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Carers in Hertfordshire Carer’s Rights Su Bartlett – Development Worker, Drug and Alcohol

Carers' rights

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Page 1: Carers' rights

Carers in Hertfordshire

Carer’s Rights Su Bartlett – Development Worker, Drug and Alcohol

Page 2: Carers' rights

Who is a carer?• A neighbour pops in to check their elderly friend has a hot

meal once a week • A teenager checks that their mother has taken her

medication • A spouse supports their partner through a home detox

• A married daughter takes her parent to a hospital

appointment • An employee helps a client get up in the morning• A parent worries continually about how they can help

their drug using adult child • Someone helps out with heavy work in the garden and is

paid a minimal amount • A parent takes their child to school • A spouse gets up 4 times a night to help their partner go to

the loo

Page 3: Carers' rights

What is a carer?“You are a carer if you provide support to a partner, child, relative or neighbour who could not manage without your help. This could be due to age, physical or mental illness, substance misuse or disability.”

Page 4: Carers' rights

What do you know about carers? How many carers are there in the UK?

500,000 3.5m 6m 10m

How many employees are also carers?

5% 10% 12% 15% 30%

What is the split between male and female carers?

50:50 60:40 40:60 30:70 20:80

Page 5: Carers' rights

What do you know about carers? How many carers give up employment to care? 1 in 3 1 in 5 1 in 10 1 in 20 How many Young Carers (under the age of 18) are there in the UK? 25,000 100,000 175,000 300,000

How many carers say that caring has damaged their health? 30% 40% 50% 70% 80%

 

Page 6: Carers' rights

Some statistics

 

 

• There are almost seven million carers in the UK – that is one in ten people. This is rising.

• Every year in the UK, over 2.3 million adults become carers and over 2.3 million adults stop being carers.

• Three in five people will be carers at some point in their lives in the UK.

• Out of the UK’s carers, 42% of carers are men and 58% are women.

• The economic value of the contribution made by carers in the UK is £119bn per year.

• Over the next 30 years, the number of carers will increase by 3.4 million (around 60%).

• The number of people over 85 in the UK, the age group most likely to need care, is expected to increase by over 50% to 1.9 million over the next decade.

Page 7: Carers' rights

13,000 of the UK’s young carers care for over 50 hours a week. • Following a survey in 2010, the BBC

estimated that there are 700,000 young carers in the UK.

• Young adult carers aged between 16 and 18 years are twice as likely to be not in education, employment, or training (NEET).

• In total there are 290,369 carers in the UK who are aged 16–24.

Young carers and young adult carers

Page 8: Carers' rights

The UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC) study suggests that around 1.5 million adults in the UK are affected by a relative’s drug use

Other studies have suggested this number is nearer to 8 million

The UKDPC asserts that families can experience harms resulting from drug dependence worth £1.8 billion per year, and

That families provide unpaid care that saves the state up to £750 million annually

Government estimates that up to 350,000 children are affected by parental drug use, and up to 1.3 million by alcohol

Adfam, Challenging Stigma, July 2012

Carers/families whose lives are affected by someone else’s drug use or drinking

Page 9: Carers' rights

What’s the impact?

There is a significant negative impact on:

• Physical health • Mental health • Emotional well-being • Financial circumstances • Family relationships, and • Serious impact and long term negative implications on the health

and well-being of children affected by parental substance use

Adfam’s Manifesto for Families, 2010

Page 10: Carers' rights

Carer’s Rights

The Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act (1986)Section 8 says that consideration must be given as to whether a carer is able to continue to care for that person when assessing a disabled person’s needs.

The NHS and Community Care Act (1990)This requires councils to involve families and carers when making plans to assist adults who are vulnerable.

The Carers (Recognition and Services) Act (1995)

Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000

The Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004

Page 11: Carers' rights

Between them, these acts:

•Give all carers the right to have their needs assessed. Carers over 16, including parent carers of disabled children, are entitled to an assessment in their own right.•Place a duty on authorities to ensure that all carers know they are entitled to an assessment of their needs.•State that carers assessments should always consider a carer’s outside interests (work, study or leisure) when carrying out an assessment. They should also promote better joint working between councils and the health service, by giving local authorities the right to ask for assistance from other authorities in planning the provision of services for carers. •Empower local authorities to introduce voucher schemes for carer breaks services and extend powers of local authorities to provide more specific services for carers. These carer-specific services, which are not community care services, may be funded by direct payments to carers. N.B. The vouchers scheme for carers is not a feature of Scottish provision. The cared for person can have services, in addition to those they are assessed as needing in their own right, as a result of the needs of the carer.

Page 12: Carers' rights

The Care Bill

Will: • Consolidate over 30 pieces of statute and numerous pieces of

guidance, regulations and directions • Make it easier for adults caring for adults to have their own needs for

support considered • Potentially make paying for care more transparent • Potentially get crucial advice to families at an earlier stage, with

duties to provide information, advice and preventative services

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How can you support Carers?

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Any questions?

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Further Information

Carers in HertfordshireHertfordshire Carers CentreThe Red House119 Fore StreetHertfordSG14 1AXTel: 01992 586969Fax: 01992 586969www.carersinherts.org.ukcontact@carersinherts.org.ukwww.twitter.com/carersinherts