Carers (health and wellbeing needs in South Tyneside)

• In line with the Care Act 2014, local authorities must provide information about care and support services for people and their carers, including:
  • The types of care and support available
  • How to access care and support, including eligibility criteria
  • How to get financial advice about care and support
  • Local safeguarding procedures and how to raise safeguarding concerns or make a complaint
  • Rights and entitlements to assessments and care and support services
  • Personal budgets and all the options for taking a personal budget - for example, local authority managed, Individual Service Fund or direct payment.
• SCIE (Social Care Institute for Excellence) provides guidance in relation to support for carers which enhances evidence to the needs identified throughout this document. Listed below are some of the links and resources;
  • House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee: Employment support for carers
  • Local Government Association: Meeting the health and wellbeing needs of young carers
  • NDTi: Spotlight on a Carer's Journey
  • Carers Trust: Commissioning for Carers Key Principles for Clinical Commissioning Groups
  • Think Local Act Personal: Making it Real
• The overall principles stipulate:
  • Recognise that each person who uses services is an individual. Use each person's self-defined strengths, preferences, aspirations and needs as the basis on which to provide care and support to live an independent life.
  • Support people to maintain their independence. This means finding out what people want from their life, and providing the support and assistance they need to do this.

The views expressed from carers in South Tyneside correlate with a national report from Carers UK in 2019 entitled 'Carers at Breaking Point - Making the Case for Carer's Breaks in England', which Helen Walker, Chief Executive for Carers UK, intimates...

"...This research report builds on Carers UK's State of Caring 2017 report which found that 4 out of 10 carers (40%) said they hadn't had a day off for more than a year. The survey also found that carers who hadn't taken a break from caring within the last year were more likely to report that their mental or physical health had suffered as a result of caring. When asked about what would make the most difference to improving their health and well-being, regular breaks from caring was the most popular choice.

Quality really matters for carers and the people they care for - worry, poor experience and an inability to find the right care because the provider market is collapsing all impact on carers' ability to take a break."

• The full report can be accessed at:
  • Carers UK: Carers at breaking point

• Further context is provided by NHS England and NHS Improvement, whose paper entitled 'supporting carers in general practice: a framework of quality markers' reinforces awareness and recognition of carers within the Healthcare sector.
• The paper offers a series of practical ideas that have been developed in partnership with carers, primary care teams and other key stakeholders. Collectively, these provide a framework for improving how general practice can better identify and support carers of all ages, and set a clear ambition to:
  • Improve carers' health and promote positive wellbeing;
  • Reduce carer crisis and family breakdown;
  • Reduce unwarranted variations in carer support, and;
  • Meet demand more appropriately and better manage demand on service.