Make Care Matter is the service provided by North Yorkshire County Council to support recruitment into the care sector.
Bridget noted that she has been having difficulty recruiting and she is down to one carer. Carl said that recruitment is also generally slow at NYCIL, although some areas are receiving more applications than others. Sophie said that KeyRing are experiencing similar issues in Sheffield.
Bridget is interested to know how the advert went. People thought the advert was very quick but otherwise very good. Some people thought that a quick snappy advert was best, as it was good to get people thinking about a career in care.
9. In-person meetings
The forum is still looking at how they provide the option for people to join in-person meetings via Zoom. Zoom is much better for Nicole.
10. Updates from members
NYCIL has just started to get up and running again. Until now they have been doing skeleton work. Carl is also still working at Mind.
Sight Support Ryedale has started social clubs again now and has done a consultation with members about social activities. Transport is currently presenting an issue. They use Ryedale Community Transport who are struggling to recruit volunteer drivers. Nicole noted that people who have additional mobility needs sometimes find it difficult to get up into Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles.
Sophie has been speaking to Botton about transport. If someone wants to go to Whitby they have to decide as a group. Everything has to be a group decision which means that not everyone is happy. They have a number of neighbourhood cars but there are issues when these are used up. Trains from Danby are every 4 hours and there isn’t a bus which goes near to Botton.
Mark said that members of Scarborough DAG were concerned about whether the eligibility criteria for disabled bus passes were being applied more stringently now than previously.
Action: Claire to invite someone from NYCC to talk about the bus pass application process to next meeting.
11. Any Other Business
No one had any additional business. Bridget closed the meeting.