Are you one of the 6.5 million carers in the UK?

Mojisola

SandraScarlett wrote: »

I belong to every website that I can find, that offers advice, help and support for Carers. To put it in a nutshell, the biggest problem isn't lack of money, it's lack of co-ordination, and not just the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, but the left hand not being aware of what it's doing!

I've got relatives in a mainland European country, one of whom works with the elderly. She was horrified at the way things are run here. With my parents, I had an endless stream of visitors needing pages of questions answered again and again. Most had no knowledge of any other help that was available and many didn't know all the facts about their own area of "expertise".

My relative said that, under their system, a person would be assigned a contact worker who would come and take all the information (one lot of form filling!), explain what's available, pass on the client information to the other relevant services and keep a check on whether they have visited and what had been decided. Everything flows through the contact worker who does all the chasing and research to make sure the care needs of the client and family carers are met.

Obviously, like everywhere, there are financial restrictions on what help can be given but, for the carer, just having someone on your side dealing with all the other services is a massive benefit.

supersuzie50

Support for carers in Southampton is nil. All advice is usually a telephone number - not much use when you are deaf. In the 21st century,it should not be difficult to provide an email address. I am so tired that I suspect I will die before my aged mother. I sat down today for a few minutes and just felt total exhaustion. It is strange that children who are cared for by parents get every benefit available. BUT children who care for their parents get absolutely no benefits - yet I have so many extra expenses. Help for carers is so discriminatory.

SandraScarlett

supersuzie50 wrote: »

Support for carers in Southampton is nil. All advice is usually a telephone number - not much use when you are deaf. In the 21st century,it should not be difficult to provide an email address. I am so tired that I suspect I will die before my aged mother.

Why oh why does it depend on your post code, regarding help, when it is the National Health Service, and we are in the United Kingdom?


I've recently had a devil of a job to get incontinence pants for DH, because my LA will usually only supply pads. What difference does it make if you live in Bedford, Bradford or Barking - you wee the same, wherever you are!


xx