parent carers | Carer Support Wiltshire

GP Carers Scheme Hits New Heights

July 14, 2016 by Jules Stanbridge Leave a Comment

The Carer Support Wiltshire Investors in Carers GP Accreditation Scheme held their annual awards evening in July to recognise and celebrate those Wiltshire GP practices who have gone above and beyond for unpaid carers. This year saw a record number of submissions and winners, with 37 practices achieving awards.

The scheme, funded by Wiltshire Council and the NHS Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group aims to raise awareness of carers’ issues in GP practices and recognise their support to carers with the awards

To achieve a gold award, practices need to meet more than a dozen requirements, including; maintaining an up-to-date carer’s register, having a carer’s lead, providing flexible appointments for carers and holding at least one carer’s clinic per year. Twenty two practices were awarded a Gold Plus award for their ongoing gold standard commitment to carers.

“We are privileged in Wiltshire to receive such expert and friendly support from Carer Support Wiltshire; they have never failed to deliver with advice for me, as Carers Lead, or for a vital help and support for our much valued carers.” Caren Clarke, Carers Lead at Three Swans Surgery in Salisbury who won a Gold Plus Award.

Ann cares for her husband, John and is a patient at the Endless Street Surgery, Salisbury who also won a Gold Plus Award.

“Everyone at the surgery has been brilliant. Not long after a period in hospital (for a broken pelvis) I attended a carer health check at the surgery. At the time I was finding it difficult to get out and felt quite low. I was referred to one of the Carer Clinics where I met Julian, a support worker at Carer Support Wiltshire. Julian was lovely and full of information. He referred me to Adult Social Care Services to see if I could get more support caring for my husband.”

21% of carers providing over 50 hours of care say they are in poor health compared with nearly 11% of the non-carer population with 39 % putting off medical treatment because of their caring role.

Since the start of the Investors in Carers scheme there has been improved identification of previously unknown carers, including young carers, with GPs being the main source of these referrals. Because of surgery carer health checks, 624 carers were seen at clinics in the last twelve months with 134 (21%) being referred for a follow on health appointment because of a health concern identified at the appointment. Health issues identified include high BMI, diabetes, depression, substance misuse and back pain.

Paul Wilkins who attends the Hindon Surgery recently praised the scheme in his recent blog:

“The Hindon Surgery Carers’ Clinic was a terrific and very worthwhile experience which really opened up our eyes to the many ways the NHS, the surgery, charity and Wiltshire Council are genuinely trying to help carers, as well as support the way in which loved ones themselves are cared for.”

You can read his blog here: https://hindonwiltshire.wordpress.com/2016/05/04/who-cares-for-the-carers/

A big thank you to Bianca Goss Photography for donating her services.

Some names have been changed.

Carers cite their caring role as barrier to employment

February 22, 2016 by Jules Stanbridge Leave a Comment

In a recent study by Carer Support Wiltshire, half of all carers of a working age would like to increase the amount they work. 64% of those wanting to increase the amount they work were currently not taking steps to improve their situation, mainly because of their current emotional state, but also partly because of a lack of knowledge.

Two thirds of those wanting to increase the amount they work cited their caring role as the main barrier to employment. The lack of access to affordable care (for adults and children, including for children in the family without long term conditions) was commented on by many, and it is clear that support in how to find and access care, including funding for care, needs to be part of the Pathways To Work service which Carer Support Wiltshire is seeking to develop.

In terms of other areas of support needed by carers wishing to work more, this included:

advice on careers and training
help via telephone and email in CV writing and job hunting
support groups to help with job hunting, application and interview skills
access to computer skills courses
volunteering and placement opportunities
help with setting up and marketing your own business

This last area of support might also be useful to some carers who want to reduce the amount they work and who currently run their own business, where taking on an employee is seen as a barrier.

About 38% of carers of working age surveyed are currently not engaging in any paid work. A significant minority of carers, 16% of those responding, would like to reduce the amount they work, to improve their work life balance or devote more time to caring. Whilst not being able to do without the money is the main barrier for many in this situation, a quarter also feel that their job would be at risk if they requested a reduction in hours. This reality further illustrates the need for Working For Carers, to make employers more carer aware and carer friendly in their employment policies.

To find out about Working For Carers click here.

You can see the full results of our survey here: Survey of carers of working age 201601 report

Unpaid carers can’t keep on plugging gaps

February 22, 2016 by Jules Stanbridge Leave a Comment

Unpaid carers can’t keep on plugging gaps in the NHS and social care, writes Paul Burstow in The Guardian.

It is plain is that the tone of the debate about the role of unpaid carers needs to change. Research has underlined how badly this is needed. Moved to Care took a look at the implications of UK migration policy for the future care workforce. Its stark conclusion is that there will be a shortfall of 200,000 people needed to meet the care of a larger older and more frail population. And Horizon 2035: Future Demand for Skills, found that demand for health and care skills could grow more than twice as fast as overall population growth by 2035.

Add to that the result of a poll for the Astellas Innovation Debate, which found that 52% of the public do not have confidence that the government will provide them with high-quality social care in later life, and the picture is stark. There is an enormous and expanding gap between demand and provision.

Read the full article here:

GP Carers Scheme Hits New Heights

Carers cite their caring role as barrier to employment

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