I was reluctant watching this documentary as I thought it focused too much on caring for those that have been impacted with long Covid, but it’s an eye-opener and hopefully for lots of other people of the reality of caring for a loved one.
The Carer they have who has the actual heart + right attitude of caring is heartwarming, as lots of paid working Carers are the lowest rung of the jobs ladder as that’s all they can get work-wise.
Kate highlights how services are far from joined up in a crisis. And the complexity of where funding comes from different sources, she’d be great at highlighting the NHS CHC Scandal - as like the paid Carer highlighted; we are all going to end up needing caring.
Yep, the Covid Pandemic has split wide open and shone a light on lots of areas where there needs to be joined-up co-operation between professionals, patients and family.
I haven’t watched it yet but I passionately hope that Kate uses the platform she has now to be a voice for carers everywhere. Someone needs to draw attention to the struggles of carers in the media and not give up banging the drum until something changes. She’s got a big chance to make a stink and get some improvements made.
She should start a campaign for better financial support for carers, because Care’s Allowance, if you ask me, is an absolute joke. Expecting a minimum of thirty-five hours a week care, for less than £2 an hour is just outrageous to me.
And don’t get me started on the earnings threshold and how anyone who works for more than part time hours isn’t even entitled to get a top-up for the efforts they put in to care. It’s disgusting and it will never improve unless someone like Kate does a Marcus Rashford/Jack Monroe and starts kicking off and really gets people behind a push for better treatment of carers.
I caught up with it this afternoon. Poor Kate looks exhausted and far too thin. Derek’s carer even said she should be looking after herself more.
I pray that Derek’s treatment in Mexico will bring positive results. I did read that they had to fund the trip and treatment themselves.
Maybe Kate felt that discussing what help they got with care costs, benefits etc would be too personal but it would be interesting to know. It would also highlight to viewers how disjointed the system is and how nobody points you in the right direction and you end up speaking to all sorts of people when it would be wonderful to just make one call and it’s sorted. I know with my daughter over the years I have dealt with countless departments and agencies and you just go round in circles repeating yourself.
I noticed her laundry room was packed with equipment and he has a hospital bed so at least the NHS are sorting all that.
I tend to watch anything that may highlight what a struggle all different types of caring hold. I think we can all learn something new and develop are caring tool kit. I also felt it highlighted children becoming being young carers. And the importance of carers looking after their own health needs. I felt it admirable that Kate didn’t shy away from speaking out about feeling lonely.
I can’t find anything recent since poor Derek died.
Did anybody watch Kate’s film the other night where Derek appeared to be getting slightly better as he could talk and write but was obviously still very poorly.
Kate has taken on the role of highlighting the work of Carers which can only be a good thing.
She has discussed the cost of caring, and the effect it has had on her, quite recently. It triggered a fair bit of debate, the consensus being that political parties have been avoiding reality for years at the cost of carers.
Well she is articulate and has good connections so it would be good if she could get publicity Carers. It is so easy to ‘brush under the carpet’ because Carers cannot and will not strike. Most of us continue to give care even when we are totally broken. No easy answers but I think Cottage Hospitals/Convalescent homes need to be brought back to help the elderly make the transition from hospital to home, and hopefully free up hospital beds. It seems to be that people are just discharged from hospital in the home that relatives, will ‘step up’. But how can we when we have no medical training? What about OUR lives? Everything is such a fight and I know the NHS is overburdened but ‘Dangerous Discharges’ are going on in my area - my friends Dad has been discharged and although she has health issues and does not live with him she is being forced to step up as there is no one else.
It’s a many decades-old problem that successive Governments have brushed under the carpet, (each hoping that they can successfully ignore it so that someone else will have to deal with it).
The main reasons being that the financial cost would be horrific and putting the infrastructure in place too onerous. Unfortunately Governements will argue that the cost of raising the Carers Allowance to at least the minimum wage threshold is unsustainable, and will therefore not even try.
The fact that they are allowed to get away with it only works because they know that unpaid carers won’t just down tools, leaving their loved ones at the mercy of the state.
Carers Allowance has remained woefully low because being a carer isn’t seen as being on a par with having a ‘proper job’, like it’s something you can fit in, in between doing ‘real work’. I suspect that they also take the view that should CA be uplifted to living-wage levels, there will be an influx of people suddenly claiming it in order to avoid having to get a job. It’s not as though caring is a lifestyle choice, but with the way the Government has been demonising anyone who receives Benefits, it will be put across in that light and whipped up into the usual media frenzy.
There needs to be cross-party consensus and cooperation on this issue if anything is to change for unpaid carers in a meaningful way.
The debate has been on most media sites that have covered the story. The Guardian article had some individuals arguing that the state should not be helping carers as it’s a family duty. That view comes out stronger in the Express and Mail comments. People like Ann Widdecombe agree with that view, and there have been statements from various Secretaries of State supporting the view over the years, often tacitly. It certainly explains why social care hasn’t been a priority of any kind.
By chance, I’ve just come across the figures about Continuing Healthcare collected by Which in 2014. They varied massively. If you were in Salford 144 per every 50,000 people received CHC, but in Bradford the figure was only 19.5! South Reading was a miserly 11.4 per every 50,000. This postcode lottery is a national disgrace.
She made some excellent points about unpaid carers and she has brought to light an issue that isn’t talked about.
As a journalist myself I saw a lot of inspiration in her words and experiences. Obviously I will never be at her level of skill, but I find that when people know I am a journalist they tend to hang back and not believe the things I go through.
Whilst there has been some negativity about her words considering she is a highly paid professional, it just goes to show how this affects people of all walks of life.
Having said that, I do believe more support is needed all round and not just money. Carers need more targeted support to their needs and circumstances.
The same goes for young carers I.e people under 25, and especially those under 18. The fact that these poor children (because that’s what they are) can’t vote, yet can be forced into such a position. These poor children miss school, miss out on developing social skills, they miss out on simple opportunities so many take for granted.
It shows that the argument is not just about pay but so much more. More understanding is needed and less box ticking forms. I’m not necessarily a traditionalist, but surely old fashioned common sense will provide more support than any A4 piece of paper can.