Helping carers to stay healthy

Issue

Carers are vital to the wellbeing and independence of thousands of people. The number of carers is increasing. In the 2011 census, 5.8 million people in England and Wales identified themselves as carers, compared with 5.2 million people in 2001.

But the demands of being a carer can affect a person’s quality of life, including their ability to study and work, their finances and their health. People providing high levels of care are twice as likely to be permanently sick or disabled, and 625,000 people have health problems because of their caring responsibilities.

Actions

As part of our reform of the care and support system, we want to make people more aware of the valuable contribution carers make to society. They play an important part in creating strong families and stable communities.

Identifying carers

It’s important that people who are looking after another person identify themselves as carers as early as possible, so they can get the information, advice and support they need when they need it. This includes getting advice about looking after their own health.

We are:

• funding the work of voluntary organisations like Carers UK and Carers Trust that help identify carers and provide appropriate support
• funding the Royal College of GPs to offer training and support to GPs, so that they have a better understanding of the needs of carers and how best to support them
• funding the Royal College of Nursing and the Queens Nursing Institute to offer training and support to community and school nurses
• planning to simplify carers assessments (the process for assessing carers’ needs)
• planning to give carers a legal right to support that they are eligible for

We are also planning to set the minimum level at which carers will become eligible for support. This will be the same wherever carers are in the country.

Improving access to information and support

It’s also important that the carers get high quality information and advice that’s based on their personal circumstances.

We have reviewed the helpline that provides information to carers. Our review lists recommendations for making sure the helpline meets everybody’s needs.

For example, it says that the internet service should continue, but it should be linked to other online health information. But it also says that information and advice by phone is important, because older people often don’t have acess to the internet.

Giving carers a break from their caring responsibilities

Without a break from caring duties, carers’ health problems may get much worse - often without anybody noticing. A short break from caring responsibilities can help. We have given £400 million to the NHS to help give carers breaks from caring between 2011 and 2015.

Background

The national strategy for carers was published in 2008. It acknowledged the growing number of carers in the UK and set out a plan for meeting their need for information, care and support.

We reviewed and revised the strategy in 2010. ‘Recognised, Valued and Supported: Next steps for the carers strategy’ set out our priorities for carers between 2010 and 2014.

Also in 2010, we published a guide on emerging evidence about carers in England.

Who we’ve consulted

It’s important that the national carers strategy is based on the views of carers themselves. When developing the 2008 strategy, we consulted carers extensively. Over the summer of 2012, we consulted people again, on what our next set of priorities should be. Both times we received the views of over 4,000 carers.

Bills and legislation

We are planning to change the law to simplify carers’ right to an assessment, and to give carers the right to support, if they are eligible.

The Care Act published in 2014, provides the legal framework for changes to the social care system.

 

From:Department of HealthThe Rt Hon Norman Lamb MP

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