Carer Support Wiltshire

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Unpaid carers can’t keep on plugging gaps

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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:

Carers Rights Day: agencies need to work together to support carers

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Getting back into work, hospital transport and parking, and working through the maze of services which are available were just some of the topics covered during a debate held in Wiltshire to mark Carers Rights Day.

And there was a resounding call for agencies supporting carers to collaborate more closely, to provide more effective help.

Reaching out to carers who’ve yet to look for support and providing a joined up services were also hotly debated.

An attentive audience of carers were at Devizes Town Hall for the question and answer session organised by Carer Support Wiltshire to mark national Carers Rights Day. They had the chance to put questions to a panel of experts, including Wiltshire councillors and council officers, and representatives from Healthwatch Wiltshire, the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership, the Carers Trust, and law firm Awdry, Bailey and Douglas. The debate was facilitated by BBC journalist Vernon Harwood.

Catharine Hurford, Carer Support Wiltshire chief executive, said: “The message from today is the complexities carers face in navigating the system to access support. There needs to be more collaborative working between health, social care and voluntary services to provide clear communications to carers.”

Subjects covered included:

  • How to reach carers: GP surgeries may hold the key
  • So much information out there: we need better signposting and collaboration so carers have a joined up service and aren’t passed around between providers
  • Lack of transport to hospitals - 48% of RUH Bath users are from Wiltshire: Link bus service may help here
  • Getting back into work is difficult for carers, who also fear cuts in benefits
  • Flexible working is harder for carers in small businesses
  • How can carers’ rights be protected in the workplace? Law does require employers to play fair
  • What opportunities are there for carers and cared for to do things together? Wiltshire Parent Carer Council runs a lot of groups, short breaks and activities
  • Direct payments can be complicated: payment cards are being introduced which may simplify the payment process
  • Do Job Centres help people with mental health issues? Each Job Centre Plus should have a designated staff member to assist
  • What help is there for people with mental health issues to get work? Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership has a new programme to support people into employment

After the event, those attending had the chance to speak individually to panel members.

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised, or anything else related to caring, please get in touch.

Chancellor urged to invest in social care

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Carer Support Wiltshire has joined more than 70 carers charities from across the UK in signing an open letter to Chancellor George Osborne urging him to put more investment into social care to ensure care workers can be paid a living wage.

The letter was sent to the national press by Carers Trust, the UK’s largest charity for carers. The charity calls on Mr Osborne to invest more funds so that organisations providing much-needed care for older and disabled people have the resources to pay their staff the new Living Wage when it comes into force next April.
The statement comes ahead of next week’s Spending Review and says that without adequate funding, many care providers will be forced to leave the market, increasing the amount of care which already-stretched, unpaid carers and family members will have to provide.
The letter is signed by 76 of the UK’s care and carer charities, many of which support older and disabled people in their own homes. They also support 467,000 unpaid carers by providing information, training and support.
Here is is in full:

We represent 72 of the country’s care and carer charities. As well as helping people with care needs in their homes we also support unpaid carers by providing information and advice, training, emotional and peer support, ensuring they stay active and healthy and can continue to provide unpaid care, backing up our stretched health and social care systems.

High quality care, delivered by well trained and properly supported staff, is vital. Without it, many disabled and older people would not have the chance to remain independent in their own homes and unpaid carers and their family members would not be given the opportunity to take a break from their caring role.

Paid care work is not easy and must be valued and recognised. We need to ensure care workers are paid fairly for the difficult and stressful job they do and we need to attract and retain skilled and passionate people to the care workforce. That is why we welcome your intention to see every social care worker paid at least the new National Living Wage by April 2016.

However, this ambition will not become a reality without investment. The UK Homecare Association estimates that councils will need at least an additional £753 million in funding to ensure that care providers have the resources needed to pay staff the new Living Wage when it comes into force next April.

Without this, many care providers, including some in the Carers Trust network, could be forced to exit the market, leaving a vacuum where those needing care are simply not able to find anyone to provide it, increasing the responsibility on unpaid carers.

We urge the Government to provide adequate investment for social care in the forthcoming Spending Review.

We ask for your support in ensuring the sustainability of organisations providing care so that older people, disabled people and their families who need care in the future are able to find it.

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