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.