The announcement of Labour’s plans to improve support to unpaid family carers is very welcome. It comes after five years of policies which hit some carers financially or put more pressure on them due to cuts in services.
A key policy I wanted to see Labour introduce was a duty on GPs and NHS hospitals to identify carers so that the carer can be offered advice and support. I introduced a private member’s bill to do this in 2012 but the government did not support it.
Now Labour has pledged that it would place this duty on GPs and NHS bodies if elected in 2015. Labour would also introduce: a right for carers to ask for an annual health check; the introduction of a single point of contact for NHS and care services for people with complex needs; ringfenced funding for carers’ breaks; making carers eligible for hospital parking concessions and a consultation on how to improve flexibility for working carers.
Unpaid carers make a very important contribution and our health and care services would not manage without them. Many face a struggle balancing their own lives and jobs with their caring tasks. Caring can affect the mental or physical health of carers. Yet a survey by Macmillan Cancer Support found that almost half of carers of people with cancer are not receiving any support and more than one in four did not know what support was available.
This group of carers do not know where to turn for help and often find that their caring role is not recognised by health and social care professionals. This means they are not being made aware of help nor signposted to support such as a helpline or a local carers group. Without any support or information, carers can end up reaching crisis point. Although carers have a right to an assessment of their need, the only duty to identify carers is on local authorities.
A survey of over 2,000 carers of people with cancer found that only 35 per cent of these carers came into contact with local authority staff and 60 per cent with a social worker. Yet over 80 per cent had contact with a hospital doctor or a GP during their caring journey. If health professionals identified carers, many more carers could be made aware of sources of help, advice and support. Labour’s policy pledge should make a real difference for these carers.
The government’s policies have hit unpaid family carers hard.With £3.5bn cut from adult social care budgets and 60,000 carers hit by the bedroom tax, carers are reeling from the negative impact of this government’s policies.
The bedroom tax places an additional financial burden on unpaid family carers. A survey by Carers UK found 75 per cent of the carers who had to pay the bedroom tax were cutting back on essential spending like food and heating in order to pay. Seventeen per cent were in arrears and eight per cent were taking on debt through loans.
This government’s policies never properly recognised carers or gave them the dignity and respect they deserve. The failure to exempt carers from the bedroom tax is one example that shows this government’s complete disregard for fairness.
Many carers have had to give up well-paid jobs to care for a family member and expecting them to find the cash to pay the bedroom tax as well is an insult to these family carers.
By launching these policy pledges, Labour is showing that we value the role of carers and that we will bring in measures to support them to continue to care.
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Barbara Keeley is member of parliament for Worsley and Eccles South and the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on social care. She tweets @KeeleyMP
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I have a severely disabled daughter and left work to be her carer when she was two years old, she is now twenty, my wife was a teacher and struggled with depression after our daughter was born. Life was tough, but nothing could have prepared me for the last five years. Several times I considered giving in. I didn’t, nor could I. Reading Barbara Keeley’s article and hearing of Labour’s plans for carer’s filled me with hope. Thing’s may improve after all, we may be valued and not resented, we may find the help and support we need and not be treated with contempt and disregard, the services upon which we depend could be saved and the spectre of the bedroom tax could be just a bad memory. And carers would be supported to be carers.
I don’t think this tells us anything about a “policy for carers”. My GP surgery gives out leaflets & has posters for carers to read. There is very little knowledge of the benefits available to carers whether unpaid or not. Do those being cared for also claim the benefits they are entitled to? Why isn’t there more info about using LA funds to employ carers from the funds available instead of using agencies who charge ridiculous fees. I pay my “carers” (proper name is Personal Assistants – PAs) £8 per hour & £12 for Sundays. I employ them directly by using HMRC’s very easy online system.
Can we please recognise that cancer is not the only cause of the need for carers? You never mention strokes, heart conditions, genuine mobility restrictions, etc.