Welcome back to another blog post from carer activist Matthew McKenzie. I have just recently watched a news piece regarding Carers UK latest campaign. For those who do not know, Carers UK is one of the UK’s biggest national charities that focuses on support for carers.
You might have already seen a couple of blog posts about previous campaigns from Carers UK and other carer support charities. At the time of this post, there are around 5.7 million carers around the country caring for someone with long term illness.
Most people want to provide unpaid care, they want a better outcome for those with long term illness, but what people do not want is to provide unpaid care with little or non support.
Each year, support for carers has been reduced within the health and social care sector. Important decisions have to be made and in the end this lies with the new government. Still, it does not hurt to provide some guidance on what Carers UK have heard from carers.
There are 8 priorities which Carers UK want the government to be accountable for.
- Reform and significantly increase Carer’s Allowance and other social security payments for carers.
- Deliver an ambitious and fully funded National Carers Strategy.
- Invest in breaks, respite services, and introduce new legislation so all carers have the right to regular and meaningful breaks.
- Make the NHS the most carer-friendly health service in the world.
- Introduce a right to paid Carer’s Leave for working carers.
- Recognise caring as the 10th protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.
- Invest in social care services so no one has to care alone, and so Local Authorities are able to meet their existing duties to unpaid carers.
- Provide more support to help carers manage their health and wellbeing.
The letter was signed by 10,611 people who feel passionately about the plight of carers. A lot of promotion went into the importance of the letter, but you can also watch the report from London Live news which was reported by Sachelle Connor.
A Caring Mind 