Category Archives: hospital

Carers Trust Cambridgeshire share story of Isleham carer Emma ahead of Carers Rights Day

November 19, 2016   Carers, Featured Article, hospital

‘It feels like I’m winning’

 Carers Trust Cambridgeshire  is using the story of a mother of two from Isleham to raise awareness of the plight that many of the thousands of the county’s carers go through ahead of Carers Rights Day.

The stresses of caring for her husband caused Emma Joy-Staines, 31, to fall ill, and she was later admitted to hospital for tests.

She returned from hospital but struggled to provide care, so she called social services.

“I wasn’t used to asking for help, not even from my family, but I knew I had to do something,” she said.

“I was in an absolute state so I range social services and said, ‘I don’t know what you can do, I don’t know what I need but I need something. Can you help me?’

“They put me in touch in touch with Carers Trust Cambridgeshire. They have been my lifeline – the only organisation to proactively help us. I don’t know what would have happened because I was in a bad way. I was very scared.”

Emma was put in touch with support officer Becca Browne, who looked at the way she was coping as a carer and the impact it was having on her health and well-being.

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Free hospital parking for carers of long-term patients

October 20, 2016   Carers, Featured Article, health, hospital

By Leicester Mercury

Parking charges have been scrapped for carers visiting long-term patients at the city’s three hospitals.

The main carer of someone in hospital for more than six weeks will qualify for the free pass.

Permits will apply at Leicester Royal Infirmary, Glenfield and Leicester General hospitals.

The move has been welcomed by carers and health campaigners.

The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trusts is one of the only hospital trusts in the country to offer the concession for all types of patients.

Similar schemes operate in other hospitals but are often restricted to particular patient groups such as those being treated for cancer, kidney problems and blood related conditions.

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Social care is running on empty – but technology can make a difference

September 20, 2016   Carers, Featured Article, hospital, internet, Social care

There is no single solution to the challenges facing the sector, but technology enabled care can save cash-strapped councils money

It would be easy, but misleading, to say that social care is in crisis. Somehow in many parts of England the system staggers on, using devolution to its advantage. A number of councils have adopted improved ways of working.

However, the sustainability of the system is increasingly being called into question. Whether it’s the Adass budget survey, research by the King’s Fund and Nuffield Trust, or my report for the Carers Trust on the Care Act, the message is broadly the same: the system is running on empty, and people are suffering the consequences.

Why has this not exploded into a major political issue? Most MPs acknowledge that social care is unfinished business, but this has not translated into sufficient political pressure. At a basic level, this is because most people make no distinction between social care, care and support and what the NHS does. It still comes as a shock to many families that social care is not free. Most people make no care plans because they have discounted the chances of ever needing it.

Today the most visible advocate for social care funding is the NHS England boss, Simon Stevens. He told the NHS Confederation conference earlier this year that social care, rather than the NHS, should be at the front of the queue for financial aid. Of course there is a healthy dose of self-interest in this. Health and social care are two sides of the same coin – underinvest in one and you undermine the other.

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