A helping hand Portfolio
Health Carers
Katie Mackintosh Health Correspondent
Recognising and supporting carers
At the East End Community Carers
Centre in Glasgow, a group of older carers and friends are catching up over tea and scones. As they chew over the week’s events, it is clear they draw enormous comfort and strength from each other. One is consoled as she lists the plethora of emotions she experienced as she helped her granddaughter move into supported care that week. She had been caring for her since her own daughter died five years ago, but when her husband died six months ago, she knew she needed to put a plan for the future in place. Another shares her anger at the impact staffing cuts are already having on her niece’s care and the additional stress it has heaped upon her as she struggles to plug the gaps; while another talks of her loved one’s dismay at the loss of befriending services and the treasured contact with his ‘chums’. Tey are a feisty bunch whose battle
stories demonstrate they have not been shy in fighting to get the support they need. But anxiety bubbles over in their conversation as they swap tales of valued services under threat, and their concern as older carers of what will happen to their loved ones when they are no longer there to fight for them. Regrettably, these concerns are not unique,
with four out of five of Scotland’s unpaid carers fearing the consequences of cuts to care services. Te new research, which will be published today to mark Carers Week, also found that almost half, 46 per cent, don’t know how they will cope as the axe falls on some of the vital support they rely on. Te theme of this year’s Carers Week is
‘Te True Face of Carers’ and will see calls for greater recognition and support for the diverse range of people who are carers. It will also highlight the incredible economic contribution unpaid carers make, as research from Carers UK and the University of Leeds will show that unpaid carers save the UK economy £119bn each year by relieving pressure on health and social services. For its part, the Scottish Government has
been seeking to reassure carers in recent months that it has heard their concerns
The Princess Royal Trust for Carers young carers festival
and recognises their “hugely significant” contribution to their families, communities and society. Te SNP’s manifesto contained several pledges of financial support for carers, such as funding to maintain its commitment to an extra 10,000 weeks’ respite provision per year and a promise to ensure that from 2012- 13, at least 20 per cent of the £70m Change Fund established to smooth the integration of health and social care will be dedicated to supporting carers to continue to care. It also promised to treat carers as equal partners and
“Four out of five of
Scotland’s unpaid carers fear the consequences of cuts to care services ”
ensure their knowledge and experience is fully taken into account to improve treatment for those cared for. In his victory speech at Prestonfield House in
Edinburgh, First Minister Alex Salmond also expressed his gratitude to carers, announcing that, ‘Team Scotland’ - “the job creators, the carers, the nurses, the small businesses, the ambitious and the aspirational” – were the true winners of the election. Later, as he set out to Parliament his re-elected government’s plans for taking Scotland forward, he pledged: “For our unpaid carers, men and women, young and old, who give so much of their lives to
look after the people they love, we will work to ensure that they are true partners in the delivery of care and that their very special role is fully recognised.” Tis recognition matters a great deal to
carers, says Florence Burke, Director for Scotland of Te Princess Royal Trust for Carers. “Te fact that the First Minister in his
acceptance speech mentioned carers, everybody picked up on that. We had carers coming back to us saying, ‘Did you hear…?’” Te warm tones in which the SNP
Government has been speaking about unpaid carers were undoubtedly influenced by carers who met with party officials during the campaign and shared their experiences, says Burke. “People say you can’t ask a leaflet a question.
We can all talk about what people have said. We can talk about anecdotes. Tere are people who work in this organisation who are carers but they are not here to talk about their own caring situation. What you can do with carers is hear first hand what is happening with policies, that is where you can quite clearly and quickly identify the law of unintended consequences. “It is hearing that experience from individuals, whether it is a young carer or an adult carer on, ‘What does it actually mean for me,’ and, ‘I will tell you what the policy is in practice because this is the impact it has on me.’ And that is not all negative, some have positive things to say about the support they have received and the difference that things
13 June 2011 Holyrood 45
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