Neil Churchill: what I learnt from my day with carers
Following the publication of NHS England’s Commitments to Carers, I spent a day shadowing carers and hearing their experiences first hand, writes Neil Churchill
I was sitting in the kitchen with the first carer I would shadow when his mobile rang. It was his mum’s social worker calling to discuss what would happen when a respite placement ended. As he spoke, his landline rang and another social worker left a message. Today was the “eye of the storm” in juggling his own disability with caring for a mother and father who had both lost their independence, and who needed round the clock support.
“Welcome to my world,” he said as he came off the phone.
‘To him, care was fragmented and not a system at all; he was the only one who held all the pieces’
This was the start of a day organised for me by Carers Support West Sussex, as part of their efforts to help me understand the experience of being a carer, so I could be more effective at delivering NHS England’s Commitment to Carers.
Mental health patients ‘told to call Samaritans’
The Samaritans say they are seeing a huge increase in calls from people with mental illness – because patients have no-one to turn to at evenings and weekends.
The Manchester branch of the service, based on Oxford Road in the city centre has seen an increase of 3,500 calls over the past 12 months, dealing with 41,320 in total.
Many are existing mental health patients who say they have no-one else to talk to. It is not recorded by The Samaritans which health trusts each patient is being treated by.
New Forest young carers get boost from supermarket
THE New Forest Young Carers service has been given £590 from Waitrose Ringwood’s Community Matters fund.
Young Carers Coordinator Marie Shotbolt, who went to collect the cheque with a few of the young carers, said: “We are so grateful to the staff at Waitrose for selecting us to be one of their Community Matters charities, and to everyone who popped their green token in our box.
“We rely on donations and support like this to help us provide activities and trips for our young carers, so it makes a real difference.”
