Category Archives: Carers

Fears unpaid carers’ health being harmed by workload

January 10, 2015   Carers, Featured Article, Scotland

 Many unpaid carers also have to hold down a job.

By Claire Warrender, 8 January 2015 12.16pm.

More than a quarter of Fife’s army of unpaid carers are spending at least 50 hours per week looking after others, it has been revealed.

The majority of those with the biggest burden are pensioners, although many are younger with homes and families to look after.

Those spending long hours caring have reported the strain is affecting their health, prompting calls for better support for carers.

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Family carers face postcode lottery

January 4, 2015   Carers, Featured Article

Councils differ in level of discretion they give practitioners in determining eligibility and extent of outsourcing of assessments

By  Adults, Care Act 2014, Carers, Research
Photo credit: Jeff Brackler/Rex Features

Carers face a postcode lottery in access to support because of significant variations in the way councils carry out assessments, determine eligibility and allocate resources, a study has found.

The research identified differences between authorities in thresholds for accessing support, the extent to which councils allowed professionals discretion in the way they determined eligibility and in resource allocation systems for determining the size of carer personal budgets. There was also variation in the extent to which councils outsourced the provision of carers’ assessments to external organisations, such as local carers’ centres.

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Carers Christmas, Past and Present

December 20, 2014   Carers, Featured Article

Carers Christmas 2014, Past and Present.

20th December 2014

By Maureen & Family Carers

Carers Present
It’s now that time of year again when many unpaid family Carers dread, everyday Services are either over worked or understaffed and some services and support services are closed over the holiday period making this time of year a time of fear and despair.
For many Carers Christmas time is no different to any other day of the year, their caring role and the loved one they care for have the same needs over Christmas and New year as they do every day of the year, this is one of the things that can leave a carer isolated from the rest as they cannot leave the house or have any time for themselves, friends and relatives in many cases keep their distance because they do not understand what it is like, anyone can become a carer at any time without warning, it is only then you understand and believe the isolation and stress it brings.

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