Ministerial Advisory Forum on Ageing meeting minutes: 18 September 2024

Professor John Williams, Academia, Aberystwyth University
Vicki Lloyd, Age Cymru, Chair 
Steve Milsom, Cymru Older People’s Alliance (COPA)
Andrew Hinchliffe, Cymru Older People’s Alliance (COPA)
Sarah Rossington-Harris, Local Authority Age Friendly Network, Bridgend Council
Councillor Leo Thomson, Local Authority Age Friendly Network, Cardiff Council
Councillor Hayley Gwilliam, Local Authority Age Friendly Network, Swansea Council
Brian Godsell, National Pensioners Convention
Rachel Bowen, Office of the Older People’s Commissioner
Lyn Cadwalladr, One Voice Wales (Town & Community Councils)
Peter Walters, Wales Seniors Forum
Stewart Blythe, Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA)
Dawn Jeffery, Welsh Women’s Aid
Rachel Lewis, Welsh Government
Gethin Edwards, Welsh Government 
Emma Harney, Welsh Government
Nik Cilia, Welsh Government
Jemma Morgan, Welsh Government
Dr Catherine Malcolmson, Welsh Government

Formal apologies

Jim McManus, Public Health Wales

Due to technical issues at the start, the Minister’s time was limited.

The Minister for Children and Social Care (MCSC) referenced to the findings of the survey and acknowledged that whilst there are areas of improvement, there is still more work to do. 

A discussion followed and key points were noted:

• key themes emerging from the survey are transport, access to services, digital exclusion, health, housing, cost of living and access to GPs
• we must be aware of the right to choose not to engage digitally, the digital exclusion of older people can be viewed as ageist
• the importance of the survey was highlighted; by undertaking this work for the past 5 years with a relatively small amount of money, Age Cymru’s work can now be used to analyse trends
• members expressed disappointment that the UK Government has changed the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment to only people in receipt of Pension Credit
• The Minister referred to the Welsh Government Bus Bill that has been introduced to re-regulate bus services so they run as a  public service rather than for profit
• The Minister added that every local authority has a role to play in tackling digital exclusion and some are better than others. The answer to everything is not digital and there needs to be alternatives
• in terms of GP access, the Minister referenced the substantial investment in telephony services and commented that some GPs have not accessed the funding
• The Age Cymru Survey identifies gaps in services and it is this type of research that helps to inform policies and actions

Dr Catherine Malcolmson addressed the group and the following key points were noted:

• New Access Standards were introduced in 2019 which aimed to establish consistency in GP practices across Wales.
• in 2022 a second phase was introduced, the Access Commitment, which aimed at tackling issues such as the 8am bottleneck.
• there has been £12 million investment over three years, from April 2022, to help GP practices build their capacity through additional staff to support improvement to access
• in 2023 a new contract was introduced which aimed to make many of the access expectations a contractual requirement, for example, the requirement to have appropriate telephony and call handling in place
• 97% of practices have told officials that they are achieving the access commitment, yet this isn’t reflected in feedback on patient experience. Welsh Government officials are looking at a piece of work into this to better understand access needs.
• going forward there will be a review of the access standards which include; understanding the access needs for different groups such as older people (the previous Older People’s Commissioner’s report on access to GPs has been a good place to start). Data on demand and capacity (who GPs are seeing and why), helps us improve how services are planned
• Dr Catherine Malcolmson confirmed that GPs are expected to communicate this information to patients. If people are experiencing issues, first speak to the GP Practice Manager. If that fails, contact the health board as they manage the individual contracts
• it was acknowledged that the “system” GPs use to book appointments, is around 70 years old and is not how we would design systems today. Officials are very much aware that GPs are trying to work with what they have
• there was a suggestion that people should visit the GP on a first come, first served basis. This would mean that people would go who genuinely need it
• Dr Catherine Malcolmson stated that it would be useful to know the names of GP surgeries that were not meeting the requirements. Vicki Lloyd asked Dr Catherine Malcolmson whether Age Cymru could feed their survey information directly to the team. Dr Catherine Malcolmson said she would welcome this. If members want to share any information on specific practices, they can send it directly to: Catherine.Malcolmson@gov.wales
• a copy of the slides will be circulated with the meeting note

Actions

• secretariat to share copy of presentation slides when sending out meeting note
• Vicki Lloyd to send details of Age Cymru’s survey information directly to Dr Catherine Malcolmson

Jemma Morgan spoke to the group about work to review Information, Advice and Assistance (IAA) services. The following points were noted:

• the review is looking at IAA services and how accessible they are, how people can access them and how they can be strengthened. Particular attention is being paid to the experiences of older people, unpaid carers and neurodivergent individuals
• This work is taking place over the next couple of months and is a key policy priority for Welsh Government (WG)
• the review is currently light touch before advice is given to the Minister for Children and Social Care, however it will be a growing piece of work if particular themes or issues become apparent
• it was confirmed that providers will also be involved in the review in addition to the individuals who are accessing the services. Meetings with the 22 local authorities are also being arranged
• it is acknowledged that IAA should be a cornerstone of prevention to support people before their needs escalate
• concern was raised about the accuracy of advice provided on certain issues, such as paying for care. Age Cymru’s advice line hears regularly from people who are confused about the information that they have received from local authorities. Age Cymru suggested contact between Jemma Morgan and their advice team and Rachel Bowen from OPC advice line

Actions 

• contact to be made between Jemma Morgan and the advice teams at Age Cymru and the office for the Older People’s Commissioner
• Jemma Morgan is also undertaking a parallel review of the Loneliness and Isolation strategy to determine how well the commitments made have been embedded in services
• both reviews are to be concluded by December (L&I) and spring of next year

Actions from the last meeting (19 June 2024 ) are largely completed. The following action remains outstanding:

• MAFA members to confirm whether they would like to be more involved with the engagement around the new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy

Councillor Hayley Gwilliam said that she would like to be involved. A deadline was given for the end of this month (September) for other members to confirm.

There was a discussion around the Minister for Children and Social Care’s response to the letter from MAFA and the following points were noted:

• COPA have sent a letter regarding Age Friendly Communities to the Minister for Children and Social Care, acknowledging that there is some excellent work happening in some local authority areas but not others. It was suggested that there could be more joined up working between MAFA and the Local Authority Leads Network. Rachel Lewis agreed that she would give this more thought.
• a question was asked as to whether there is another way of tackling issues around public toilets. EH suggested the possibility of linking the Age Friendly Leads, Local Toilet Leads and the WLGA. Perhaps this needs to be pushed back to local authority level as it is at this level that the local toilet strategies are developed, based on their population needs assessments. A suggestion was made for Public Health Wales and the WLGA to present at a future meeting. It was agreed that Emma Harney and Vicki Lloyd would meet to discuss further
• The proposal to work more closely with town and community councils was raised. Lyn Cadwalladr said that they have been approached by Public Health Wales as a potential avenue to link the dementia friendly agenda and the age friendly agenda. Lyn Cadwalladr agreed to put together a paper as to how this may work in practice

Action

• Rachel Lewis to consider more joined up working between MAFA and the Local Authority Age Friendly Leads
• Emma Harney and Vicki Lloyd to meet and discuss a potential way forward for issues around public toilets
• Lyn Cadwalladr to put together a paper to suggest how One Voice Wales may link the age friendly and dementia friendly agendas within the organisation

With regard to having more representation from older women on MAFA, it was confirmed that officials have received nominations from 3 individuals. The details have been sent around the group and it was agreed that everyone was happy for Rachel Lewis to confirm membership.